Foundations of Comradship: Hapan Cluster

[Michael Carlisle]

The Imperial Star Destroyer Black Star en route through hyperspace:

It wasn't always action such as this was taken, the man thought as he sat in his office staring at starlines. Things had been a whirlwind of activity, ever since 'The Black Star Fleet' had joined up with the Balmorran Empire.

The war was over, and almost as the Empire was catching its breath, they were pressed into battle again. The good news, as good news quite rarely comes, was the fact the military had been given a bit of a respite. A chance to recharge and rest.

For Michael Carlisle, he'd spent time with his girlfriend (one of the few times they'd seen each other in the previous months), looked at apartments in Bin Prime, and done his best to acclamate to being a part of a real 'faction' again and not his own.

He'd spoken with Bismarck before departing, deciding upon the strategy they'd take. Their target had attempted to make ties with the New Republic only to be ignored.

It was things like this which made Carlisle (and Grand Admiral Millard's) ears prick up in interest. For too long Hapes had been silent about their loyalties. Balmorra had honored this...until they went to the New Republic.

Now...it was time to strike.

Captain Michael Carlisle rose from his office chair and walked onto the bridge of The Black Star.

He called his second over, staring at the viewscreen.

"We're all pretty much in position?"

A nod from the first officer, "Yes sir. The Admiral has reported in...all forces standing by. They await your command."

Carlisle nodded, "Excellent."

The six Star Destroyers, along with three ships of unknown classification (http://www.boomspeed.com/justicewar/eaomega_lg1.jpg), travelled through hyperspace in preparation for their arrival at Hapes.

The Cluster would be theirs by days end.

[Ned Stark]

Flight Commander Ned Stark sat in his own Assault Gunboat, waiting for the order to disengage out of hyperspace.

In this mission he wasn't a member of Shadow Squadron, not yet atleast, the pilot was leading a new squadron called 'Wampa Squadron' (after the slower ships they were flying- only able to go at 90 kps with every setting normal, made up of pilots from the ISD Superior.

Stark's eyes were open and alert, checking the scopes twice, then the Ion Drives, then the shields, and weapon systems. It hadn't been too long since he'd last flown an Assault Gunboat, but he still wanted to make sure things were in order.

If he could have looked off to his left, the Balmorran Pilot would have seen the Imperial Star Destroyer Black Star and the escorts. He also would have seen his eleven wingmates in standard triangle formation off to his left and right.

All in all, the mission should be quite successful, he hoped. The Hapan fleet had never shown any real proficiency (save for some of the Battle Dragons) and Stark believed the pilots he'd trained since the squadron's formation would perform quite well under these situation.

It wasn't often, after all, Balmorra went on open aggression against another country. The non-aligned worlds Balmorra had gained fell quite easily and the fleet was far from stretched.

This mission...would be fun. Especially with a few of the surprises Balmorra had in instore for Hapes and their Queen Mother.

Stark gave a small half-smile and checked his instruments again. It was almost time.

[Rigel Bismarck]

The muted hum of conversation on the Star Destroyer Scythe's bridge throbbed like the quickened pulse inside the veins of a soldier about to enter battle.

"Reversion in five- three, two, one-"

The starlines vanished to reveal Hapes, sending the tempo of activity into a bustling hypersensitivity. A bustling hypersensitivity that did not seem to touch the man in the Admiral's uniform who stood in the middle of the crewpit walkway, rather than sitting in his command chair.

Cold black eyes stared down his nose at the crown jewel of the Hapan Cluster, intently taking in its blue-green appearance. Lines both hard and cruel stood out on his face, and coupled with high cheekbones they gave the impression of a hawk sighting prey.

Then his facial expression changed into a smile that was half sneer. "Report, Captain," he said, asking for the information that had been the topic of the bridge's previous conversation.

"Sensors confirm that all ships have reached Hapes and are in battle readiness, sir. Furthermore, Hapan planetary defenses have not yet responded to our presence. Sir?"

"Yes, old boy?"

"Sir, if the Hapans refuse-"

"Whatever else you may have heard, Captain," Rigel Bismarck said, returning his attention to the planet below. "We are here to conquer this planet. The Hapans may either surrender quickly or lose quickly. Their overtures to the Republic an affront the Empire will not stand for, and they will be a part of the Balmorran Empire by the end of the day."

"How much of their vaunted commonwealth will be left to do so is another question entirely." Bismarck turned from the window and made his way to the bridge's command chair, where he sat. "Do I have a channel?"

Regius looked to the communications officer, who flicked a switch and nodded. "Yes, sir."

"People of the Hapan Cluster. Your government has rebuffed an alliance with the Empire of Balmorra in favor of actively seeking ties with the New Republic, and so spat in the face of Balmorra's generous offer. You have ten minutes to accordingly surrender any and all military hardware in the system as well as to accept Imperial governance. During that time, our forces will be moving to take up orbits over your planet. If you choose to be hostile to us in any way, we will respond with the appropriate force."

[Hapan Expeditionary Fleet]

Meanwhile, on the Hapes Nova Battlecruiser Dauntless.........

::Prince-Admiral Arthur, commander of the Hapan Taskforce charged with defending Hapes, listens to the broadcast the Imperials are making. When the broadcast is over, he turns to his aide::

"Ilyn, send a communications to Hapes. Advise them that the current situation is not promising, and that a evacuation should be started immediatly. Then, bring our fleet into an attack wedge. Send all of our Hetrinar Assault Bombers escorted by half of our Miy'Til fighters to attack the largest enemy capital ships."

::As this was spoken, so it was done. The 8 Hapan Battle Dragons, and 8 Hapes Nova Battlecruisers tasked with defending Hapes formed into an attack wedge, with the Battle Dragons SkyFury, Warrior's Pride, Venerable, Hurricane's Might, Prince, Duke of Hapes, Zarbier, and Jallo forming to the front, and the Battlecruisers Arch, Castle, Foundation, Siege, Trebuchet, Mongonel, Scorpion, and Nova forming in behind them. Out ahead of them streaked 192 Hetrinar Assault Bombers, with their bays full of Proton Torpedoes, and their Ion Cannons ready to fire, escorted by 144 Miy'Til Fighters, with their deadly combination of Triple Laser Cannons, Dual Ion Cannons, and Small Missile Tubes, with another 144 Miy'Til Fighters staying behind to protect the fleet.::

"This is Prince-Admiral Arthur of the Hapes Defense Fleet. I am giving you this chance only to withdraw your forces quickly and quietly. If you do not comply, my force of bombers will reduce your fleet to scrap metal!"

[Ned Stark]

"This is Prince-Admiral Arthur of the Hapes Defense Fleet. I am giving you this chance only to withdraw your forces quickly and quietly. If you do not comply, my force of bombers will reduce your fleet to scrap metal!"

Stark snorted at the comment.

Someone hasn't thought of everything.

He flipped his comm to inter-squadron only, "Okay Wampas let's go. We've got some Battle Cruisers to destroy."

"Wampa Leader, this is TIE Advanced Alpha Leader... Stark's comm crackled, "We're going to escort you in. Wave two is coming in soon. ETA...Four minutes."

Stark's Assault Gunboats shot towards the nearest Hapan Battle Dragon. His computer IDed it as the Duke of Hapes.

"Let's be careful around those Dragons, Wampas...they might look strange but they pack a helluva puch. Drop your rockets and get the hell out."

The twelve Assault Gunboats shot towards the Duke of Hapes, launching their heavy rockets before turning away from the ship for another run. One of the Wampas, hit by turbolaser fire, spun out of control.

"Wampa Three report in!"

"I'm a bit cooked Wampa Lead. Computer's working on the damage. I should be okay."

"Acknowledged Wampa Three."

Of the 72 heavy rockets launched at the Duke of Hapes, 60 of them hit, causing micro-explosions along the hull of the Battle Dragon.

The shields on the Battle Dragon are down to 48%

"Wampas...time for another pass!"

[Hapan Expeditionary Fleet]

::Prince Admiral Arthur watched as enemy assault gunboats launched rockets at one of his Battle Dragons. He was timing how long it took them to loop around them for the second pass. Any time now.... Arthur thought, then it happened. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a battle wing of thirty-six Miy'Til fighters pounced on the assault gunboats, firing triple linked laser cannons, dual Ion cannons, and Proton Torpedoes as they went. At least three direct hits were reported, but the overall status of the enemy vessels was unclear.

Arthur turned to look torwards the enemy fleet. His bombers were just now reaching range, and with deadly precision, the bombers launched a 72 torpedo salvo at the Star Destroyer that had launched the Assault gunboat squadron. In the meantime, the Castle moved up to help the [i]Duke of Hapes protect herself from any more rocket attacks.::

[Rigel Bismarck]

"They have a few more capital vessels than we do," Bismarck said calmly over the fleet's frequency. "Bully for them. All craft, engage at will."

Clicking the fleet frequency off, Bismarck turned to his second in command. "Regius, old boy, do launch our fighters."

"Launch fighter screens," Regius ordered, and recieved confirmation of his order a second later.

"Have our Star Destroyers prepare for their manuevers," Bismarck added.

"Aye sir. Sir, about the incoming wave of bombercraft-"

"Begin our advance, Captain," Rigel cut him off. "I will alert the Omega Destroyers that Operation Firestorm is in effect."

Regius smiled.

The three Omega Destroyers opened up with 18 rapid-fire pulse cannons on the incoming craft. Although the pulse-weaponry was much better at bringing down capital ship shielding, those cannons had a fire-rate that allowed them to shred the incoming torpedos. Of the 72 that had been launched at the Black Star, 30 survived the pulse cannon firestorm, the fighter screens, and the ship's countermeasures to hit it.

The shields on the ISD Black Star have fallen to 74%.

"Omega Group," Bismarck clicked the widecast frequency back on. "Destroy as many of the retreating bombers as you can- the fewer of them there are, the weaker future bombing runs will be. Theta Group, begin your manuevers."

As the other battle groups followed those orders, Bismarck cut the comm and turned back to Regius. "Order Tau Group to begin manuevering and wait for my mark to begin rotation," he stated.

As the two lines of ships approached each other, their fighter screens began to intermix with the more numerous Imperial starfighters holding a distinct advantage. The moment for Bismarck to unleash his tactics on the enemy was soon approaching, but he would wait to fend off any surprises before executing them.

[Hapan Expeditionary Fleet]

"Admiral, the enemy fleet is beginning it's advance. The larger Star Destroyers have used rapid fire pulse weaponry to help repel the missile attack." Spoke the young sensor officer.

"Very Well, order the TaskForce Aurora to break off from the fleet, and engage the forward enemy capital ships, and have TaskForce Crescent standby to assist Aurora. Send all of our fighters except the 131st Battle Wing to attack the enemy's fighters." Ordered Arthur.

"Yes sir, 131st on standby. SkyFury, Warrior's Pride, Foundation, and Siege are moving forward to attack the enemy's front Star Destroyer. Fighters, and bombers are moving to assist them." Sang out the crew chief.

::The forward Hapan Battle Dragons, and Hapes Nova Battlecruisers of TaskForce Aurora moved to engage the Star Destroyers at the head of the enemy formation, with fifty Hetrinar bombers, and 72 Miy'Til Fighters moving to assist them.::