A Game of Two Halves (Talus and Tralus)

[Admiral Roebuck]

OOC:

Anyone who wishes to be involved in this roleplay, you are welcome to. If, for any reason you wish to oppose this invasion I am using a fleet consisting of the following.

1 SSD
2 ISD II's
4 ISD's
12 VSD's
18 Imperial Dreadnaught's

IC:

The fleet seemed daunting from the planet's surface, it had been stationary for almost an hour whilst they waited for the Star Galleon Class Frigate's on the repulsor lift docking platforms as the lower ranked troops witnessed a remarkable sight.

From their personal quaters, the marines gasped as out from the military facilty marched the ranks of some several hundred wookies, obeying the every command of the officers as the seemingly endless files dissapeared into the four transports. However, there was something very different about these wookies, because from their very bodies protruded metal grafting of the kind they had never seen before.

"Jace, what the hell's going on down there?" exclaimed a young marine who was standing at the window of the elevated barracks, high above the thick Kashyyyk forests.

A second man ran to the window and the same look of suprise crossed his face, however their questions were shortly answered when Leuitenant Davídorf strolled in.

"That, men, is what we call an invasion force!" he boasted walking to the window to see the view for himself, "We're taking the Correlian Sector and don't worry your time for battle is coming too."

Finally, the immense loading ramps began to close whilst ejecting heated jet's of steam either side, soon they closed with a clunk that echoed throughout the facility. Moments later the engines began to whine and the sound soon grew into a mighty roar as the transports individually lifted from the docking platform and took to the skies.

The marines watched on and saw the large, bulky landing struts dissapear underneath the ships' structures before they left the atmosphere.

- - - - - - - - - -

Roebuck sat back comfortably in his Ready Room, watching the transports near the two Imperial Class II Star Destroyers either side of his ship, all this he saw whilst sippinging a refreshing cup of ice tea in front of the large window overlooking the planet.

Suddenly, a large wall mounted view screen flickered to life and on it appeared the permanently bemused face of one Admiral Garrett Blade.

"Admiral! Good to see you again!" exclaimed Roebuck with a cheerful smile.

"Likewise Admiral Roebuck. I have a update on the current, shall we say, situation at Tralus. The Noghri will at any moment arrive at Tralus, undetected of course. Once Phase 1 is underway I'll give you the go-ahead to commence Phase 2 of the assault. They wont know what has happened until it is too late."

The older man chuckled in his seat only to the suprise of the much younger Admiral Blade.

"Blade, you slay me!" his laughter continued momentarily before adding, "If I hadn't haave made sure this comm channel was secure our plans would be completely ruined. You like to talk don't you?"

Blade chuckled along with Roebuck for a moment before continuing, "Well, this is an exciting new era for us all. Let's show them real strength. Until then, I'll speak to you shortly."

"Farewell Garrett." and with that, the Admiral went back to sipping his tea.

Suddenly an officer entered his Ready Room and coughed politely to get his superior's attention.

"Yes Commander?" Roebuck questioned.

"Sir, the transports have docked in the designated Hanger Bays, are there any further orders?"

"Yes. Position the fleet to be ready for a hyperspace jump to Byss. I'm sure our associats at the Sith Empire wont mind us stoppiong by for a while." he confirmed with a grin.

"Very good sir. We will be entering hyperspace in ten minutes"

Roebuck nodded and the Commander left the room for the bridge, once again he turned his attention back to his tea and took a bite out of a fresh, hot scone.

[Garrett Blade]

All Hail...The New King In Town!

Young And Old...Gather Round!

Black and White...Red and Green!

The Funkiest Man...You Ever Seen!

*...was all that could be heard from outside the prefabricated building serving as an art gallery. The gallery had been placed at the Honoghr Colony base so as to further the attempt at educating and civilising the Noghri. Select pieces of art from across the galaxy had been specially chosen by Garrett himself, even if it did take three days to steal some of it! As people walked past, they seemed to eye the doors very peculiarly as the unrecognised music blasted out of all the windows. Only one person could listen to such music at a time like this!*

Tell you what his name is...

Garrett Blade: Party Man! Party Man!

Rock a Party Like...Nobody Can!

*Garrett suddenly came across a rather attractive statuette on a raised display stand. It was a statuette of a femal dancer. She had her arms outstretched christ-like and one foot high in the air to her rear. Garrett immediately began to immitate the pose mockingly hopping on the one foot...*

Rules and Regulations...No Place In This Nation!

Party Man! PARTY MAN!

*Garrett suddenly dreqw his hand across his chestin opposite directions, then flung out sideways, knocking the statuette off it's display stand. As it did, there was a loud, seemingly authorative knock on the door. At first garrett did not hear the knock, so the officer peeped his head round the door. Garrett saw this and stopped...looking very dissappointed and full of adrenaline...*

Yes Officer? What is it?

Admiral Blade! We have received a transmission from the Noghri Commander on the away team sir! He has arrived at the stated co-ordinates and wishes you to confirm the mission orders, sir!

Alright then! I'll be there in a moment!

*The officer was dismissed whilst Garrett continued to listen to the song for a few minutes. When it finished, Garrett left the art gallery and headed towards the makeshift headquarters a few hundred metres away from the gallery...*

[Admiral Roebuck]

Almost a day had passed and the fleet lead by Admiral Roebuck had not yet arrived at Byss, he was hoping he hadn't missed any important transmissions from Garrett Blade regarding the status of the Noghri Commando's on Tralus, they should be nearing the ground defence control center by now. Timing was crucial for this plan to work and the middle-aged Admiral was well aware of it and although he was concerned, externally he didn't seem to show much discomfort other than his infrequent pacing of the bridge.

Soon he had grown tired of his pacing and was more relaxed than earlier, he slowed to a halt to look out the window on his bridge. Whenever he was troubled by something he could always find comfort in resting his warm, clammy forehead on the icy glass and look on as the brilliant vortex of white and blue swirled with enchanting beauty. It wasn't long until he was completely drawn into the stunning, deep sight of hyperspace and his attention was completely diverted and slowly, his eyes began to feel heavy, his weight was supported solely by the large panel of glass and he drifted into a hazey sleep.

In what seemed like a split second, his eyes suddenly sprung open and his entire body jerked, realising he was not lying in bed but standing at the front of his bridge. He gasped with shock as the beauty before him died and dissipated into dull streaks of light and finally the ever familiar view of the heavy, black canvas dotted with glittering white was seen once again. He sighed.

"Admiral, we have just recieved a transmission from Admiral Blade, his fleet is in position after closing in on the Correlian Sytem at Sullust. Any orders sir?" informed the Commander on the bridge, he stood patiently whilst Roebuck gave it a thought.

"First of all Commander, send this incrypted message to Admiral Blade and secondly, request an update on the progress of the Noghri. Tell him, the Victory Star Destroyer mark 023 will be en route to the Correlian System within the next fifteen minutes." he answered, his voice strengthened as he gradually regained his awareness after that brief snooze.

"Yes sir, immediately." the Commander said, taking a small datapad from the Admiral which contained the encrypted message. He saluted and strided off the bridge.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Several minutes later the encrypted message was transmitted through a discreet signal to the ship on which Admiral Blade was stationed.

[Garrett Blade]

*Garrett sat slumped lazily in the command chair of the Imperial Mark 2 Star Destroyer. The communications officer on the bridge called to him...*

Admiral Blade! Sir, I have an incoming encrypted message from Admiral Roebuck. Shall I start the decryption process?

Yes Officer!

*The young officer instantly obliged. After a minute or two, the ensign handed a datapad to Garrett, who read the message quickly...*

Blade, the VSD masquerading as the diplomatic vessel will arrive at Tralus within the next twenty minutes of you recieving this message. The Noghri MUST be in place by this time and must go undetected. Their orders are as follows, the moment that VSD enters Tralus's atmosphere they must have control of the ground defences and open fire on our VSD and crippple it. The losses are unimportant and there is no diplomatic representetive as you know. Once the ship is destroyed or incapacitated, the Noghri Commando's must have a prediscussed escape route. The operation must be covert and the sedatives must wear off on those Tralian gunmen the moment the Noghri are out of sight. The gunmen will remember nothing and will probably be executed. By then, my fleet will be in hyperspace, wait for my signal for yours to follow.

Sincerely,

Admiral Roebuck.

*Garrett pondered the orders for several seconds before turning to the Ops officer on the bridge...*

Officer! Get me an update on the situation planetside stat!

*The narrow ventilation system was blindingly black. A group of twelve Noghri Death Commando's moved silently through the darkness. They were less than five minutes away from the control room. Meanwhile, three more Noghri Death Commandos were just outside the auxiliary entrance to the Planetary Defense Power generator facility. The three grey, wet glistening heads were inches from the metal blast doors. Suddenly, the blast doors parted and the Noghri rushed through the small gap that appeared. Six security guards instantly dropped to the floor as six dripping wet poisonous blades were thrusted into their necks at an incredible speed. Then, a squad of twelve Naval troopers rushed in through the security doors and began to fire upon the Noghri. Their lightning-quick reactions abled them to leap out of their line of fire and onto a walkway several metres above the floor. One of the Noghri dropped down and eliminated two of the threats by slashing across their chests with his razor sharp claws. A second Noghri set his stun rifle to spray mode and aimed at three more troops. They fell to the floor also. The seven remaining troopers were quickly dispatched by the death commandos*

*Whilst this was happening, the other Noghri were at the ventilation control system next to the ventilation entrance grating. The phoxytrophylyn hongadroxide canister was now attached to the oxygen control system. They now waited for the signal to move in...*

The three death commando's had hacked into the power distribution system. With the flick of a switch the lighting and security systems were disabled in the Planetary Defense Control center. At first the operators there thought nothing of it, which was essential for the operation to succeed. A split second later, the ventilation fans reset themselves and began blowing sedative knockout gas into the control room. The people dropped like flies. A few seconds later the Noghri stepped into the room via the ventilation grating on the back wall to the control center. Time was short and the VSD was moments from entering the system. The Noghri worked hastily to override the command protocols ready tooexecute the mission. After only three minutes and forty-nine seconds the Noghri commandos had full control of all planetary defenses - a new record! The planetary shields were reduced to 10 percent and set to the lowest resistence levels. Power had been diverted to the planetary turbolasers to ensure a hasty annihilation of the VSD once it arrived. All was set mere seconds before the VSD openned a comm channel with air traffic control...*

"This is Victory Star Destroyer mark 023 requesting clearance to enter the atmosphere."

[Admiral Roebuck]

"VSD Mark 023, this is Tralus Air Traffic Control; please state the reason for your request to enter our atmosphere." came the reply from the facility, upon recieving the transmission, Captain Arkon took a small datapad in his hand and opened a comm frequency with the facility. He commenced reading the datapad.

"Tralus Air Traffic Control, this is Captain Arkon of the VSD Mark 023 of TSO Naval Forces. We came here on a diplomatic mission from Correlia by request of Senator Baloraz. Over." he read the text with professional precision and clarity, he waited, an eery silence haunted the bridge whilst they awaited confirmation.

A few moments had passed and finally the voice of the Officer was heard, seeming somewhat more humble this time.

"Captain Arkon, permission to enter our atmophere is granted." he announced which was accompanied by a a syncronised sigh of relief on the bridge. The officer continued, "Please proceed to the following co-ordinates where you will find a large enough space to temporarily land in our upper atmosphere."

"Thank you officer. We shall commence landing immediately." declared the young captain. He terminated the comm link.

"Begin landing pro..."

"Sir!" interupted the leuitenant alongside him, discreetly whispering into his ear, "I appologise for the interuption but what exactly are our orders once we land? We have no diplomatic representative onboard!"

The captain shook his head slightly at the question and quietly answered, "I'm afraid, I too have been left in the dark on this one. My orders from Admiral Blade are to enter the atmosphere and land in the upper atmosphere. What I do know is those spies intercepted a transmission from Senator Baloraz and used it as aurthorisation to land somehow." he sighed, paused to make sure no-one had been listening then finished, "Well, orders are orders."

"Yes sir." the leuitenant acknowledged, raising his voice, he said, "Commence landing procedu

With that the VSD began it's slow descent towards the planet, breaking orbit of Tralus. The large ship finally entered the atmosphere, Arkon had one order left to carry out, one which he had doubts about.

"Commander, as a sign of goodwill and by direct orders of Admiral Roebuck..." he froze, contemplating his next words, his voice quivered a little; "Lower shields!"

At this all personel fell silent and turned to their Captain.

"Sir?" questioned the smartly dressed Commander, with a severe look of worry on his face.

"You heard me. We've had our orders now lower the shields Commander!" he snapped back in defense.

The officer turned doubtfully in his seat and with some hesitation, began lowering the shields, whilst the bridge was silent dor a moment. He finally confirmed "Done sir!"

"Good!" answered his superior, he turned to look out the window continuing, "Now lets see what old Roebuck has up sleeve this he froze with deadly silence as the missile sped towards the bridge.

With a piercing scream the large projectile ripped through the bridges hull and in no time at all there was an explosion which echoed throughout the skies as the bridge was torn apart in one blinding flash of light.

Across the rest of the ship, sirens sounded and lights flickered, the enormous body of the vessel began to tilt as it slowly at first, then gaining momentum, plummeted towards the ground. Nose first the ship fell, breaking the clouds the habitants of a nearby city looked on in terror as they witness a VSD plummet out of control from the sky, enormous flames leabing from where the bridge was once.

Suddenly, the nearby ground defenses came to life and began targetting throughout the surrounding cities, their operators bewildered and without control. Finally, all turretts were in position and opened fire. Unanimously, they hurled a volley of red light at the falling body, all of which upon impact ripped through the ships structure. A second volley shortly followed, continuing to demolish the VSD on it's rapid descent.

On the third volley of heavy turbolaser fire there was a deafining roar across the sky as the enormous ship was torn apart some thousand metres from the planets surface. In a firey ball it hit the ground, drilling a huge, deep crater into the crust of Tralus, throwing a tidal wave of dust and soil towards the neighbouring cities.

Eventually, the dust began to settle and dissipated showing the devatation of the diplomatic vessel before them. There were no survivors.

One habitant turned to another in a small café and said; "Jeez! This is gonna cause some trouble!"

Damn right!

[Garrett Blade]

*As the volley of laser blasts died, a transport lying idle in an abandonned open-cast mine powered up its engines. The pilot nodded in acknowledgement to the officer on board. The young officer held a comlink to his lips and spoke softly into the device...*

Noghri squads Alpha and Beta. Mission accomplished, the VSD has been destroyed. I repeat - mission accomplished, the VSD has been destroyed. Rendezvous with Lambda Shuttle Epsilon immediately! Proceed back through the ventilation system up to junction T-14. There you will fing a hatch nearby, leading down to the sewage system. Follow the tunnels north until you emerge in the mines. We will be roughly two kilometres from the opening. Epsilon out!

The Noghri Commander deactivated his comlink as he turned to the other members of the squad. He gestured to them, and they responded by placing all the personnel back at their stations whilst they were unconscious, and quietly made their way back into the ventilation shaft, and made their way to the shuttle.*

*As the Noghri arrived at the opening, the personnel in the defense facilities were beginning to come around. They sttod up unsteadily, feeling disorientated and having no memory of what happened prior to the lights going out. Suddenly, an authorative bagning could be heard at the main entrance to the control room. One of the guards rushed over and unlocked the door. The blast doors parted to reveal a great number of troops and police units. One of the commanding officers stepped forward and addressed the personnel...*

Boy, are you guys gonna wish you neve did that!

[Admiral Roebuck]

Some hours had passed since the destruction of the Victory Star Destroyer of the Sith Order. There were rescue teams frantically rummaging through the remainders of what was an immense capital ship; perhaps in hope that the saving of a few lives would reduce the risk of any conflict between the Tralus Government and TSO.

Already there were large numbers of protesters gathered outside the Tralus Military Embassy, in angry objection to the way in which they responded to the diplomatic vessel from Correlia. Suddenly, the doors to the embassy flew open and out ran three well gaurded. high ranking officers who were rapidly escorted into an awaiting shuttle and were hurriedly taken away, into the skies. At this the crowd were silenced with both doubt and worry. The soldiers quickly ran back into the embassy and the doors slammed shut.

Suddenly, to the crowds terror, powerful sirens blasted throughout the city, as they did every city in the Northern Hemisphere of Tralus, their scream was unmistakeable and haunting. Soon all the streets on Tralus were empty as it's inhabitants either fled underground or indoors. The report lived up to their fears, a large TSO Fleet had just left hyperspace and was nearing Tralus.

[Garrett Blade]

*The shuttle had, moments ago, left the surface of Honoghr and set course for the Super Star Destroyer, flagship of Beta fleet, in orbit, accompanied by most of Beta Fleet itself. Garrett sat lazily in the luxurious chair as the shuttle neared the capital ship, when a trnasmission was received from the bridge of the SSD...*

Govenor Blade, we have just received word that the Commando team has safely left the planet and has rendezvoused with Task Force Three. Also, Admiral Roebuck is en route to the target!

Excellent news Liuetenant! Prepare for hyperspace on my arrival at the bridge, signal the fleet.

*The transmission ended. Quickly, Garrett's shuttle arrived in the SSD's hanger, and within minutes Garrett was on the bridge and the first task force of Beta Fleet set off into hyperspace to rendezvous with task force two of beta fleet...near Tralus...*

[Admiral Roebuck]

Within moments the entire task force had ammassed itself in orbit of Tralus; upon arriving the Dreadnaughts manouvered about the planet with strategic precision whilst the other capital ships remained clustered together in an assault formation. From the planets surface, the sight of these enormous ships dominated the mid-day sky, hysteria and chaos had spread across the planet in futile preparation for the inevitable.

For what seemed like an eternity the ships remained still and inactive with a haunting silence. Meanwhile, onboard the bridge of the Super Star Destroyer, Admiral Roebuck was giving the final commands to innitiate the assault. All present stood to attention, eagerly awaiting to go into battle and listened to Roebuck as he paced up and down the bridge. His ever calm attitude was as impressive as usual whilst he addressed the fleet.

"First of all, I want all dreadnaught fire to be focused on the planetery shield; accompanied by turbolaser fire from the Star Destroyers a single Gen-Core II can't last long and will shortly burn out. During which time, Ion Cannon Fire will bombard the energy shield. However, if before that starfighters are launched then inevitably, the particle shields will have to be deactivated. If this is done, we will have fifteen Droids on the shields perimeter and the moment the shields go down they'll pass through, cloaked and aid our efforts. Once the particle shielding ios down, we'll send in the TIE's and begin landing our ground forces under fighter cover. Soon, Tralus will be under TSO control."

The room was in silent agreement, until he finally gave the order, "Commence the assault!"

At this the room sprung to life and all crew went to work. Within a minute the planetary bombardment begun, volley after volley of turbolaser fire was unleashed upon the planetary shield whilst Ion Cannon bombardment penetrated the shields and reigned havok upon the planetary defences. The sky was set on fire and burned bright from the ungodly power being unleashed upon the planet.

And soon enough, the launching of the opposing starfighters begun. At this, Roebuck gave Commander Shabayev the signal and seconds later all fire ceased and all fell silent.

"Launch the droids."

[Garrett Blade]

*A small taskforce emerged from hyperspace on the other side of Tralus. An Imperial II Star Destroyer accompanied by four ISD's shot back into realspace just beyond high orbit of the planet. It was night on this side of the planet, so hopefully the populace had not been notified of recent events in too much detail. The four ships had taken up a pyramid formation, protecting the command ISD II in the centre, which Garrett was aboard.*

*Literally five seconds after the ships has emerged from hyperspace, a standard hail was sent out on TSO's common fleet frequency. Several seconds later, a transmission was recieved, though it wasn't groundbreakingly clear due to the planet being between the two task forces. Garrett was greeted by Admiral Roebuck appearing on the viewscreen, sitting in his command chair...*

"Good afternoon Admiral Blade. I'm so glad you could make it!"

Good evening Admiral Roebuck. Might I say you're looking very smart tonight!

"Yes you may! Hahaha! Anyway, pressing onwards as we must do! Would you like an update on the current situation?"

*Garrett swivelled slightly as he sat in his command chair...*

That would be much appreciated Admiral!

*Roebuck stood up out of his chair as Garrett said this, and began to pace back and forth.*

"We have, only moments ago, conducted a bombardment of the planetary defenses. Our ion cannons have penetrated the GenCore shields, only level II-class, and caused some problems with their systems for the time being. Meanwhile, our Dreadnaught turbolaser fire has dealt moderate damage to planetary shield integrity, and the enemy is launching fighters to intercept the task force. This means that they will be momentarily lowering the particle shields, which will allow us to send our fighters to intercept their own. At the same time we shall begin landing our ground forces as we attempt to capture key strategic locations to give us a firm holding on some territory..."

*Garrett seemed rather disappointed that Roebuck was getting to deal with all the action, as he had been hoping to have a bit of a clash in space too. Then, Roebuck smiled, then continued...*

"Oh don't look at me like that old boy! You didn't really think I'd let you miss out on all the fun did you!?!?!? Of course you didn't! Now then...our current scans tell us that the enemy has just launched a small task force from a base near your position, accompanied by fighter escorts, to engage your task force. Intelligence reports 9 Marauder Light Corvettes and 6 Carrack Light Cruisers, as well as at least a wing of fighters. I trust your task force will be able to handle that, what with your current fleet roster..."

*Garrett finished for him...*

Well...at the moment my entire task force is not present. The rest of the roster should be arriving momentarily...

"Well until then I'm afraid you'll have to make do! I'm transmitting a copy of our current intelligence reports on their ground-based defences. proceed with the best course of action as you see fit and at your discretion. Roebuck out!"

*The image of Roebuck vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared mere moments ago. garrett then quickly spun around in his leather command chair and addressed the three lieutenants behind him...*

Alright men, here's the situation! We have a moderately sized fleet heading this way. We'll have to put up with them until the rest of the task force arrives, but they shouldn't be much longer now. In the mean time I want all fighters ready to launch in five, alert all boarding parties and ion control stations. Our primary objective will be to disable as many of the Carrack Cruisers and corvettes as we can. Primary targets are the Carrack Cruisers, corvettes are secondary. Beta Fleet has waited too long for expansion and tonight is the perfect opportunity for it! Once the rest of the task force arrives they will launch fighters to aid ours, and the capital ships will aid in the disabling of those ships.

*Garrett spontaneously stoof up out of the comfy-looking chair...*

Thats phase one! Once we have received word that the planetary shields are down we can commence landing our own troops. When that does happen, I will lead Blade Squadron into battle myself. The best course of action first will be to knock out the power - that will leave them virtually defenceless for a long period of time - more than enough time for us to occupy the planet. Alright then people...lets make it happen!

*Garrett dismissed the men, then sat back down and spun back to face the viewscreen. He could clearly see the glossy-white hulls of the corvettes coming into visual range...*

[Admiral Roebuck]

Several seconds later, sensors indicated that the planetary shield was down. Instantly, fighters screamed upwards from the planet to intercept the task force. TIE's roared out of the fleets' hanger bays and speeded to meet the feeble fighters of the planet. The two masses of fighters merged to form one immense lattice of starfighters between Roebucks taskforce and the planet itself. As they did, the squadron of Shadow Droids made their move quickly. Under cloak, they proceeded down to the planet, clearing the planetary shield threshold mere moments before the shield was raised again.

Commander Shabayev led her TIE Defender squadron into the heart of the dogfight with added zeal. A pair of Authority IRD Fighters locked onto her tightly, and were proving difficult to shake off. Two of the other members of the squadron acknowedged her alert and manouvered into position. They lined themselves up so that Shabayev would fly right between them as they soared towards each other. As she zoomed past, both of them fired a single concussion missile each towards the center of them. The two projectiles detonated as they collided, but the Authority IRD Fighters were cunningly caught in the blast and did not emerge from the ball of fire. The flaming ball dissipated as the two Defenders rushed past each other to rejoin formation with Shabayev.

A squadron of Skipray Blastboats were a few seconds away from firing a volley of Pulse Mag Bombs at one of the Dreadnaughts. Though only slow-moving, the bombs would deal critical damage to the old vessel, since the hull strength on Rendili StarDrive Dreadnaughts was significantly weak compared to todays standards. Shabayev's squadron intercepted the Skipray Blastboats, wiping out the entire squadron in a hail of green laser fire. However, they were not fast enough - a large salvo of 48 Pulse Mag Bombs were now headed towards the Dreadnaught - more than enough to destroy it in one go. Thinking quickly, Shabayev and the rest of her squadron quickly turned their ships around and headed towards the payload at high speed. As the fighters lined up behind the bombs, Shabayev gave out orders to blast the missiles with everything they had - not worrying about missing and hitting the Dreadnaught in front seen as though Starfighter laser would prove to be useless against the hull of the great ship. With surgical precision, the salvo of bombs errupted into a soaring inferno - hundreds of metres away from the nearest capital ship.

After only a few minutes, Shabayev's squadron alone had wiped out half the enemy fighters, whilst the rest of the wings had taken care of an additional 47 percent of threat vessels. The remaining three percent proved no match for the superior numbers of Imperial Fighters. Just as things had been going well above the planet, the operation on the surface was being carried out with similar success.

Fifteen shadows were cast upon the ground, moving at an alarming speed. All the time, the shadows were exactly the same distance apart, not once faultering. The Shadow Droids were constantly flying at an altitude of 100 metres, never raising or lowering at all. They were less than three kilometres from the shield generator now. After passing over a wide river, the Shadow Droids met their only opposition. Several rows of anti-air weapon emplacements separated the Shadow Droids from the shield generator. Not that they would prove much of a problem for the Shadow Droids - but they were in a hurry and din't have time to be messing around fighting SAM turrets. The Shadow Droids initiated their cloaking devices and, just to be safe, fell to an altitude of only 25 metres. Within less than thirty seconds the Shadow Droids had cleared the danger zone and made it to the shield generator. Sooner than waste time any longer, each Shadow Droid fired a single concussion missile at the shield generator, before turning to head back up to the fleet. Seconds later, the installation errupted into a mass of fire and dust. The emitter dish burned white-hot before collapsing to the ground, crushing several buildings underneath it.

Now that the shield had been neutralised, Roebuck gave the order to begin the landing procedure. Waves upon waves of troop transports and landing barges emerged from the hanger bays and made their way down to the planets surface. Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet, Admiral Blade was getting restless...

[Garrett Blade]

Argh! Why are they taking so long?

*Garrett had been like this for the past fiften minutes. He thought that the fleet would have been engaged by now, but he overestimated their speed. Only now were the fighters coming into range. Finally, Garrett gave the order to launch all fighters. Three wings of TIE Interceptors, a single wing of TIE Bombers and a single wing of TIE Defenders launched from the bellies of the five Star Destroyers that made up Garrett's taskforce. As the fighters cleared the hanger bays, the Capital ships opened fire on the Carrack Cruisers at once. Electrical discharged rippled across the grey-green hulls of the light cruisers, and before the Carrack Cruisers could bring their weapons into range, five of the six ships had been disabled. Moments later the final Carrack Cruiser was disabled, however it did manage to fire a couple of shots from its laser cannons, destroying several TIE Interceptors as a result of the volley.*

Commander, alert the assault transports to initiate boarding actions now!

*The commander relayed the command to the accompanying Star Destroyers, whos respectful commanders further relayed the orders to thew hanger bay flight control officers. In symphony, a flock of assault transports, filled with Cyborg Wookiees and ops specialists, flew out of the hanger bays and roared towards the disabled ships.*

Assault Transport Commander: "Admiral Blade, this is Commander Biker in charge of the assault fleet. We're about one and a half clicks away from the Marauder Corvettes and about to come under heavy laser cannon fire. Our ships' hulls won't be able to last against prolonged fire of that kind. We request assistance immediately, over."

*Garrett didn'r reply. Instead, he sent a signal to the TIE Defenders and TIE Bombers, who were, luckily enough, less than a click away from the transports. They immediately changed course and headed towards the corvettes. The fighters arrived mere seconds before the corvettes opened fire. Luckily, the TIE Defenders were in front of the transports when the corvettes opened fire, absorbing the incoming fire with their shields. Whilst fire was diverted amongst the Defenders, the bombers siezed the moment, launching a large salvo of concussion missiles and Mag Pulse Bombs at the ships. Having planned out the attack beforehand, the Mag Pulse Bombs passed through the shields and knocked out the shields, allowing the concussion missiles to hit the ship, blowing the power generators.*

*Minutes later, boarding parties had stormed the Carrack Cruisers and corvettes and slaugtered the crew, and Beta Fleet was now in possession on 6 new Carrack Light Cruisers and 8 Marauder Corvettes.*

"This is Admiral Blade speaking. We have captured the corvettes and light cruisers. Proceed with the planetary assault. Blade Squadron await my arrival at the hanger bay..."

[Admiral Roebuck]

Roebuck looked on from the bridge of the Super Star Destroyer to analyse the success of the landing. The eight Gallowfree Yards Medium Transports were on a gradual descent towards breaking the planets atmosphere however that was not to say that their pace was unprogressive, under the circumstances their descent was rapid. The enemy fighters were just about to intercept the landing craft when they quickly changed formation as the five wings of TIE Defenders soared in between the transports to intercept the approaching fighters.

Within moments the two forces clashed with dazzling electricity. The fighters spewed turbolaser fire which lit the hulls of the transports which were covered from any attack by the TIE Defenders.

Whilst the confrontation about the transports took place a further four wings of TIE Defenders snaked around the outskirts of the danger zone and advanced on the planet parallel to the numerous Walker Landing Barges. The planetary assault was about to commence.

Finally the Medium Transports and Landing Barges had entered the atmosphere and began landing procedures whilst the TIE Defenders screamed past and onward to intercept any fighter resistance and take out anti-military and anti-vehicle defenses.

Fighters winded in and out of cities with great speed leaving behind masses of blazing infernos that once were defensive structures. Meanwhile troops charged out of the transports in the thousands and broke into strategic groups about the planets nothern hemisphere, accompanied by the several dozen AT-AT Walkers, twice as many AT-ST's and numerous AT-PT's which were flanked by supporting speeder bikes.

The ground forces slowly but effectively began to advance from city to city until each country would declare it's loyalty to TSO.

Above the planet was a floating mass of burned metal that was once the enemy fighters and all was silent as the remaining TSO fighters had moved onto the planets surface to aid the assault.

A day had passed and almost the entire nothern hemisphere had succumed to TSO's might. Meanwhile the Beta Task Force had made some interesting progress.

[Garrett Blade]

*General Carvel sent the confirmation message simultaneously as the Walker Barges touched down on the grassy plains. The immense, black craft slowly ascended once again to reveal a pair of AT-AT Walkers beneath their dark, gloss hulls. Initially, the AT-AT's were not at their full height due to the size of the barges. But in unision, the entire battalion rose to their full towering heights and began to plod towards the city. As this was happening, yet more barges landed constantly, delivering AT-ST's and AT-PT's to the landing site, ready to participate in the battle. A large number of Imperial Landing Craft and Lambda Shuttles also landed in a large cluster. From the Lambda Shuttles emerged a sea of white-armoured troops. the stormtroopers instantly broke out into a steady sprint in an attempt to keep up with the advancing walkers. And from the landing craft - military speeder bikes. The entire army made its way to the city.*

Alright men, lets take it to 'em!

*Garrett gave the command to the rest of the squadron. A second later, the elite TIE Defender Blade Squadron lifted off the docking bay floor and shot out of the hanger bay of the ISD II and raced towards the planet. it did not take too long before the squadron was soaring above the invasion army. As expected, Tralus had deployed its own ground forces.*

*Light Repulsorlift and Heavy Track Tanks were moving to engage the TSO forces. Minutes before the enemy was in range, the AT-AT's opened fire with their chin-mounted blaster cannons and began to take out the threat vehicles. The cannons made short work of the light tanks' mediocre armour, but they were having difficulty with the heavier armour of the tracked tanks, as were the smaller cannons of the AT-ST's and AT-PT's. Whilst the smaller walkers dealt with the advancing enemy troops that were now in range, the walkers opted to use their heavier, more powerful medium blaster cannons located on the side's of the command cabin, or head as it is better known. The stronger blasts easily penetrated the heavier tank's shielding and burned through the armour like a hot knife through butter.*

Got him!

*...Garrett shouted into the comm to the other members of Blade Squadron, refering to the fighter he just destroyed moments ago. The squadron swooped low of the Bernard Manning Memorial Sewage Farm, and obliterated a row of automated gun turrets in the process. The squadron made another sweep of the city before heading back up to the command ship and allowing the army to clean up and garrison the city. it was a rather secluded city in the middle of nowhere, and the nearest other inhabited area was below the equator. it was a rather strange place to have a city...in the middle of nowhere...*

[Garrett Blade]

*The battle certainly had taken its toll. The city was nothing more than smouldering ruins. What were once great spiraling structures of metal and concrete were now nothing more than twisted, melted heaps of rubble. The attacking force had not sustaibed substantial losses, with only five AT-ST's and a single AT-AT falling to the enemy army. Now, there wasn't a single hostile unit left in the city. The TSO Battalion had triumphed over the Tralus army, and now occupied the city. It wouldn't take too long to rebuild the city with TSO's construction droids, but that would have tp wait.*

Report! *...shouted Garrett, now back on the bridge of his command ship, sitting comfortably in his chair.*

This is General Krasher, sir, of the Beta Fleet 57th Platoon! We've eliminated the enmy forces here sir, and our forces have now occupied the remains of the city. We have received orders from Admiral Roebuck to remain here until further notice, sir!

*Garrett just nodded at the remark...*

Very good, General. Congradulations on a well deserved victory! Consider yourself promoted to Beta Fleet Supreme General, General!

*Garrett terminated the transmission, nodded to the helmsman, and a second later the Beta Fleet task force disappeared into hyperspace, back to Corellia...*

[Admiral Roebuck]

After two days of non stop battle it was inevitable that the forces of Tralus would soon break and surrender what remaining territory of which they had posession. Twenty-eight countries had been claimed by TSO forces in the north whilst in the south a further twenty-three countries had been swiftly overun by Beta Fleet occupation.

Roebuck's patience was wearing thin and suddenly he stood and walked to the Commander on the bridge of the Super Star Destroyer and after a brief moments talk, the Commander turned and established a comm-channel with the rest of the fleet.

"This is Commander Theor; Victory Star Destroyers 002, 007, 012, 019 and 024 are to initiate a planetary bombardment of the remaining military facilities. The co-ordinates are being transmitted to each ship now; commence the bombardment."

The clunking sound of Roebucks boots against the cold steel walkway across the bridge echoed throughout the quiet bridge. Arriving at the main view port he watched the VSD's move immediatly to descend towards the planet. He shook his head, he was beginning to feel like the rest of the crew on his bridge; bored with the tediousness of this attack. It was simply a matter of time.

The five Victory Star Destroyers entered the planets atmosphere about the northern hemisphere and sunk into the thickening cloud and out of sight. Roebuck thought of the many military facilities which would in several minutes time be smouldering wastelands. He began a walk back to his seat where he had decided to continue to read a novel which he started several days before the attack, he didn't want to seem arrogant but there was really nothing left to do.

Several hours had passed when the Admiral's attention is drawn away from the escapades of the underground Coruscant crime lords and the smuggling dilemma at Sluis Van when an urgent transmission is recieved from Senator Palan.

In his Ready Room, Roebuck listens to the message and a satisfied grin came across his face.

"Admiral Roebuck, I, Senator Palan hereby stand down from joint leadership of Tralus and surrender our planet to TSO ruling. We can no longer afford bloodshed, what soldiers we have left are at such low morale that they have given up. The people of Tralus welcome the new ruling of TSO without any further conflict. Palan out."

At last, the conflict was over and Tralus was now claimed under TSO ruling. Roebuck relayed the news throughout his forces and sent a transmission (http://pub23.ezboard.com/fthesithorderdiscussionchamber.showMessage?topicID =540.topic) back to Correlia.

Sucess tastes good!

[Admiral Roebuck]

Two days after the conquest of Tralus and the consequent victory celebrations, talks with Talus, the sister planet of Tralus, had begun. Not in any formal diplomatic manner, simply brief chit-chat between a senator or two and the planetary governor, Mn'yek Hebrew who was very gracious when inviting a diplomatic team to begin talks with the government of Talus ever since the sequence of events at Tralus. Ironic how a planet which was originally against the Orders administrative policies has suddenly become much more welcoming since the brutal conquest at Tralus.

Nevertheless, Roebuck believed that in cases such as these diplomacy should always be tested before force, that way he is able to save troops and ships instead of unneccessarily wasting them. Now dressed in a much more formal attire of black trousers and jacket complete with shining brass buttons and the usual military additions of gold-striped sleves and smart epaulets.

He was ready for a civil mission of diplomacy with the planetary goivernor and his board of advisors. Roebuck hoped to be joined by at least to other TSO representitives for this mission whilst others who mightn't want to be so diplomatic may commence talks with the district senators and sway them to the Orders methods of planetary administration.

"All personel taking part in the diplomatic mission to Talus, please be at Hanger Bay A24 in two hours time as your shuttle will be leaving for the planet."

The message boomed throughout Roebucks Super Star Destroyer, he did enjoy such formal occasions nevertheless as always, there would be no doubt some fine dining involved.