Operation Zitadelle: The Expansion of the Empire

[Telan Desaria]

Sovereign High Command, Isle of Orrl

Throughout the morning, hundreds of officers and high ranking military-related officials had been arriving at the impregnable High Command Center. There was pomp and circumstance to it all, every man and woman in class B uniforms and saluting when needed. There was a relaxed atmosphere to it all, despite the uniform excess and ceremonial demeanor, in line with the Grand Admiral’s philosophy: battlefield precision relies on an a relationship with ones comrades, commanders, and subordinates. Platonics ensures professionalism.

Under the wide swathes of tropical trees and such was the 1st Company of the Guards, a section of the elite Guards Armored Division, whose battle record was almost matched by their rigid detail, discipline, and ceremonial attendance. They were oft seen in parade with the Grand Admiral, and where he was going to be, there could always be found. As such, it was they who were lining the ways from the shuttle landing pads and the hover port.

The officers and men milled about for just under an hour before they adjourned into the massive subterranean complex to sit in an a highly classified briefing. It was the first time that every senior officer had been gathered together.

There were over a five hundred people gathered in the Hall on rising concentric circles of desks and chairs. There were no overhead lights: the room was lit with the blue glow of isle linings. Ahead of them and behind a raised platform was an immense holoscreen. Many officers were there, their commands being run by gifted executives. Among them was Commodore Lash, One of the Bespin squadron commanders and defensive commander of Thyferra. Admiral of the Fleet Serena Laraan was as well in attendance, the commanding officer of the Carida Squadrons. Admiral Vaalt was there as well, an expert on field fortifications, and Field Marshal von Laang, senior fighter officer.

“ Attention!” called a yeoman at the rear of the hall. “ Grand Admiral Baron Telan Desaria, Supreme Commander, Sovereign Armed Services.”

Five hundred officers of various ages and branches stood rapidly and clicked their heels in unison, one giant noise that resounded throughout the cavernous room. Their eyes were locked forward, for they would all see the Grand Admiral in time.

The footfalls of the Grand Admiral and his aide could he heard as he slowly stepped forward on the metal decking between the two sections of the tiered seats. His hair was as usual, closely cropped, perfectly parted, and seemingly shinning. His jackboots were polished and his white uniform pristine.

He marched to behind the podium and turned on his heel. He placed a crystal sheet on the lectern and blinked three times in quick succession. “ Be seated.”

The many officers and several civilian officials sat and waited for the briefing to commence, which it did with its usual lack of introduction.

“ Our territory is as follows,” Desaria said, a three dimensional representation of Sovereign space coming on the screen behind the Admiral. “ In it are Carida, Bespin, and Thfyerra, as well as five other systems, three of which are inhabited. We have a total population, with the addition of Carida, of nine and a half billion. Of these, three billion are combat effectives, those being fit humanoids between the ages of 16 and 40 standard years, a scale that varies on race.

“ To our defense we have eight heavy Star Destroyers and six VSDs, all of which are in the slow process of being upgraded, but all of which are combat able. In addition, we have support vessels and other attendant ships.

“ That having been said, you all know that time is short. One day the Diktat will return and the Empire will be brought back to its full stature of majesty and regality. Order will reign again across the galaxy and victory will be a word always associated with Imperial.

“ ON that note, what do we have to show for all the time we have operated since the Fragmentation? We have rebuilt the economies on Thyferra and Bespin and increased the populations more times than anyone would have thought possible. But what have we gained in the name of the Empire? The answer is nothing, for Carida flew the Imperial Banner just as we did.

“ Therefore, we must make it so that we have much to show for our effort and toil. We must bring the definition of Imperial back to life.”

The crowd stirred somewhat at the intimation their Supreme Commander was making.

“ It is with that in mind that today I completed the plans for Operation Citadel, which will actually be a misnomer. We will not be turning our fleets around and burying them in duracrete as stationary mantle pieces of defense, but shine their hulls and prime their guns as the center of our offensive expansion!

From the audience there arose quite a clatter, but the enthusiasm was there, so it really didn’t matter.

“ I have targeted four systems that will benefit the Empire well, and so we shall take them. Not in stages, but at once in one mighty blow for the Imperial Order and Ideals. Eriadu, Bakura, Ison, and the Hilari System will all fall before the might of the Empire!!!”

The commotion grew as the names were read off and everyone’s mind had been turned to what they had been trained for: war.

After a while the tumult died down and military order reigned again. The Grand Admiral continued.

“ The First Assault Squadron under my command shall assault Eriadu and its periphery, ensuring its success. The Second Assault Squadron under Admiral of the Fleet Laran shall assault and take the Hilary System, and lay pickets for the interdiction of the Corellian Trade Spine. Commodore Lash and the Third shall take Bakura. The taking of Ison shall as well be carried out under Admiral Laran.

“ In defense of our home territory, the system defense forces shall not be drawn from. In addition, the Grand Raider Division has been withdrawn from offensive operations and refitted to act as a reactionary defense force in case of an attack. If the need should arise, however, it will act as a source of mobile reserves for the attack forces to draw from. These three assault groups will be taken from the system squadrons, themselves merely being reorganized for offensive warfare.

“ With the influx of fighters from the kingdom of Admiral Lebron and heavy defensive weaponry from Bastion, the homeworlds shall be well defended in the main fleet’s stead. With the use of acquired Balmorran war druids, we shall not need as many assault troops to accompany us, thus leaving more for defense, though the XVIII Rapid Deployment Corps will be mobilized for reserves as well for whichever attack experiences surface assault setbacks.

We shall carve out a mighty Empire on the Rim and ensure our place in galactic history as those which held true the name of Empire while she elsewhere faltered.”

It was with that that the logistics and tactical summaries began, everyone contributing ideas and suggestions to the betterment of Operation Citadel. Victory would be the Sovereignty’s.

And the Empire’s.

[imported_STELA'SHLIT'NURUODO]

Commodore Lash listened as The Grand Admiral laid out the details of the plan for expansion. He was one of he few Chiss
who accepted Thrawns preemptive Philosophy. That is why the Chiss High command had accepted his plan to join the empire.
They fear the fall of the empire and the New Republic's concern falling upon them . He would return to Csilla and report to the high command before he launched the attack on Bakura. He would also return home to Freyr. He would use It as a spring board for his Attack.

He waited for the Grand Admiral to end his speech . While doing so he noticed that Line Captain Katanor was not one of the meetings attendants. Nor was he part of the Attack plan. He did not think about it long. He was sure there was a reason . The Grand Admiral would not have let his failure to attend go without a public show of reprimand if he did not have other duties elsewhere.

As Desaria Finished his speech Lash motioned for the floor and the right to speak. Grand Admiral Desaria motioned for him to step forward. .

" Yes Commodore Lash. you my speak. "

" Thank you Grand Admiral. I have a question. What if there is third party resistance . many organizations will see this as an expansion and feel threatened by it and may try to interfere. Do the group commanders have permission to use hostile force against any obstacles?

[Telan Desaria]

The Grand Admiral arched an eyebrow at the young Chiss commander. Desaria had long interacted with non human or humanoid species, primarily on Centaur, and thus was devoid of the anti-alien bias that was prevalent in many of the older officers. Desaria oft lectured them on manpower demands and even more often in the presence of humanoid officers that outranked the offending questioners.

In such circumstnces, Field Marshal von Laang was present, the commander of the Imperial Fighter Corps. He was Falleen.

The Chiss Commodore was always fascinating to the Grand Admiral, having only been one of a dozen he had ever communicated with. He was direct, precise, and brilliant. He was everything he expecte from his subordinates. Lash was not afraid to dirty his hands with his men, either.

" Commodore, proceed at your own discretion. If you are being monitored by probes, let them live. If they blink in a threatening way..."

The Grand Admiral's voice lost all precision and discipline and took a sinister tone.

"...Eliminate them."

[imported_STELA'SHLIT'NURUODO]

" Very well then. That is my only question. "

Lash did not want to go looking for a fight but If it came to him he would finish it. He steeped back as others sought for the grand Admirals Attention. Many ask What effect the expansion would have on current assignments,others just of the plan in general. He was no fool There was more to this expansion then Desaria was telling. He knew the Grand Admiral was a man of constant planning. He had no doubt there were forces at play no one knew of. Plans in action no one could imagine.

He would take Bakura and then any other planet needed to strengthen the empire. And he would wait to see what plans were in fact preceding behind the scenes of this expansion.

[Telan Desaria]

As Commodore Lash resumed his place in his seat, the Grand Admiral had only one thought: that man will earn more than the Imperial Cross.

" Baron Admiral," called Captain Longstin, commander of the Illustrious-class Star Destroyer Imperious and Centaurian-born officer. " Will the opening tactics of the campaign be the same for all the planets?"

" Yes. A sentry ship shall enter and give them one half hour to join the Empire. If they do, move in and garrison the world. If they assume an offensive posture or declne or invitation, assault ad take the world. How and at what pace is at the battle group commander's discretion.

" Our goal is clear. Victory."

[Sovereign Officer]

The Imperial Fleet that was above Thyferra and spread across the Sovereignty was small in comparison to even one Division in the Imperial Navy one year before. Now, however, with the Fleet off scoring unknown victories against the Yuuzhan Vong aside the Republic’s, and nearly all others in the wake of the lightning Vong attack, the Imperial Fleet under Grand Admiral Desaria was mighty indeed. Together with the less type craft, a pair over a dozen Star Destroyers flew the Imperial Banner.

Among them was the Victory-class Star Destroyer Vigilance, auxiliary command ship to the Carida Squadron. It was an oddity when compared to the older VSDs, for she was the IV model of the line, at over a thousand meters and bereft of the atmospheric steering vanes that typified her earlier sisters. While still able to descend and give battle to a surface force, she was now equally matched to fight in space with a well-powered engine and improved reactor. While she was slated for an extensive refit and upgrade to Mark V status, she was still among the most potent warships below the Imperial-class line.

Towering literally over the helm of the Vigiliance was Captain Aurelius, a mountain of a man without a left arm. With the remaining one, however, he is rumored to have thrashed three men into submission.

An able commander, he was powerful and naturally resilient, a product of a lifetime under Carida’s higher than normal gravity. These were traits he instilled in every man in his command. As an officer of great standards, he knew every name of every man on the ship, playing poker with technicians and range-hoping with storm troopers, whose names he as well remembered, but only after mask removal.

“ Captain,” called an Ensign whose voice possessed faint reminders of a Coruscant native. The larger Captain turned and greeted Walther Trell with a smile.

“ Yes?”

“ Sir, we have received orders to move to Position D-16 A.”

“ Thank you, Ensign.”

Aurelius was more than aware of what lay at that remote location, having spent the last two days on Thyferra going over briefings and listening to lectures during a refresher of sorts. His warship would depart post haste to rendezvous with others.

And prepare for the next Imperial War.

“ Lieutenant Hughes, lay in a course for D-16 A if you please. Matthis, commence the pre-planned weapons checks and drills.” The Captain turned to his executive officer, a dark skinned Nurian. “ It has begun, Char.”

“ So it has.”

Within moments the warship was thundering away from Carida in the vast vacuum of hyperspace, not knowing that three other Caridan ships would join it within the next week.

What none of them knew was how many would return.

[Telan Desaria]

The Empire had long fielded thousands of Star Destroyers and millions of support craft ranging in size from light frigates and customs cruisers to massive cruisers and spherical terrors. They had been the scourge of the galaxy, wreaking havoc and enforcing the Emperor’s will wherever there was fallacy.

The Empire, as it existed now, had no more than a hundred Star Destroyers spread out between a dozen dominant factions and hundreds of smaller, near insignificant fiefdoms.

Correction: one hundred and one. The Imperial V-class Star Destroyer Vengeance was the first larger warship to be deployed from the roughly-fabricated Drive Yards above Thyferra. A strictly military yard, it had no name in the consumer market. In fact, there were few outside the Imperial Sovereignty who knew of its existence. Those were either traders who dealt specifically with the Sovereignty or the heads of the foreign Intelligence divisions, whose sole job it was to maintain watch over the Empire and it‘s priming for resurgence.

The Vengeance, along with the ISD V Interrogator, the Sovereignty’s flagship, were two of the three most modern three Imperial warships in the galaxy. While the Imperial Fleet was absent during a prolonged war, there were the two Sovereign Mark V Star Destroyers and the Plutarch-class Command Star Destroyer under the banner of Grand Admiral Millard.

Fitting with its great status of great warship and symbol of power, the vessel had been placed under the command of Admiral of the Fleet Serena Laran, the executive officer of the Sovereign Navy. She would take it on her conquest of the Hilari System. From her bridge, the Lady Admiral would bring more glory to the Empire.

“ Imposing, is it not?” the Grand Admiral asked several gathered government ministers in the port conference room aboard the Interrogator.

“ It is indeed, Grand Admiral,” replied the Minister of Internal Finance. His department had shifted budgeting so that the cost of producing the Destroyer would not significantly erase the Imperial Military Treasury. There had been less personal profit for the state-controlled bacta companies during the previous quarter as the Ministry dipped into its untapped wealth.

“ Many more will be built in the weeks and months to come. We are perpetually at war, and must replace our losses. More than that, we must expand.”

“ Of course, Grand Admiral.”

Desaria hated the fact that the men he had appointed to the First Cabinet could be no less formal with him when he desired it. When protocol demanded regality, the Grand Admiral and Baron was fully able to perform and enjoyed so; during times of less formality, he enjoyed the company of close friends, a past time not found much as the ruler of a galactic power.

“ Attention all Hands: non-military personnel are ordered to commence departure procedure. Interrogator will depart in one hour.”

The Shipcomm rang through every quarter, hall, and gunwale in the ship. It was with the announcement that the attending Thyferran delegation departed the warship. Minutes later, Grand Admiral Desaria was in his usual stance, legs apart and hands clasped behind his back on the catwalk of the bridge.

Captain Voltaire joined the Admiral.

“ All preparations are complete, Admiral.”

“ Status on attendants?”

“ All Tigers have been prepped and readied.”

“ Then we are ready to depart?”

Captain Voltaire looked oddified, for the ship had another half hour before she was scheduled to depart. Bemused but obedient, he turned to the Ship Operations officer who was the one voice who relayed all actions and faults of the ship to her captain. He nodded.

“ All civilians have departed already. We can depart at any time.”

“ Then let us do so. Eriadu will not wait forever.”

“ As ordered sir. Jumpmaster! Commence with sequence.”

The bridge began all the final countdowns for the hyper jump. When all was ready, the Interrogator, six Tiger-class System monitors, and two frigates vanished, bound for a rendezvous with the fleet. It would be a small armada that would comprise the First Assault Flotilla, but nonetheless, there was not a force that could muster fast enough to oppose it.

[Serena Laran]

Aboard the ISD Vengeance, Fleet Admiral Serena Laran of the Imperial Sovereignty paced in her ready room. The Second Assault Squadron had jumped to hyperspace twenty minutes previously. Their course traced the Corellian Trade Route, but it would take two full days at hyperspeed to reach the Hilari System, her first target.

She forced herself to stop pacing, and sat down at her desk, stretching her long legs underneath and picking up a datapad. Laran took a few minutes to review the occupation plans. The Vengeance was fully equipped with ground forces and All Terrain vehicles, and other equipment. Her communique with Grand Admiral Desaria had occured behind closed doors, as she recieved her orders.

Her captains knew their orders already, and were adept at carrying them out, so there was nothing to worry about there. Serena couldn't quite shake a slight feeling of unease, however, as the small fleet under her command moved towards the Hilari system.

It's just pre-mission cold feet. Serena adjusted her crisp uniform, and walked out to the bridge.

"Admiral on deck!" An ensign saluted, and she returned the gesture, Captain Faust walking up to her.

"Admiral." His black eyes held a hint at humor, which he wisely kept in check around Laran. At 5'11" he had to look up to his senior officer, but he seemed not to mind. "The jump to hyperspace was excecuted flawlessly. The Interdictor pickets are thirty seconds ahead of the main assault group."

She nodded, "Very well. Thank you, Captain." Laran nodded to Faust, and then left the bridge in his hands. She had a day and a half to perfect her assault. The system was large, with twelve planets in all, but only two inhabited planets, which made their job easier. Serena entered a turbolift and rode it down towards her quarters.

[Telan Desaria]

Eriadu was a planet of immense wealth and industrial infrastructure. It was rumored that to purchase her immense manufacturing complexes at once would have halved the Imperial Treasury at the height of its prestige: one month before the Battle of Endor.

The planet, as it stood now, had not expanded in the size of its industrial area, but merely torn down its pre-existing mold to replace it with one of increased capacity and technological immensity. Many of the new companies had downsized their work forces by ninety percent, replacing billions of jobs with automation and droid labor. Those affected had not launched strikes or picketed industrial offices; as a solution, coyly plotted by the government through a massive education propaganda campaign, the displaced workers had turned their trade to the things that we required to fuel the automated machine. Many lift drivers had become electro-mechanic specialists, many supervisors converted to office administration.

Over a ten year period, the former capital world of Oversector Outer and the home of Grand Moff Tarkin had quadrupled its gross global profit whilst expenditures dropped drastically. As ways of averting high taxes, the improved production masters donated to society and used their automated might to rebuild the civilian centers of major cities and outlying areas. Parks were created, streets cleaned, and smog reduced. The quality of life thus improved, and immigration accelerated, as there were more techno-savvy teenagers looking for jobs than middle aged humanoid foundry workers.

The Armed Defense Corps of Eriadu led something to be desired, however, as was the case with most galacticly unaligned worlds. She had one planetary shield that acted as an umbrella over the western continents, the generator old and failing. The eastern continents, while not having the population centres that the west had, possessed the majority of the planet’s agricultural foundations. The loss thereof would have resulted in rapid and rampant starvation.

Secondly, the level of space superiority fighters and capital craft the Government could field was minimal and completely unsuited for combat; the did excel that their primary purpose of anti piracy and customs enforcement, the purpose for which they had been created.

The Army of the Defense Corps was of a different quality entirely. To save money and increase public awareness, the Army acted as a police force, with all the benefits and none of the detriments thereof. The Army enforced civilian laws and answered to civilian authorities in those matters. Totaling in number just over ten million, the force was astonishingly well prepared. Every unit had drilled on its own level and in simulations of much larger scale engagements. Their fully armored assault divisions could be deployed anywhere at a moment’s notice, and their equipment was first rate. Their only flaw was a fatal inability to defend against orbital bombardment.

Such was the flaw that the Grand Admiral had planned to exploit.

“ The planetary shield that encompasses less than one half of the planet is, despite its age, invulnerable to orbit bombardment. Only a concerted effort by this task force for the better part of a week would bring it down.

“ To side step such an injudicisious waste of time, the XVII Assault Corps shall make a diversionary landing in Pomerania, a province of an island continent in the east. When their army concentrates to deal with the pocket, another force, the XXX Light Corps shall land in Jull-anka, a rugged, mountain region three hundred kilometers north of the XVII. This will draw further enemy forces from our primary target: the enemy shield generator.

“ It lies under the heart of the shield, and thus can only be eliminated by fighters or a surface assault. Getting our forces in range to destroy the generator would whittle away what troops we can bring to bear. Casualties would be at least seventy percent in such an assault.”

“ Admiral, how will my men make it there then?” asked General Davvlinn, the commander of the two hundred thousand assault troops earmarked for the operation, most of whom were sitting in a massive armada of heavy Kuati troop transports twenty minutes behind the First Assault Flotilla.

“ Simply, General, they will not. For now, they will be used as a diversion only. When the troops land, they will escorted by a massive number of fighters each, a fact I do not intend to conceal from the Eriadu Defense Forces. They must notice this, and will thusly pull most of their heavy anti-air defenses from their city-based garrisons and tote them along to our landing field to save what they can as far as men go from our excellent Fighter Corps.

“ When we have established the presence of concentrated aerial defenses around the two Imperial Corps, a flotilla of fighters and assault bombers will slip under the shield and eliminate the generator station.”

There was a chorus of agreements and surprise from the seated officers who would all be directly related to the offensive.

One more stroke of simply, yet masterful, battlefield control.

General Davvlinn, however, had one more concern. “ And if they do not move their aerial defenses?”

The Admiral looked on his subordinate with an iron gaze. “ Then their army shall feel the full force of an Imperial Planetary Siege and it shall be your troops to destroy that generator. Either way, it will be destroyed.”

The Admiral had spoken, and all conversation ended. There was no must. There was only victory.

[Telan Desaria]

The ability of the Imperial Sovereignty to combat its enemies or further its expansionist ambitions had never been reduced by the loss of a single capital warships or defeat. Thus far, it had gained the military laurel as one of only one hundred fifteen Imperial units, detachments, or commands, to go undefeated in battle.

Grand Admiral Desaria had seen to it.

He was, however, well prepared for the eventuality of defeat, and had deigned that any such action go down as an honorable occurrence and the enemy pay for any forcing of the Empire’s Fleets from the field. To do so, the rapidly commissioned officers of the Sovereignty, drawn from the prestigious Academy on Carida and the civilian populations of the other worlds under Imperial control, were rushed into combat to prove themselves. It was they who formed the Officer Corps in the Customs and Patrol Service, a branch which constantly rotated its rolls. Officers remained there only due to incompetence and inefficiency. There, they gained valuable battle experience and were ready to assume important roles aboard the Star Destroyers and Cruisers of the Fleet.

These facts were reminded to their architect as he strode amidst a column of Departmental commanders aboard the Interrogator, their young faces fresh with zeal and the ever present yearning of the young for adventure. Adventure was a guarantee to the Soldiers and Officers of the Imperial Armed Services.

Most of the Ensigns, Junior Lieutenants, Lieutenants, and Warrant Officers were no more then ten years distant from their Supreme Commander. The exuberance of their souls and minds was only hidden by their expressionless faces, but betrayed by their eyes, fired by the experiences of a young Imperial Officer.

Along the line, the Grand Admiral stopped and spoke to the men and women, better described as girls and boys, who formed a small slice of the new core of the Empire. He conversed with them about everything that had absolutely no military bearing whatsoever. His manner and speech would have better fitted a lounge at a hotel or upscale cantina than the starboard causeway of an Imperial Sector Flagship. Sports, romance, games, favorites, entertainers and schooling were all touched on as the Admiral passed each one of the three hundred people rowed for inspection.

When it was over, the Admiral and Captain Voltaire walked aft along the causeway, the white starlines of hyperspace whizzing by on their right as the Destroyer hurtled towards Eriadu with an armada in town.

“ They are so young.”

“ We were all like that, sir.”

Voltaire, the Sovereign Regent’s Flag Captain for many years, had never stopped his formal dialogues when the either of them was on duty. Only within the confines of either’s quarters or in the Officer’s Lounge with a bottle of sundry alcohol present, did the older officer drop his formalities.

“ I know I was. But I didn’t think I was. I am merely afraid of what will happen to them in combat.”

“ They’ve all seen combat, you made sure of that.”

“ Protecting convoys and raiding pirates’ nests is not what I mean. There, victory is all but assured. Taking the battle to those who wield guns as big as we do is a different matter, entirely. Sitting by a turbo laser and watching as the broadside of a Mon Calamari Cruiser passes is nothing like firing lasers at a man flying a Corellian Corvette.”

Voltaire nodded, knowing the Grand Admiral had a point. Thus his mind wandered as the two strode together, silent.

* * *

“ Admiral, we are preparing for reversion to real space.”

“ Excellent. All pilots to their ships. Deployment orders are as follows: Defender squadrons 117 and 118 are to deploy and break into flights to escort the 74th Scimitars. Gunboat Flights I and II are to deploy, followed by our Skipray detachment.”

“ As ordered, sir,” replied the Flight Ops officer.

“ Excellent.”



Darkness gives way to Light, and the Crest of the Empire rises again under the shield of Might…

[Telan Desaria]

OOC NOTE: Due to unforeseen circumstances, the assault at Bakura is being nullified. Any mention previously made is being disregarded and the forces allocted thereto returned to aid in territorial defense.


IC


Eriadu itself was a planet with the greatness of a Core World but a location that forced its move into secondary galactic status. On a local note as far as the Outer Rim was concerned, however, she was by far, easily at the top of the roster. Her population was respectable even by Core standards. Her industry was at the top of the charts, and her people as resilient and dedicated to their personal performance as many Imperial officers and soldiers.

None of her dedication would hold her off against a determined assault. Especially from a force who had already counted her amongst her most staunch allies and knew every meter of the surface and every millimeter of what lay below.

The Empire was saddened by the Eriadu Government's decision several years before to declare its galactic independence.

Such transgression would be dealt with, and then forgiven.

* * *

The reversion to realspace took less time than expected, the full task force making minor course corrections to bring each part into perfect formation with the rest. Around the Interrogator sat two Victory-class Star Destroyers, four smaller cruisers and a dozen Tiger-class System Monitors, small little craft with a great punch in them. In the aft of the formation and jumped five minutes following the main battle force was many troop ships, each Imperial model and class. Each could carry fifty thousand Imperial troops, their weapons, vehicles, and equipment.

" Bring all weapons on line. Has the deployment been completed?"

" It has, Admiral," replied Voltaire from his crew pit station.

" Excellent. Bring the monitors to the front. I want the fleet screened. Push the sensor envelope out to the system edge. Deploy probes if neccessary."

" Aye sir," replied the Fleet Liaison Officer and the Scanner Chief.

" Admiral, we have a Defense Force response."

" Size?"

" I read two Corvettes, a Gunship, and four armed light freightors."

" Send out Monitor wings Two and Three. Let us see if Commodore Lash and his engineers have given us an excellent design."

The orders were relayed and the actions carried out.

From the semi-circle of monitors came two thirds of their number, each wing comprised of four monitors. The two wings had formed a diamond pattern, the most common used in the Imperial Navy. It was, of course, among the most effective.

The seven Eriadu ships closed with the eight Imperial ones. The officers commanding the enemy ships had more sense and ability than was typical for independent defense fleets. When they entered maximum range, they halted their momentum and loaded their launch bays, the two corvettes having ha a pair of heavy concussion missile launchers installed in their foreward sections.

The order to fire was given and four missiles blasted away. Four more followed not more than a second later. They split themselves up, distinctly heading for the leading monitor in each wing.

In defense, the order for flak fire was given, and the foreward gunners marked the missile positions, for it would be along those routes at exact instances they would flood that section with turbolaser and missile fire.

The batteries fired and the electronic countermeasures pulsed. Three of the missiles in the first wave we destroyed or deverted. One of the second wave was likewise. The first missile slammed into the TcSM D-15, shaking her violently and reducing her shields to eighty percent. The other target, the D-23, was hit as well, her shields reduced to twenty.

Redundancies kicked in and other ships' shields were slowly tacked back to normal.

Grand Admiral Desaria watched with mischevious glee from the Interrogator as the Tigers returned fire, their turbolasers and torpedo batteries cutting deep into each of the enemy's shields and into their hulls. The gunship, one corvette, and half the light freightors had been dispatched in the span of five minutes. The remaining corvette and freightor pair tipped their beams and reversed course. All three were reported to have made a hyperspace jump.

" My compliments to Commodore Lash. Well, we must now prepare to engage their fighters. Defenders to the front!"

[Telan Desaria]

It was not long after the Battle of Endor that the Imperial Navy truly realized that it lagged far behind its enemies in the field of fighters. Whilst the Imperial Fighter Corps remained, unchallanged, the largest in the galaxy, the individual craft that composed it were by far of an inferior nature. The TIEs that had long formed the backbone of the Corps were outclassed by Republic X- and E-wings, as well as the latest generation of Vong ships. The fighters, interceptors, and bombers had only one future in the post-Endor era of combat: scrap.

It was with these facts in mind that the TIE Defender and Scimitar Assault Bomber, both designed before Endor, were looked at again as the mainstay fighter and bomber of the Imperial Fleet. Due to their moderately-high cost of production, one and a half times as expensive as an X-wing in perfect order, they had been relagated to elite status, handed out to only the best units and most deserving pilots. These policies changed after battles such as Bilbringi, Sluis Van, Brentaal, Torrin, and Ellti.

Before the rise of the Re-unified Empire under the Diktat, Darth Viscera, TIE Defenders had begun to replace the aging arsenal. Over fifty percent of the Fleet's Destroyers, carriers, and cruisers, had been requipped, Interceptors being transformed into Reconnaisance craft with the addition of sizeable fuel tanks and heavier armor. TIE lns were scrapped entirely, as were the aging bombers, most of the latter meting their fate as droid piloted suicide vessels.

The warships of the Imperial Sovereignty were manned as were the Imperial ships of only a short time before. Rather than having their landing bays stripped to accomodate the droid piloted TIE Devils, so common in later construction, they were fully equipped with standard TIE wings. Intrinisc of each was four Defender squadrons, one Scimitar squad, and detachment of TIE Interceptors.

It was thus the Sovereign, and indeed, the entire Imperial Fighter Corps, was far superior in terms of quality and growing quantity than any opponent in the galaxy.

That confidence was instilled in every fighter pilot, squadron commander, and wing leader in the Fleet.

Grand Admiral Desaria smiled at that as he watched two of his Defender squadrons rocket away from the Interrogator in skirmish lines.

He knew he could count on his boys. And he would.



" Admiral, all enemy defenses have been cleared in system."

" That's what your scanners tell you, Commander."

" Sir?"

" The remainder of the defense fleet fled. This planetary system is the site of their only munitions depots, repair yards, and more importantly, their homes. we have not seen the last of them. While what they can offer is no more than a nuiscance, it is till a threat."

" Yes sir."

" Admiral, the troop transports have arrived."

" Excellent, Captain. There are two worlds in this system that have been garrisoned and need to be neutralized. Quickly. If my sources are correct, each one of them has a battery of five planetary turbolasers. "

Captain Voltaire looked bemused, but had no intention of arguing. If he said turbolasers were present, than they were.

" Dispatch Squadron 4 and the 24th Scimitars. Begin reconnoitering the surface. As soon as a garrison or battery emplacement is located, commence an attack and reinforcements will arrive."

" Sir, if I may, which world."

Desaria smiled. " The one we're closest to, of course. No sense back-tracking."

[Telan Desaria]

The training level of the Imperial Fighter Corps was at a high level, one that made many Republic fighter commanders eat their decorations. After fifteen weeks of intensive in flight training, ten weeks of grueling air-to-ground training followed.

It was with that strenuous programme under their belts that every pilot attacking Delti felt confident in their coming victory. Each one knew his place and knew he had a large part in it.

" Dietrich, bring up the left. Wittmann, you will take the center. Witt, the left. My flight shall stay alert for any aerial resistance."

As ordered came the replies of the 4th Fighter Squadron's flight commanders Sepp Dietrich, Mikael Wittman and Fritz Witt. Each was highly decorated and part of an Elite Fighter Wing, the 17th. The winf had been placed aboard the Grand Admiral's flagship, and was the most highly decorated fighter command in the Empire. The 4th Squadron, was among its leading units, lead my the brilliant and courageous young man nicknamed "Defendermeyer." Every pilot in the wing, including its staff officers who were themselves made non combatants by the rigors of battle, wore the Imperial Corss around their necks.

The Wing commander, Paul Hausser, had lost a leg in battle and refused to be transferred to a desk, instead commanding the unit from an armored Assault Shuttle. The men had named him Papa Hausser.

" We've got to run on it first, and let them bombers follow up. See any flak, anti aerial units, or orbital defense installations, take them out!" ordered Defendermeyer.

" As ordered," came the three replies, and the formation dove with the scream of their engines towards the garrison fortress below. The fire was intense, former Imperial E-web repeating blasters and Arakyd mini torpedoes lancing up at them. The fighters were undeterred, and dove to just above the soldiers heads before they pulled up, a psychological tactics they used everytime they supported the 24th Scimitars under Captain Heinrich Ernst.

The Defenders levelled off and made one pass of the installation to check for defenses, and there they were. Four dug in and bunker defended range extended turbolaser emplacements. Their barrels stuck up from the ground like small towers of earth.

" Should we call for reinforcements?"

" No, they've seen us already and are probably making firing solutions on the fleet as we speak. Sepp, cover me. I'm going in!"

Flight 1 under Defendermeyer himself dove down from its watchful position and made an end run at the nearest of the bunkers. Ahead of the four fighters flew a biref stream of crimson energy, a repulsor tank armed with a quad laser training itself on the descending fighters. The first shots were calibration. Second shots were never made, as Wittmann himself screamed in low at them and vaporized the small vehicle with his lasers.

Defendermeyer smiled, and then returned to his firing. The range counter ticked away until they had approached, made, then came closer than effective range. The four fighters let their torpedoes go only fifty meters above the bunker, pulling up just as they exploded ina brilliant fireball. One of the tall turbolaser barrels fell to one side in a slow and stately descent, the other standing tall and arrogant, but scared with carbon and nearly in half.

" Sepp, take them next one!"

" Yes sir!"

Flight three did as it was told, and its four fighters demolished the second bunker in the line. Two more to go.

" Flight Thr-"

Defendermeyer stopped short of issuing his orders as a lucky shot from a shoulder launched concussion missile caught the left fighter in his flight. An explosion replaced the three paneled fighter and it was pulled to the surface, ablaze and trailing fuel. The explosion was large, the remaining missiles and fuel tank catching fire. A Chariot command vehcile was caught in the explosion and rendered useless.

" Flight three," Meyer said, solemn. " Take out the other two. Sepp, run interference. We'll cover."

" Yes sir."

The other fighters had seen.

* * *

" Admiral, Fighter Command reports the garrison base on Delti has been enutralized."

" Say again?"

" Colonel Hausser reports the Delti garrison has been neutralized. He reports five range extended turbolasers destroyed and the garrison put to flight.

" He as well reports a casualty."

" Excellent. Send for him to meet me in my office. And Field Marshal von Laang."

" Aye sir."

The Grand Admiral turned to Voltaire before be left. " And send the 17th to Rammul. It's a bigger target, but they can handle it. We're here if they need us."

Voltaire shared a chuckle with the Admiral, both knowing the ever present arrogance indicitative to fighter pilots. Many Fleet officers thought it was prerequisite.

[Telan Desaria]

On the way to his office, Captain Voltaire bade the Grand Admiral into the crew pit. Desaria trusted his captain, and went when requested.

There, he received word that Loklorien Sil'ancy had arrived on Thyferra. Not a matter of state, it was important nonetheless. She was an independent contractor, and a beautiful and attractive Lady. She had served the Empire well when she procured an Imperial-class Star Destroyer for the Fleet, which was, unfortunately, heavily damaged with the Grand Raider Division when it encountered heavily armed pirates.

The ship would be inoperable for many weeks to come.

" Captain, you have command. Commence the landings on Eriadu on schedule. I will have my comlink with me shoudl anything arise."

" You're going to Thyferra?"

" Yes."



Ten minutes later, an Assault Shuttle and two Skipray blastboats were headed for the capital of the Sovereignty.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Serena entered the bridge as Captain Faust stood out of the command chair. "Admiral!" He saluted, and then stood at ease after she returned the gesture and gestured for him to do so. "We will be bringing the fleet out of hyperspace in three minutes."

"Very good Captain Faust." Flight Admiral Laran took her seat, and studied the holo displays near her left elbow.

ooc: I will try to edit this into something more impressive SOON /ic:

[Serena Laran]

Serena entered the bridge as Captain Faust stood out of the command chair. "Admiral!" He saluted, and then stood at ease after she returned the gesture and gestured for him to do so. "We will be bringing the fleet out of hyperspace in three minutes."

"Very good Captain Faust." Flight Admiral Laran took her seat, and studied the holo displays near her left elbow.

ooc: I will try to edit this into something more impressive SOON /ic:

[Telan Desaria]

The Grand Admiral had returned to the Sovereign capital without so much as an explanation. His only act was to cede operational command to his flag captain, Jait Voltaire.

He enjoyed the feeling of the command chair indeed.

" Has the 17th reached Rammul yet?"

" It has, Captain."

" Excellent." Voltaire steepled his fingers.

" Sir, we have a report from the Intelligence operative on Eriadu. Over seventy percent of the armed forces have been deployed into combat positions. He as well reports that anti aerial protection for the shield generator has been reduced by half."

Voltaire sat, motionless, trying to juggle thoughts. In his mind were two options: to rigidly follow the plan of assault laid out by his Supreme Commander, and to improvise a new one.

In less time than he had anticipated, he set upon a third motion: to mold both into one swift plan of action.

" Hold the 17th back from Rammul. Send the 81st in its place. Attach to the 17th the 452nd Scimitars and three squadrons of the 19th."

" Sir?" asked his executive officer, confused by the reorganization of the fighter arm accompanying the new First Destroyer Squadron.

" We will have no chance like the present. We must strike hard and fast at the shield generator. Any delay may give them an inkling of our strike and they may move their anti aerial defenses back into the city."

The XO moved closer to the Captain so the entire bridge would not hear him. " Sir, these are not our orders."

" I know." Voltaire looked up at him, and then out into space.

" Execute..."

[Telan Desaria]

Defendermeyer had heard the orders, and only a lower officer on the great totem pole of command, followed them. He had no idea that they were in contravention of those standing and still awaiting their execution.

His squadron changed course, with the other five that comprised the 17th wing, and headed for the edge of Eriadu's sufrace shield. He could read on his display several othjer formations making moves to line themselves up for an attack run. The squadron commanders, indeed every pilot, no knew where they were going.

They were going to run the shield.

[Telan Desaria]

" Form up, we'll be dodging some intense flak fire," reported Defendermeyer as his squadron came rocketing towards the surface of Eriadu, kilometers to the ground from their near vertical descent ticking away on their displays.

Behind the squadron flew the rest of the 17th Fighter Assault Wing, seventy two TIE Defenders and one Imperial Delta-class Assault Shuttle in all. Their incanted tri-paneled solar wings bore five green stripes at their end, the visual symbol of where the fighters hailed. On each wing pylon were white stripes, some broad and some thinner. Thin stripes represented one kill. Broad white ones represented five. Dark red lines displayed ten. There were many red stripes through the wing.

Their descent was un marred, making many commanders optomistic about the ease of the assault. The decision to move the Scimiatrs into prepared positions was made, where they would congregate above an old wheat field until the Defenders had eliminated any aerial defense. Including fighters.

" Range to target?" asked Defendermeyer, subconsciously imagining his wing commander in his battle dress uniform at the helm of his command shuttle, his prostethic leg working well the foot levers for attitude control.

" One thousand kilometers and closing."

Meyer smiled, and returned to his controls.

[Telan Desaria]

Aboard the Interrogator



" Sir!" shouted an aide in the massive war room deep in the heart of the Sovereign flag ship. The Falleen commander of the Imperial Fighter Corps, Field Marshal von Laang looked up from the holomap of Eriadu and at his aide de camp, a short human.

" Yes, Lieutenant?"

" Sir, the 17th has reported no opposition. Their range is dropping from one thousand."

" Good."

Von Laang tried to remember his days in the cockpit of a fighter, during the days of Vader, Palpatine, and Xizor. His had been an Imperial uniform: the Falleen were considered humanoid enough to fight. He had flown a TIE Interceptor against Xizor's palace over Coruscant, wehn Imperial Center had not yet been desecrated by the Rebel Touch. He remembered things well, the pitch and yaw in atmosphere, and the rough wind that could toss an old Interceptor about.

His musings were cut short by a brief yet chilling klaxon. His eyes snapped open and he gazed upon the plottable. Instead of seventy-two green Imperial emblems flying towards the capital, the view had been replaced with an equal number of red dots heading towards the 17th.

Their insignia was Rebel.

[Telan Desaria]

What?! screamed Defendermeyer in his mind, not wanting to outwardly exclaim lest his men hear him. They were thinking the same thing undoubtedly as they saw six squadrons of E-wing fighters closing fast, all flying the IFF of a New Republic vessels.

The Imperials were an excellent machine of war, and their training was near unparalleled. But the suprise of finding Republic ships on a world formerly held by the Empire and Imperial in its leaning for many decades was very suprising.

Colonel Hausser was not suprised and gave the simple order.

" Engage and destroy."

[Telan Desaria]

" You heard the man, form up into flights and prepare to engage. Even out your sheidls, these boys love to go in from behind. Ready your torps and channel power from your ions to your shields, they'll be no capturing here."

Several as ordereds were heard as the 4th Defender Squadron, 17th Fighter Assault Wing moved into an attack stance. The other five squadrons had done as well, the mass of fighters forming into eighteen diamond-shaped, four ship flights.

" Range, one thousand and closing fast," reported Dietrich.

" Let's make them pau, shall we?"

" For the Empire!"

" Range to target: optimal. All fighters, engage at will."

Colonel Hausser's voice would be heard to have all the thrill and vigor he possessed being funnelled into it. His shuttle could not engage the E-wings on a one-for-one level, but it could move in and offload its compliment of missiles.

* * *

Aboard the Interrogator

" Sir! The 17th has engaged the Rebel fighters."

" Good. Hold back the other formations until they'ce cleared the way. Have the 24th Wing ready to reinforce them if neccessary. Scimiatrs are to hold at present position."

" As ordered, Field Marshal."

Von Laang hung his head. How could Intelligence have been wrong? So ignorant...

* * *

" Good shot, Sepp!"

A pair of linked light laser blasts ripped through the canopy of a wounded E-wing and continued on through the fusealage. The wings tore off and what was left of the nose and engines fell to the surface of Eriadu, nothing but rolling fields with sparse houses. The mass of industrialized cities was still a hundred kilometers away.

" Watch out, Firtz!" cried Ensign Mikael Wittmann, rbing the three remaining ships of his flight towars the only remaining pilot from Two Flight. As the Defender of the flight leader rolled out of the missile path of an undaunted E-wing, two of its fellows dove down and into his exhaust wake. They jockeyed for a shot, which was the only thing saving the flight leader from death.

" Range?" demanded Wittmann, never one to abandona commrade.

There was silence from his flight mates, they all knew they would not arrive in time.

One of the E-wings brought up his nose and rose to rejoin the remaining eight E-wings in a fighting withdrawal. The other E-wing locked on and released a pair of Kruppx Concussion missiles of an Imperial stock. Both roared home on tongues of blue fire and pierced what was left of Witt's aft shield. His lower port wing was hit and seared right off. The other passed next to the cockpit, leaving a wide swath of carbon scoring along the side, but no damage was done.

" This is Witt. I am to abandon her. My chute is operable. Keep fighting!"

The Defender was losing its altidude, steadily, when the view panel shot off, followed by a black uniformed pilot on a launch seat. Several meters from it, a red parachute opened, the black Imperial Crest on its top.

" Damn!" cursed Wittmann, happy that Fritz had survived but appalled at the overall casualties. The squadron had lost five fighters, three of those pilots dead. Twelve more from the Wing had gone down. Most of the kills, howevr, had gone to the credit of the 4th. All but five of the Republic E-wings had been destroyed, those retreating under the energy shield.

" Keep moving. Form back up, combine lesser flights, and let's go."

Hausser was a pin of stability. The Wing formed back up, seventeen fighters short, and continued on towards the capital city and its shield bunker.

The remaining formations behind closed the gap and prepared to make their runs.

[Aegis Du' Caat]

::Carracks Cruiser: Talon; On Patrol of the outskirts of the Eriadu Sector::


"Captain Du' Caat, I'm sorry to bother you but we've detected 2 Corellilan Corvettes entering the sector."

"Have they spotted us yet?"

"Not that we can tell sir," A nervous Lieutenant replied.

"Contact the Defender Squadron tell them to form on our port and then maintain comm silence until otherwise ordered."

"Yes, sir."

Du' Caat rose from his desk in his personal office aboard the Talon, his massive 6' 7" frame towering over everything in view. Placing his Navy blue cloak on he adjusted the collar so that it came up to his chin, to hid the hideous scar on the left side of his neck. Slowly he made his way to the turbo lift that would take him to the bridge.

"Captain on the Bridge" A young ensign barked. All on the bridge snapped to attention.

"As you were," Answered the deep ominous voice of the leviathan Captain.

The men and women on the deck returned to their duties. Lt. Cmmdr Alexi Vikov stood next to his Captain.

"They haven't detected us yet, it seems that they are moving to aid the New Republic's forces."

"Good any fighter support?" Du' Caat inquired.

"One squadron of E-wings and it looks like a squadron of K-wings as well."

"Bombers... We can't let them get in range. Order the Defenders to attack the K-Wings, with the E-wings in front of the formation that should buy them time to make a pass before engaging the fighters. Helmsman, move us closer tof those Corvettes. Vikov, order the gunners to open fire on the first one that comes into range."

"Yes, Captain." The obediant XO responded. The defenders screamed ahead of the Talon as, the battle tested Carrack crusier rapidly moved into range for her turbo-lasers.

[Aegis Du' Caat]

"15 seconds 'til we are in gun range...10...9...8...." The Helmsman gave a countdown as they closed in.

"Fighters have engaged the K-Wings" The sensor operator confirmed. On screen the laser cannons of the Corvettes began to fire.

"First Corvette in range!"

"Destroy it..." Du' Caat's voice was quiet, but everyong heard and understood.

Brilliant flashes of green energy ripped through the starry backdrop of space. These bolts detonated just a few meters away from the hull as the turbo-lasers began whittling away at the Corvette's shields. Slowly the Corvettes laser cannons rotated and began firing at the Cruiser.

"The Corvette is returning fire sir," The fire control officer reported.

"Yes with laser cannons, continue firing. Helmsman get us in range of both corvettes. Baxter report on those corvettes shields" Du' Caat's control over his vessel was complete. Immediately the vessel moved into posistion.

"25% and falling" The sensor operator returned.

"Sir, Defender squadron reporting in, they have lost a fighter, K-Wings have suffered 50% Casualties, but the Defenders are being engaged by the E-Wings."

"I want that Corvette destroyed. Move the Talon into range of those E-wings and open fire with our anti-fighter weapons" Du' Caat ordered.

"Corvette shields down! Our shields at 87% and holding."

"Bring all weapons to bear on that corvettes main power system and destory her in one salvo."

"Aye, Captain."

The surroundings were lit up in a hue of greee as the Carracks Cruiser fired all foreward weapons on the unshielded corvette. Explosions ripped through her hull and plasma could be seen leaking out.

"Her hull is breached."

"Excellet, open fire on the other corvette with our turbo-lasers and helmsman are we in range of those E-Wings yet?"

"Yes, sir" The young helmsman returned.

"Then by all means open fire." Du' Caat ordered, he was visibly angry that he'd lost a fighter. So he moved his cruiser into position to assure he didn't lose another.

"Order those defenders to concentrate on the K-wings. I want them destroyed."

"Yes, sir."

The port Turbo-lasers and the ones to fore and aft that could be successfully rotated to take aim on the corvette began pouring fire onto her shields. Her valiant captain doing his best to ensure the bomber squadron made their run on the Imp capital ships invovled in the seige. The multiple laser cannons that Corellian Corvettes have for armament though were not enough fire power to chew through the shields of a Carracks cruiser before her turbo-lasers chewed through her own.

"Three E-Wings down. Another K-Wing's been destoryed."

The E-Wing was an excellent fighter against all imperial fighters except the defender, it was too slow, the defender had comparable armament but could travel almost 50% faster than the E-Wing, this also made them vulnerable to laser cannon emplacements on board the Carracks Cruiser which was now mowing E-Wing after E-wing down. The K-Wings were too quick for the capital ship but didn't have the shielding to withstand fighter runs. Slowly the rebels starfighter squadrons were all but destroyed.

"E-Wings have suffered 83% losses and seem to be making a run for it, only one K-Wing remains."

"Lock our tractor beams on the remaining E-Wings and bring them to bear. Lieutenant report on that corvette!" Du' Caat replied.

"Her shields are at 15%, but her engines have been damaged she can't flee."

"Then move us into position so that she has a swift death." Du' Caat replied. It always bothered him to see a valiant ship destroyed. Her captain and crew had fought well, against a far superior vessel and not once attempted to flee. Du' Caat decided to simply anhilate her instead of picking her apart as many other commanders liked to do with crippled vessels.

Slowly the Carracks Cruiser moved through space and was able to lock the majority of her weapons on the Corvette.

"K-Wings destroyed. E-Wings have been captured."

"Excellent order the Defenders to destroy the E-Wings and then reform and patrol sector."

"Aye, Captain."

The main turbo-lasers and laser cannons opened fire, the corvettes shields fell and the turbo-lasers soon began chewing through her armor plating, miniature explosions ripped across the hull of the vessel and then it was over. The Corvette exploded into thousands of pieces of space debris. Death would have been quick and relatively painless for the sailors onboard the ship. Du' Caat would have had it no other way.

"Helm put us back on patrol."

"Aye, Captain."

[Telan Desaria]

The battle over the capital city had done a great deal of damage to the intended tragets of the Imperial fighter strike,. the surrounding areas, the attackers themselves, and the defenders that were thrown in their path.

The 17th Imperial Fighter Assault Wing made a run on the shield generator, but the massive amounts of durasteel and duracrete that surrounded it prevented much damage from being done. Meters were shaved off the top, but the shell remained in tact. The Defenders moved off, and the following wing also diverted. The Scimitars came within range and dropped their payloads on the earthen reinforced bunker in the City Center.

As the final Scimitar Squadron pulled up from its bombing run, a pack of shuttles and aging fighters fell upon them, the final defense of a desperate and near beaten foe. The quality of the pilots was good, but their ability limited by the machinery they used.

The Scimitars, the 172nd Squadron, were caught unaware, their shields up but in little position to maneuver as they flew through the tops of city spires. Their debris fell into the sparse populated roads, chipping off buildings and shredding man and machine that dared remain below. None of the 172nd survived, every fighter and man lost. The ragtag grouping of fighters and shuttles tried to form up, but were eliminated with all dispatch by a vengeful 17th.

The Defenders then broke into squadrons and fell upon the grouped but rare aerial defense batteries, where another two dozen Defenders fell prey to hidden missile launchers.

The shield did go down, and a massive bombardment from the now-orbiting warships decimated any resistance that could have been found.

The armies or Eradiu. however, were still a force to be reckoned with, though scattered, were still in battalion strength and dispersed throughout the globe.

As such, with the fighter out and about, the landing of troops could begin.

And begin it did.

[Aegis Du' Caat]

As Eradiu fell to Imperial bombardment and the speed and ability of the stormtroopers a new target arose for Captian Du' Caat and his Carrakcs Class Cruiser, the Talon, refugees.

"Captain two light transports are approaching from Eradiu, it seems that they are attempting to evacuate survivours."


"What form of aramament do the possess?"

"Light shielding and laser cannons, it seems more for asterroid defense than ship defense, sir."

"Move us into position and destroy them, allow no survivours."

"Yes, Sir."

The Talon closed on the two transports that were attempting to flee Eradiu, training her main batteries on the nearest transport and locking her tractor beams on the second.

"They are in range Captian Du' Caat."

"Fire at will."

The Talon's turbo-lasers ripped through the shielding and hull of the first transport as if it did not exsist. The second transport attmpted to fire on the Talon, her laser cannons were like gnats against the capital ships shielding.

"First Transport destroyed sir."

"Very good, take care of the second."

The second transport was disposed of as easily as the first, her hull and shiels were no match for the Taim and Bakk turbo-lasers of the Talon. After the first two transports were destroyed a few other fleeing vessels from Eradiu were eliminated as well. None had even the faintest amount of fire power to challenge the batteries and shielding of the Talon. The fleeing transports in the direction of the Carracks Cruiser became fewer in number as time wore on and soon there was none that dared even to flee in this direction. The Talon had done her duty, eliminating reinforcements and destroying all refugees from Eradiu. Nothing remained for her as the ground invasion of Eradiu was all that was left to accomplish.

[Aegis Du' Caat]

"Sir, there's an incoming message from Thyferra. and the Sovereign High Command" The communications officer reported to Captain Du' Caat.

"Oh?" The Captain responded with a raised eyebrow.

"Patch it through to my office, tell them I will be with them shortly. Vikov you have the bridge."

"Yes, Sir"

Captain Du' Caat moved through the corridor that lead from the bridge to his main office. It wasn't anything special, but it had been his place of refuge on the crammed quarters of the Carracks Class Cruiser for the last 8 months. He entered the office and took off his collared cape, the long scar on his neck visisble, a badge of honor and shame he'd recieved trying to stop a defector who'd been a friend and served with him.

Placing his mammoth hand on the console he activated the holo comm. The image of a young Sub-Lieutenant came on screen, the man snapped a salute at the Captain's holo image, Du' Caat nodded and waived it off.

"Captain Du' Caat, I am Sub-Lt. Marcus Vincinni, by order of the Sovereign High Command you are to leave your vessel under the command of your first officer and return immediately to Thyferra for further orders."

"And what orders shall I leave with my XO, Mr. Vincinni?"

"Lt. Cmmdr Vikov will continue to patrol the Eradiu system until further notice," The young man replied.

"Understood, I will depart immediately, Du' Caat out."

The young captain stroked his chin at the meaning of his orders. He was obviously being reassigned, but what to? He would find out soon enough....

---------

"Captain on the Bridge!"

"As you were." Du' Caat responded before most of the officers could even salute him. He would only be on the bridge for a moment.

"As of this moment, Lt. Cmmdr Vikov is now the commanding officer of the Talon, his orders are to continue patrolling the Eradiu System for any future refugees or pirates. Serve him as admirably as you have served me. I now leave for Thyferra. It has been a pleasure serving with all of you."

The titanic Captain, snapped a salute to his officers, which was returned with the like.

He moved towards the turbo-lift and departed the bridge, a Lambda Class Shuttle would be awaiting to transport him to Thyferra, where he would await further orders.

[Telan Desaria]

Imperial Transports streamed down from the assembled flotilla, but the soldiers contained in the small craft hod been assigned small tasks. Theirs would be the setting up of command posts, securing of landing zones, and the rapid capture of major military installations.

The job of occupying Eriadu would fall on the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Imperial Armies, all together encompassing over thirty divisions of infantry and armor. Accompanying them were twenty four squadrons of Army Aerial Support Fighters, all part of the 1st and Second Support and Assault Defender Wings.

The 1st and 3rd Armies had arrived, their seemingly endless flurry of transports moving insystem at a standrad, yet slow speed. While they moved, Fleet troops and stortroopers crawled through the mud of the agrarian quarter of Eriadu, where the primary enemy concentrations were not. The garrisons present however, were putting up a fight. The massive industrial infrastructure of the planet below allowed the Army/Police to remain supplied with the most modern equipment and the most durable weapons. Their artillery, munitions, and small arms almost exclusively was produced on their world, Eriadu dependent on others only for some food.

* * *

" Captain, the first echelon of the 1st is entering the atmosphere."

" Excellent," Voltaire replied, pouring over a fighter after action report authored by Field Marshal von Laang, a man who was not happy about his deployment change, a move Voltaire had no right to make, with von Laang a superior officer. The results had been acceptable, but the casulaties were not.

Twenty-eight TIE Defenders, twenty one Scimitar Assault Bombers, and five assault shuttles were lost from the moment of entry to their withdrawl from the planet. Of those pilots, only twenty had been recovered.

" Commence the assault as planned. The Army has command now. All ships are to relegate themselves to orbital support roles."

[Telan Desaria]

Bolts of energy rained from above, flying past the tinted windows on Army transports and Acclamator-class Cruisers. Then sky was filled with TIEs on strfaing runs and bombers on rearming missions. Garrisons were being reduced to ash, strongpoints slagged into submission.

Cities were being erased, and the death toll of the natives, civil and combatant, had grown into the hundred thousands after only hours of combat.

[Telan Desaria]

The Imperial 17th Army, dispatched directly from its marshalling area on Thfyerra, had been given the monstrous task of driving through five concentric rings of defenses around the capital city on Eriadu. The city was almost thirty kilometers wide and boasted a population of billions. Two hundred thousand soldiers defended it, and although completely surrounded on all sides by the sea, had enough supplies to hold out in a siege for decades.

Approaching her under Army command was the Victory VIII-class Star Destroyer Conflagration, whose task was to envoke its name on all that sat below. The 17th Army, 21st Assault Army, and 33rd Storm Corps would reduce the city to ash after the VSD took up a position two kilometers above the surface.

The mighty vessel approached, the ground rumbling as she did, her repulsor lift drives sending trees bending and breaking in the breeze, animals scurrying for false safety, and humans that could ill move into small infernoes as the heat of the exhaust immolated them alive.

The view from every hull port was awesome, the midday sun shinning on a bed of clear ocean water on one side, a small forested plain on the other, factories and cities in the far background. Ahead sat the fortress of Eriadu Prime, nestled in a cape. Ferrocrete projections from the land acted as wave breaks, with small man made islands in the bay with turreted defenses to preclude a sea borne assault.

A lull in the fighting existed, thus projectiles did not fill the air, flak fire vainly was not trying to swat down TIEs, and the sky lit only by sun rather than raging fires.

That was going to change.

" We are in position, Colonel," said Commander Ait to Brigadier General Walldimir, Surface Liaison officer set up in the port crew pit. A dozen Army officers sat around him manning relay consoles and feeding him reports.

" Excellent. The surface artillery has reported a go, so it looks like the fireworks can get started."

" Wonderful. Our batteries are at your disposal."

The General nodded and turned to one of his tan uniformed lieutenants. Seconds later on the vast triangular hull of the VSD, batteries turned from forward station keeping to the inviting targets below. Centres of meeting, suspectd storehouses, bunker complexes, and defenses inside the city itself were taken aim on. The outer rings of defense and their breastworks would be eliminated by the field artillery.

" Fire."

From the nine hundred meter craft came a torrent of fire and steel, turning the scene of beauty into one of death.

The city would be reduced.

[Telan Desaria]

The barrage commenced, its deadly rain levelling sections of the city systematically. Most of the civilians had fled, but those that had not were crushed under rubble, burnt alive by the hundred degree kelvin fires, or vaporized by direct turbolaser impacts.

Outside the city, the Imperial field artillery has opened up, siege lasers firing down into the fortifications surrounding Eriadu Prime, barreled projectile batteries sending their charges into the earthworks. Earthen debris shot up, men scampered about, bodies were sent flying lifeless through the air.

It was a horrid site from the hastily dug Imperial trenches, but one neccessary. Reports of the assault would reach Eriadu far and wide, and could spare the others such a fate.



A day later, every building had been ruined, streets lined with ferrocrete and twisted durasteel. Soldiers lay in pools of blood; theirs and others. There was little hope for the defenders, their moral shattered and ears bleeding from the infernal din.

There was only on thing left: The Imperial Armored Divisions moved into position. The legs of the walkers would crush what remained, repulsor tanks would knock out any oppisition with their twenty cnetimeter laser cannon.

Eriadu would fall.

But not before thousands of lives were placed onto the rolls of the honorable fallen.

[Telan Desaria]

Headquarters, 32nd Imperial Heavy Armored Division

Major General Raadiir commanding



" We have a report of enemy action at the front, sir,' reported an aide, approaching the General, the aid'es blast vest dust covered.

General Raadiir was looking through a pair of macrobinoculars under the tarpouline that covered his commanc center. Atop a small hill just behind Imperial lines, he had a clear view of his walkers and repulsor tanks rolling over the Eriadu Army's lines in front of their capital.

" Yes?"

The aide saluted and stood at parade rest, Imperial discipline present even when nemy shells whined over head and burst about.

" Sir, I am the attache runner for 2nd Regiment. We've run into a block. They've dug in repulsor tanks where we had planned to make our final penetration. Aerial reports indicate they have a battalion's worth in the city they had stored underground. They're too close to our men for the Victory to his them. We wanted to request that the 773rd Infantry flank them and hit them in the aft: when they break through, they'll send the armor towards the, so we can make it to the city center un opposed and bring in the drop ships."

" I shall so order it. I am sending the 2776th Squadron to support you. Colonel Arrian would do well to take out some of that armor for himself."

" Aye sir!"

The aide saluted and ran off.

* * *

Dreadae Valley, Northwestern Dakoor Continent

Landing Area for the 23rd Imperial Army: Logistics and Supply Depot



" Move this blokin stuff now!" yelled the mountain of a man barely fitting in the khaki uniform of an Imperial Sergeant Major.

" We're goin as fast as we can, Sarge!"

Sergeant Rivvin glared at his atypical corporal, a small lanky man with a larger than normal nose. " Move your a-ss!!!"

The sergeant drew his pistol and loaded it; by the time it was primed, the corporal had finishe totting the box aboard a reulsor truck which made a prompt getaway in the direction of the foreward area.

" I hate this job!" Rivven hated Logistics and Supply, but it was a neccessary job. Had he not have taken shrapnel in the thigh and been forced to limp about the field, he would still be the company sergeant of an Imperial Army assault company.

The sun was slowly setting in the wide valley Fleet had given over to supply the 23rd Army. On the peaks surrounding the logistics personnel were a hundred and fifty soldiers of the Imperial Fortress Defense Battalion: men trained in set peice, defensive warfare as opposed to the large scale, fast paced armored corps and its juggernaughts of the field.

It was from these men that the first signs of trouble could be heard. Over the rise was heard the whine of atmospheric fighters approaching. The pitch was too high to be Imperial, a view reinforced by the sounding of flak fire being shot off above the valley. Shortly after, explosions rocked the valley, plumes of debris towards the fleet rising into the rising night.

" Get moving! Grab your guns!"

Sergeant Rivvin knew a counter attack when he saw one.

[Telan Desaria]

Five divisions, all infantry, of the Eriadu Army had managed to evade the Imperial umbrella of sensor scans and fighter patrols, undoubtedly because they knew the terrain through which they were crawling. They marched with little equipment, making their movement all the more easy.

Organized into two corps, they planned to steamroll over rear units, force the forward areas to turn and counter, allowing hidden units near the front to roll back the Imperial lines.

Air superiority halted their plans, but made things sticky for the Imperials nonetheless.

Fighters swarmed over their advance lements, dropping bombs, shooting missiles, and raining down lasers blasts from diveing rolls.

Nothing was safe.

But the battle had just begun.

[Telan Desaria]

For all intents and purposes, Eriadu is now taken. The battle for its pacification continues, but is no longer a drain on Imperial materiale and manpower. As a former Imperial world, it will integrate peacebly, or be destroyed.


This thread will go on, nonethless.