Path to Glory: In the Beginning...(Closed)

[Aegis Du' Caat]

"Attention on the deck!" shouted the Imperial Yeoman.

An entire division of glistening white storm troopers snapped to attention as Vice Admiral Aegis Du' Caat cantered across the docking bay of one of the orbital platforms hovering Thyferra. Each soldier was identical to the next in dress with the exception of the shoulder guard of the officers scattered here and there throughout the ranks. Each of of the troopers heads where held high and proud to serve for the glory and power of the Soveriegnty.

"Here is the last of them sir, the 223rd Special Forces Division. All of the ground forces have reported to their respective vessels just as you ordered sir. A fine lot of men you have here the top special Forces division, the most elite engineering division, you simply have the pride of the fleet in every division you command."

"Yes they are General Paxston, yes they are..." Du' Caat replied to Brig. Gen. Jonus Paxston. A relatively young officer to be commanding such a prized strike force and a relatively young man to be heralded as highly as he was, however he didn't realize just what that meant for him on this particular mission.

"I guess if we are to reinforce the lines in Vong Space however we will need such a force. But why aren't we taking more ships?"

"Because we will be more of a ground force than a fleet reinforcement, we are going to secure a planet for a jumping point to further the invasion. The ISD is simply an escort for these modified VSD's."

"I see," replied the short muscular officer. Paxston was only about 5'9", but more than likely weighed close to two hundred pounds, his face was chiseled and the only sign of age upon it was the crowsfeet around his eyes. His hair was black, shortly cropped and speckled with grey. The classic salt-and-pepper look. He was a sharp contrast to the mammoth Vice Admiral who stood a good 6'8" and weighed in at about 290 pounds.

"Well then I Paxston, I suppose you should get these men onboard the Righteous. I expect you to be onboard the Invictus at 1630 and in my conference room, there you will meet with me and the rest of the command staff and I will give you all the mission briefing in its entirity at that time. You are dismissed."

Paxston spun on his heels to face the Vice Admiral and snapped him a firm salute, Du' Caat nodded and casually returned it as was a superior officers right.

"Vice Admiral, sir. A moment please?"

A tall beautiful raven haired woman approached him. Her name was Lt. Commander Katarina Vishanov, a rising star in naval intelligence. Du' Caat had also personally had selected her as his intell officer for the campaign. She alone knew the true details of the Illuminous Battle Group.

[Aegis Du' Caat]

Du' Caat turned towards Cmmdr Vishanov, who immediately stopped in her tracks and saluted. This gave the Admiral a moment to take in the woman's elegant form.

"At ease Commander, what can I do for you?"

"Sir I was looking over today's itenerary and my name was not on the list of those who are to attend the Staff meeting onboard the Invictus...."

Before she could continue Du' Caat cut her off.

"That is because I did not want you in attendance,"

"Sir..."

"Commander you are not only going to be my intelligence officer against any hostile forces on this mission, but you are going to be my Interior Affairs officer. You will have full access to the meetng via closed circuit in my office, but your presence and your knowledge of priviledged information will be intimidating to this Staff that I am trying to create into a cohesive unit. Now I expect to see you in my office 30 minutes after depature so we can go over your intell on the members of my staff."

"Yes sir," She said, seemingly sulking.

"You are dismissed."

Vishanov snapped a salute to the Admiral and immediately moved on, Du' Caat continued to watch his troops board their respective vessels. Each man seemed like a speck against the massive gunmetal hulls of the Victory Class Star Destroyers. There were other ships docked upon which more stormtroopers were moving onto, troop transports and supply vessels. Du' Caat glanced over his small task force as it was docked with the platform. The ISD - Invictus floated freely a few km off the port of the platform. It woudl for the time serve as his Flagship, Headquarters and base of operations until a suitable planet had be aquired. Docked on either end of the platform where two VSDs, the Righteous and the Tyrant, both loaded to capacity with crew and ground forces. Another 15 Gunships were scattered about the space between the platform and the ISD, these would be the bulk of Du' Caat's anti-piracy task force and with these were another 15 support ships and troop transports. It was an impressive array of ships that seemed more suited for a ground invasion rather than fleet reinforcement.

Du' Caat finally made his way to a lambda class shuttle waiting to take him to the Inivictus. The pilot saluted as Du' Caat approached;

"At ease"

"Sir we are ready for departure," the pilot said nervously.

"Well then lets get going shall we."

[Aegis Du' Caat]

Du' Caat's arrival onboard the Invictus was rather uneventful. He of course was greeted with a full color guard and escorted to the bridge by a full honor guard, but nothing seemed too extraordinary.

"Admiral on the bridge!" Shouted the Gunnery Sgt as Du' Caat took the bridge. The crew stood at attention and saluted their CO.

"As you were." Du' Caat responded and beckoned them to continue their preperations for the trip. Quickly the bustle of the bridge was back to a dull roar as the men and women on duty made the last second preparations for the jump to hyperspace.

"Admiral the Righteous and the Tyrant have completed their slaving operations. The rest of the task force reports that they are ready to make the jump. Simply waiting for our signal."

"Very well, ensign set a course to these coordinates," Du' Caat pressed a few buttons sending the coordinates from hjs command chair to the helm. "A make the jump at your leisure."

"Aye aye sir."

The ensigen quickly entered the coordinates into the nav computer after a second it calculated the jump trajectory and programmed the hyper-drive engines.

"Jump calculated, iniating hyper-drive. Jump to hyper-space in 20 seconds."

Du' Caat nodded and then the XO, Line Captain Viktor Gauss pressed a button from his station which activated the ships intercom.

"Now hear this... All hands prepare for hyper-space jump."

"Jump in 5...4...3...2...1...Iniating..."

For a moment it felt as if nothing was happening, then the hum of the inertial dampeners could be heard and a feeling of having your stomach being left behind you could be felt by everyone throughout the vessel. On the bridge Du' Caat watched as space seemed to stretch and bend around the hull of his massive vessel and as the tip of his ship seemed to be hundreds of kilometers infront of him. Stars and other heavenly bodies stretched into endless lines. Slowly the vessel seemed to revert to normal length but the white lines of stars remained.

"Jump complete, estimated time of arrival 30 hours 15 minutes and...45 seconds."

"Very good helm, I'll be in my office meeting with Lt. Cmmdr Vishanov, Viktor the bridge is yours."

"Yes sir."

Du' Caat rose and Viktor rose with him as Du' Caat exitted Viktor took his place in the command chair. As Du' Caat approached his office he saw Vishanov approaching from the opposite end of the hall way.

"Ahh early Commander."

Yes sir, is that inconvient?"

"Of Course not, after you." Du' Caat motioned for her to enter first as he activated the security door.

[Aegis Du' Caat]

Du' Caat followed the graceful commander as she entered his office and while he had no plans of conquest on a personal level, he still took a moment to admire her form and the air of unreproachablity that she carried herself in. Soon his long powerful stride surpassed hers as he made is way to a small bar positioned before a large observation port.

"Would you care for a drink Vishanov?" Du' Caat asked as he poured himself three fingers of Corellian Scotch; "I have a fine Tarisian Ale you might be interested in trying."

Vishanov blushed for a moment as she realized that the Vice-Admiral had done his homework on her as well and that she loved nothing more after a mission than to relax with a cup of cold Tarisian Ale.

"It seems you've done some intel of your own Admiral," she replied coyly.

"Yes, but that is to be expected isn't it and we are behind close doors, you may call me Aegis. So would you like a drink?"

"Not at the moment sir.. I mean Aegis." she forced herself to call the Vice-Admiral by his first name as if it was quite painful to her. Du' Caat grinned inwardly as he often enjoyed breaking his staff of their hardwired Imperial nature in personal settings.

"Very well," He returned as he took a sip of his scotch savoring the cool liquid; "I suppose we should get down to business before my meeting with the rest of the command. Please have a seat."

Du' Caat sat and after he reclined Vishanov did as well.

"Yes sir. Here are my reports on the staff sir." She handed Du' Caat a datapad he quickly accessed the staff reports and began browsing them.

"I thought we would begin with Commodore Brevis, the CO of the Righteous," Vishanov paused waiting for Du' Caat's acknowledgement. Du' Caat nodded and she continued.

"An interesting choice for the command. Brevis has served in many combat missions in both the Vong Invasion and during the Imperial Split. He's known for his efficiency in capturing vessels and is seen as a virtual tactical wunderkind. His expertise in planetary assualts is second to few. He seems a bit over-qualified for simple pirate patrol and guerrilla hunting..."

"Yes, Brevis is a very competent commander, I served with him against the Iron Pact near Eraidu, but please continue."

"Well its just that he turned down a promotion to Rear Admiral twice and a posting to Imperial Stategic Command so that he could continue to command single vessels and small task forces which has put him out of favor with some of the higher ups..."

"Yes but Grand Admiral Desaria thinks very highly of him and respected his decision to remain at the rank of Commodore and the Grand Admiral's opinion is a very powerful one."

"Yes, but of course but..."

"Lets continue on with Line Captain Gy'tal, Vishanov, time is short."

"Yes of course sir, Gy'tal is a veteran of pirate disputes and considered one of the Sovereignty's best Line officers when it comes to surgical strikes and guerrila warfare. There are few VSD commanders out there who excell as well as he does when it comes to stellar warfare. Which brings up a question sir, why do we need such an expert on Ground assualts and blockade running."

"Save your questions for later, I'll be happy to answer them, Commander." Du' Caat replied firmly. When the Vice-Admiral referred to his subordinates by rank it generally meant that he meant what he said.

"Yes sir," Vishanov replied. "However he's been passed over for promotion due to his alleged involvement in the attempted November 17th coup."

"Charges he was cleared of by a military tribuna, one which I served on, on to the next item."

"Well sir you have General Paxston, one of the Sovereignty's armed forces rising stars, his battlefield tactics are second to very few. To be truthful sir he is th only member of your staff that seems to have a valid reason to be assigned to our stated mission. Including yourself, sir. You are considered by most to be the best officer in the fleet second only to Grand Admiral Desaria himself and yet you've been assigned to pirate duty along with a Commander who's spent his career in Imperial Starship R&D, a Colonel who's been positioned in the Sovereignty's Resource managment and an entire Imperial Research staff who are considered the best young minds in the fields of cloning, weapons research, military conditioning, hyperdrive, and starship development. Sir to be honest this is the least qualified pirate patrol that I've ever seen and the best looking foreward command operation that has ever been put together."

"Ah which brings us to you Commander," Du' Caat said smiling.

"Top of your class in Imperial Intel, your first mission successfully infiltrating and sabatoging the Savian Coalition. You have a background in setting up loyal resitance to established regimes, you are an expert in manipulating Imperial Beuracracy and quite proficient in hand to hand combat as well." Du' Caat paused.

"It seems Vishanov that you are ready to be let in on a little secret."

"Secret sir, I- I will not be a part of a cou--"

"No no, you won't and neither will the rest of us. It seems you overlooked one small detail of all of my staff, notice the signature and official orders of each. They are signed and given by Desaria himself. You see Vishanov, our Orders may read Stabilization of Sovereignty interest in the Outer Rim, but our true mission is this; We are to set up a small independently resourced Research and Development installation and shipyards in the Elrood Sector. A sector not on any major Hyperspace lanes or well charted by anyone outside of a their residents and a few very covert Imperial Hyperspace explorers. Infact the very coordinates of our jump are known only to a few in the known Galaxy outside of the Elrood Sector. We are going to take the aquire the planets of Damaran IV, Hessia, Nal' toork, Vendi Prime, and Baalek for the purposes of creating this installation and keeping it rich in resources. It has become known to us that there is a high level of raw resources in the sector that will give us the ability to build a small but well-funded production base for the Sovereignty outside the prying eyes of Balmorra and the New Republic. We will slowly but surely begin shipping warships and weapons as well as soldiers and supplies to Thyferra to increase her already powerful resource base and while we are at it, create an elite tactical battle group that will answer only to myself and the Grand Admiral, a battle group that could possibly one day be used in the war against the New Republic."

"S-sir"

"No, that's enough for today. I have to prepare for my meeting. Be sure that you observe and study the reactions of my staff when they are informed of the true nature of our mission. I want to know who I can trust and whom I will have to watch."

"Yes, sir" Vishanov replied standing and saluting the mammoth man before her.

"You are dismissed."

[Aegis Du' Caat]

The room began to fill as the commanding officers of Du' Caat's task force filed in. Each man and woman bearing honor plaques for their illustrious service to the Sovereignty. Brevis and Gy'tal sat next to one another, Paxston and Colonel Jackson took up positions opposite their naval counter-parts and then the Research officers. Vishanov and Du' Caat filed in last, the latter taking the head seat and Vishanov took the chair to his right.

"Greetings comrades, its good to see you all as we embark on this momentous mission. You each are experts in each of your fields, fields you might find make you unqualified or for my more egocentric; overqualified."

A few chuckles slipped from the officers arranged around the table, Du' Caat himself even smiled before he motioned his hand for the assembly to become silent.

"We are not on a simple pirate patrol, we are being sent to carve out a minature empire, a military state to supply the Sovereignty's glorious war machine. Each of you have a vital role to play in this. Colonel Jackson, your efficency in beuracracy will serve us as we must find a way to fund ourselves set up our own economy in the sector we are going to overtake." Du' Caat then turned and looked at a woman sitting near the research officers.

"And Vice-Governor Gali, your ability to keep subjects loyal and productive makes you a nearly peerless assist as we attempt to build our subject base. Brevis your tactical precision makes you ideal in commanding our invasion forces and you Gy'tal will be in charge of making sure that our prescence here is stable."

Du' Caat continued to list the duties of each member at the table and discuss their mission objective then he paused and looked over them all.

"We will begin by taking the planet of Hessia and use it's rich agricultural resources to sustain our war effort. We will arrive at Hessia in 2 weeks. Have your men and women ready for we will strike on arrival and strike hard."

Du' Caat then rose from his seat and spoke; "You are dismissed."

[Aegis Du' Caat]

The Elrood sector, a backwater, little known corner of the galaxy. Primitive by many standards of modern Galactic living. Natural Law ruled this sector, with pirates and the occasional planetary warlord rising to prominence outside their own planet. In fact many planets in the sector did not even have a unified planetary government, many were comprised of multiple nation-states, each claiming sovereignty over their own little piece of the pie. This was about to change, the sector was about to recieve a very brutal wake-up call and reintroduction to modernity. The Empire was calling and they would not take no for an answer...

ISD - Invictus
Somewhere on the outer-realm of the Elrood Sector
Day 14
------------ -------------------- ------------------------ ---------------

Du' Caat sat upon his command chair like a wise old king upon his throne. His left hand rubbed the temples of his bowed head as he went over the upcoming battle in his mind. The forward scouts had reported that the planet's defenses were laughable, that a handful of Skipray gunboats and a few Stormtrooper Regiments could take Hessia in a matter of days. It seemed that the Vice Admiral had done his job quite well in choosing an initial base of operations in the Outer Rim.

Once they had Hessia, Du' Caat had ordered the construction of an ore refinery so that they could begin to build a more permanant base of operations other than the pre-fabbed garrisons and the orbitting flagship.

"Admiral, we are approaximately 200 kilometers from Hessia, shall I sound general quarters?"

"Yes and raise us to yellow alert, in form the VSD's to take the forward positions and move the troop transport vessels to our flanks. Order the deployment of 30% of our fighter compliments and prepare a comm-channel."

"Very well sir," The ensign replied.

"Tusk, contact Cmmdr Vishanov, have her report to the deck immediately."

"Aye sir."

Du' Caat started to perk up, he would move his lancer frigates and some of his missle frigates into position to test the planets stellar defenses, before he began to commit his capital vessels. If Vishanov's intel was correct, one VSD could reduce the planets entire space fleet to rubble, but he had learned once, at the expense of his crew never to fully trust Imperial Intel.

Finally the long legged, raven haired Vishanov reported to the deck. She saluted the Admiral and he nodded and returned the womans salute.

"I want you to give the orders and coordinates for our planetary descent once their space defenses have been neutralized. I don't want any suprise visitors before we have secured the area so be sure to choose wisely."

"By all means sir," Vishanov replied eagerly.

Du' Caat then turned towards the view finder.

"Order the vessels into range."

[Aegis Du' Caat]

The fall of Hessia came quick and with a relatively minor loss of life. Their outdated fighter corps were no match for the TIE-Defenders of Du' Caat's task force. The Hessian ground troops were disorganized millitias while the Imperial advanced regiments were a model of discipline. They carved the Hessian defense apart like a hot knife through butter. Once the capital city was set up as the Sovereignty HQ for the sector, Du' Caat began prepping for the conquest of the next key planet in the sector; Damaran IV.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The ore refinery in Hessia was up and running and as soon as the Imperial Forces took Damaran IV production of the shipyards could begin as the shipyards would be defended by the planets. The Hessians were signing on for Imperial training in droves. Creating their own planetary defense league that served as a proxy for the Imperial forces who had been securing Hessia.

Du' Caat had called a meeting of his staff. They had done an outstanding job taking Hessia and wanted to make sure that they kept up their performance against Damaran IV.

Paxston had already made arrangements to leave a battallion of troops on Hessia to reinforce the Civil defense. Du' Caat wanted Damaran IV before he began production of the shipyards, however he didn't want to spread his forces too thin. He would promote some of his men to command positions and use the Hessian conscripts to crew vessels that the shipyards build.

Tobal, the beuracratic genius of the operation had set up a very effective proxy government. He nodded to Du' Caat as he entered the room. Slowly but surely the entire room was filled with all of Du' Caat's officers.

"I'm glad you all could join me, we will be beginning our operation against Damaran IV within the week and I want to make sure that everyone is on board with their duties."

Du' Caat turned towards Tobal.

"Are you sure that the Hessian governement will remain loyal to our Imperial rule if we remove a large amount of our troops to assault Damaran IV."

"Yes Admiral, Hessia has long had designs to unify the sector and with the introduction of Imperial rule has given them an opportunity to realize the goals."

"Excellent, Cmmdr. Vishanov, is his intel correct?"

Tobal choked a bit at having his word challenged, but said nothing.

"Yes Admiral, though I'm not sure they are as loyal to the cause as Mr. Tobal believes, but if they see a display of our power I think it will keep them in line."

"And what do you suggest?"

"The city of Gavin, still resists Imperial rule, I suggest it be leveled."

"Paxston, you have your orders. Make sure it is done before we embark for Damaran IV."

"Of course Sir."

"As for the rest of you make sure you're preparations are complete, Damaran IV's Ion gas resources are too important to our fleet production to have the invasion delayed."

A unviresal "Yes sir."

Du' Caat nodded and responded; "Dismissed."

[Aegis Du' Caat]

Du' Caat sat onboard the Invictus, the Righteous and Tyrant flanking her on the port and starboard respectively. The planet of Damaran IV encompassed all of the plasti-steel observation port on the ISD's bridge.

"A beutiful planet wouldn't you say Vishanov?"

"Yes sir," The soft voice of the female intel officer replied. Du' Caat had taken her own as his protege during this mission, she was the only one whom he informed of all his plans and designs for the sector outside of his mentor, Desaria. Should anything happen to the Admiral, Vishanov would be in command and he was confident of her ability to lead the operation.

"It's unbelievable how these settler's are so unaware of the gold mines that sit underneath there respective noses." The commander said, an ounce of wonderment in her voice.

"They were abandoned by our predecessor's Vishanov, without any supply lines they had to depend on farming and terra-forming to survive the last few decades. It is simply amazing that the populations on these planets have swelled to their current size."

"This explain's their limited technology."

"There was a war going on, they were given simply enough to police themselves and deter the pirates at the time." Du' Caat paused a moment.

"However we'll all learn just how advanced they are in terms of food production. There is an empire ripe for the building here. Had the Republic not fallen nor the Empire, this sector would have fueled the very core worlds with all the supplies they could have ever hoped for."

As Du' Caat finished speaking the sensor operator turned toward's him.

"Sir the Andulian Republic's armed forces are launching their fighters to engage us."

Du' Caat nodded.

"Order our entire fighter corp to deploy."

Vishanov turned and looked at Du' Caat incredulously.

"The entire corp, Admiral? The Invictus' squadrons alone could deal with the threat."

"The Andulian Republic is the closest thing this planet has to a Superpower, if we wipe out their entire fighter corp, without allowing so much as a ship to escape, it will send an example to the rest of the planet, they will capitulate."

"Fighter's away sir."

Du' Caat nodded and watched as the TIE-Defenders screamed towards their target.

*************************************************
"Tau 3, this is Alpha 1. Enemy target will be in missle range in approxiamately 30 seconds, prep your warheads and activate targeting computers. Over"

"Roger Alpha 1. Tau squandron activating targeting computers, we'll take the lead fighters. Over."

A squadron of Defenders puched their afterburners and moved ahead of the Imperial forces. Within moments the glow of the Advanced concussion missles rocket could be seen igniting as Tau fired the first volleys. The hellspawn arrows ripped through the Andulian fighters in a devestating barrage fo firepower. Two of the lead squadron's fighters however deployed counter-measures in time and broke formation attempting to engage from closer range.

"Tau 2, this is Tau leader, break off formation and engage the bandits. Tau 4 cover him. Over"

"Copy Tau 3."

Two of the defenders peeled off from formation and chased after the fleeing Andulian fighters. Tau 2 closed and fired a dual volley of linked laser fire, nearly vaporizing the fighter, the pilot didn't even have time to eject. The other Andulian fighter hit her afterburners and attempted to make a run for friendlies.

"Tau 4. Can you catch him?"

"I've got him Tau 2, just cover my six. Over."

As the two defender's screamed in after the scrambling fighter, an entire squadron of Andulian fighters broke formation and made their way to intercept the defenders.

"Tau Leader, this is Tau 2, we've got multiple bogies moving to intercept. Requesting assistance. Over"

"Negative Tau 2, we are currently engaged, break-off pursuit and regroup with Beta Squadron. Over."

"Copy. Over"

The two fighters peeled off and the glow of afterburners could be seen as they made a run for the safety of the advancing Beta squadron. Tau and Gamma had already engaged the Andulian forces in close-quarters and were dealing out heavy casualties, while sustaining none, however their shields were beginning to feel the strain.

"Tau Leader to Tau group, break formation and attempt to regroup with Gunboat squadrons, provide 2x2 escort for the gunboats. Over"

Tau squandron broke formation and turned back. Some of the less experienced Andulian pilots regrettably saw this as a sign of retreat and attempted to pursue. They were cut down by the advancing Gamma squadron.

The Andulian forces were being decimated and their commanders knew it, but they were surving as a delay, an attempt to bring a wild card to the table and attempt to catch the Imperial forces off guard.

***********************************************

"Admiral Du' Caat. Sensors are showing two frigate class vessels exitting hyper-space to our aft."

Du' Caat looked at him.

"Andulian?"

"Unsure sir..."

"Transfer power from forward shields to rear deflectors."

"Aye sir."

The officer in charge of shields pressed a few buttons on his console.

"Aft shields now at 150%."

Another voice chimed in; "Sir they have aquired a lock on our engines."

Du' Caat pressed a button activating the universal PA system for the vessel.

"All hands brace for impact."

Each frigate fired off a volley of 4 warheads, a total of 8 in all. The AMS kicked into action attempting to pick off the incoming missles. Three were shot down, but instead of the ensuing explosion generally generated from a warhead being destroyed the missles just flashed into nothingness from the vaporizing power of the lazers that had hit them. The remaining five warheads slammed into the rear of the Invictus detonating along her shields in a brilliant azure flash. Warning klaxxons were activated.

"Aft shields have failed sir, I don't know what those things were but they packed a powerful punch. We've got radiation powring into aft departments and our engines are at 65%."

Atomics?!?!?

"Helm get us turned around, order the Righteous and the Tyrant to engage the frigates. Full power to starboard shields."

"Sir they are preparing to fire again."

"Evasive maneuvar's helm."

The entire vessel shuddered as the helmsman put full power into the thrusters and began to swing the Invictus to her starboard. Du' Caat feel headlong into the safety railing, striking his head hard as Cmmdr Vishanov dove out of the way. The starboard batteries of the [I]Invictus[I] began to pour green turbo-laster fire at the two frigates, attempting to stop them from firing again. As did the Righteous and the Tyrant after batteries. Each frigate's shields absorbed the punishment.

"Enemy vessels shields at 15% and 35%"

The voice that responded was Vishanov's, Du' Caat lay at her feet unconcious.

"Concentrate fire on the weaker vessel."

"Yes Commander!"

Both frigate's fired again from their missle batteries. This time all three Destroyer's AMS fired on them and only one missle found it's target, Slamming into the starboard shields of the Invictus.

"Starboard shields at 75%"

"Enemy frigate's shields failing."

One of the Frigate's exploded in a terrible flash as her main reactor was hit. This crippled the other frigate which attempted to limp away.

"Scramble bombers, don't let those bastards escape!" Vishanov cried out in rage.

The Righteous now had moved forward enough to begin her own maneuvars as she attempted to turn and close the gap on the frigate.

"Bombers away Commander."

**********************************************

"This is Red Leader to Red squadron we are closing on the frigate, form a line on me, we are going to begin our run. Over"

The 12 TIE bomber's that made up the Red squadron formed a bee-line behind the Red leader. A flurry of green and red turbo-laser fire screamed by them in opposing directions.

"Target her reactor and follow my lead. Over"

Red leader screamed in on the vessel's hull silohette, anti-fighter fire came at them sloppily. Barely making a dent on their shields. Red leader locked onto the ships reactor base and released her payload, 2 heavy space bombs, then peelled off reducing power from targeting and lasers to shields and engines and attempting to make himself a more attractive target for the gunners. Each bomber up to Red 6 made her run before the first bombs hit, ripping through the frigate's hull.

"Red leader to red squadron, break run and return to the hangar. Over" As the bombs hit their target with devestating power, the frigate began to come apart at the seams and finally exploded in a brilliant flash. However it had come at a cost. Red 12's engines had been damaged by fighter fire and could not escape the splash damage. His family would be recieving a letter from Admiral Du' Caat.

***********************************************

On board the Invictus Admiral Du' Caat lay, groggy, on a med-bay cot, his head bandaged.

"Relax Admiral, the battle is over, the Andulian's have been routed, not a single fighter escaped. You on the other hand have a mild concussion and need to rest. " The doctor said condescendingly.

"What's the status of the Invictus?"

"We suffered mild casualties from Radiation poisoning in the engine housings and currently we can not achieve Hyperspeed. But Commander Vishanov reports that repairs are coming along and we will be fully operational in 12 hours."

"Very well, you'll excuse me doctor."

The giant of a man rose from his cot. The doctor moved to protest but Du' Caat merely pushed him away.

"A commander can not lie in bed while his men are fighting Doctor."

And with that he took his leave.