Stratagem (Halo Force)

[Jacen Parami]

Jacen let out a long, deep breath. “Here we go,” he muttered, stepping forward into the range of the door sensor. The plate of metal hissed swiftly aside, and he stepped through. “Good morning, people.”

Walking smartly across to stand on a raised platform that altered the C-shaped seating of the briefing room into a full circle, he nodded to Kyle Raiden, his honorary Intelligence aide in Halo Force. He didn’t know much about the Major…he’d only arrived a few days ago, along with the Sacheen-class Bifrost, a whole load of special ops forces, and some rather intriguing orders.

Gently gripping the sides of his podium, his eyes ran around the men and women that awaited his orders. He saw in their expressions something that he still hadn’t gotten used to since he’d defected – respect. These people did not follow his instructions because they feared what would happen if they didn’t. They obeyed simply because they believed that their Captain was capable of doing the job the New Republic had assigned him to do. That was a strangely unusual situation for Jacen to find himself in.

He cleared his throat. “I’m a firm believer that a briefing should be brief. So, I’m going to try and keep it that way…a brief stay in the briefing room for a brief briefing.” He paused, as a few scattered chuckles and amused smiles appeared around the room. Was that funny? He shrugged inside himself, and continued. “The New Republic has found a target that Halo Force is perfectly suited to contend with. It’s going to require every one of us to do our best to pull this off. Every resource we have is going to be involved in this operation. It isn’t going to be easy. But nothing ever is. We can do this.” He paused again, and pointed to Kyle. “Major Raiden is going to tell you how.”

Stepping down from the podium, he gave Kyle a slight nod, and then sank himself into one of the seats off to the side of the stage.

[Kyle Raiden]

Kyle stood before his comrades, and smiled. However, it wasn’t a warm, friendly smile. It was the smile that often graced Kyle’s face…the smile that said ‘I know something you don’t know.’

“As Captain Parami has just said, this mission is going to take every single man, woman and resource that we have. Pulling this off is going to take a feat of strategic planning, and the precise actions of everyone involved.” His smug smile faded. He pushed a button on the console before him, and a screen activated above his head, the symbol of Halo Force spinning slowly. “Our target is a man named Talon Kordo. Until a few years ago, he did not exist. We can find no birth records, no residency records...we can't even find a picture. All we know is that he is a businessman, with investments in dozens of companies from the Core Worlds to the Outer Rim. He’s involved with computers, engineering, agriculture, shipping, manufacture…however, his greatest investment is something far more sinister.”

The image of Kordo was replaced with an image of a starfield. As they watched, an old New Republic medical frigate rolled onto the screen, transport craft and cargo ships dancing around it. To the horror of those watching, ship by ship, the medical convoy was destroyed. Fighters swooped in, missiles flew, and turbolasers from an accompanying force pounded the practically defenceless humanitarian fleet. The craft whose sensors had contributed this footage swung round, and the menacing form of a Marauder Corvette filled the screen. The image froze.

“That convoy was transporting food and medical supplies to Ord Veida, after a natural disaster of epic proportions. One aid ship survived out of sixteen. Because of the missing supplies, thousands of people died on Ord Veida. Kordo has been an annoyance to both military and civilian forces in that area for some time. However, with this act, Kordo has gone too far. The New Republic has decided that Kordo must be brought to justice. It is our job to apprehend him.”

The emotions displayed before him ranged from sadness, through disgust, and into hate. The variety of races ensured a wide spread of emotions. But, from the looks in their eyes, Kyle knew that, now, Halo Force’s resolve was strong enough to make this mission succeed.

“Kordo has a modest force at his disposal. He is no match for the New Republic in an all-out offensive…he’d hardly make a dent. However, that isn’t how he works. He’s learned his lessons well, and learned from us, unfortunately. The tactics used by Kordo bear a striking similarity to those used by the Rebel Alliance. However…” Kyle allowed himself to smile. “He’s not as good as hiding as the Alliance used to be.”

A star chart appeared on the holographic projector in the center of the room, zooming in through various star systems, into a large, black void. “You may not believe it, but there is actually a star system here. We’ve been watching the operations of these pirates for some time. We’ve known that Kordo was a problem, but we’ve never been able to pin anything on him. We’ve had Probes in the surrounding systems for months. However, we’ve never been able to work out where exactly he’s hiding.” The image of a star system replaced the map, a red giant/yellow dwarf binary system, with a series of rocky worlds spinning around the smaller star. “This system, designated P3X-494, does not appear on any map that we know of. One of our probes managed to secure a homing beacon on one of Kordo’s ships, and we managed to track him to his base of operations. Subsequent recon missions have revealed the exact location of every significant mass object in the system…we are now in a position to safely mount an assault.”

One of the planets grew on the projector, absorbing the others into it. The world looked plain, dull, and generally featureless, save for a few mountains and lakes breaking up the dominant drab blue-grey. “This is the second planet in the system, in orbit of the yellow star. This world, 494-B, is the only habitable one in the system. Our probes have revealed a structure located fairly close to the southern pole. A few observation posts, and ground-based ion cannons are located elsewhere on the planet, and on other worlds in the system. However, after analysing the comm outputs, we’ve concluded that this is the base of Kordo’s operations.”

The planet shrunk slightly, and a number of shapes appeared in orbit around it. “Kordo has a number of larger ships at his disposal. From what we can tell, he has two Lancer Frigates, two Corellian Gunships, and a Marauder Corvette, as well as around 50 fighters. We can handle these forces, but we will have to be careful. We can’t risk getting too close to the planet, else we’ll end up in range of the ion cannons. But we can’t get too far away either…the second star in the system destroyed its orbiting planets when it became a red giant. The resulting debris has formed a rather restrictive belt between the third and fourth planets. There is only one way in and out of this belt for ships the size of ours…we’ll have to be careful that we don’t get cut off and herded back towards the center of the system. And, there is also always the possibility that Kordo has more ships up his sleeve. We could quite easily get caught in a trap…and we don’t want that to happen. So, we’ll be including contingencies.”

Kyle let out a breath, and rubbed his hands together, before beginning a sequence of animations to illustrate his plan. “The Asgard, Ask and Embla will enter the system here, as close to 494-B as possible. Their task will be to attract the attention of Kordo’s larger ships, and if possible, draw them outside of the debris field.”

“The Midgard and Bifrost will stop short of the system, waiting on the fringes for a signal from the Asgard. Once Kordo’s ships are successfully lured away, they will jump in behind them, cutting them off from the planet. The Midgard will hold the gap in the debris field, while the Bifrost moves inside to deploy her special forces. These troops will infiltrate the polar stronghold, apprehend Kordo, and transport him to a rendezvous point, where another New Republic ship will ferry him for his trial on Coruscant. As soon as the Bifrost is clear, the rest of Halo Force will either mop up, or secure the surrender of any other forces, and then jump out to the rendezvous point to meet up with the Bifrost.”

Kyle nodded slightly, confirming to himself that he’d said everything he wanted to. He looked around the room. “Are there any questions?”

[Malcolm Trippen]

"I have one," Trip called, raiding his hand.

He frowned a little, trying to organise his thoughts into an understandable form. "Its two questions, really. The first one is pretty trivial...what are us fighters going up against? Those Lancers and Gunships look a bit nasty...but I assume the bigger ships can handle those for us. What are we looking at with regards to Starfighters?"

[Kyle Raiden]

Kyle nodded. "Good question." He paused, checking his notes, needlessly. He knew the answer, just as he knew someone would ask. However, in times like this, it often helped to give people the impression that he was 'only human'.

"Our Intelligence reports have calculated that, on a regular basis, approximately thirty-six fighters are deployed along with the larger ships. Kordo seems to rely heavily on his Lancers to contend with oposing fighters. From what we can gather, his fighters, which we believe to be Cloakshapes, are used mainly as missile platforms. While we don't doubt that Kordo will reserve additional fighter forces to defend his base of operations, they shouldn't be anything that you can't handle."

Kyle stopped, letting the information sink in. "You said two questions?"

[Malcolm Trippen]

"The main objective of this mission is to capture Kordo. Everyone else is covering for the Special Forces, so that they can fulfill that objective. We're not here to hurt Kordo. We're not here to wipe him out. We want to bring him to trial, and neutralise his operation."

Trip looked at the carpet and frowned, thinking again. "What makes you so sure he'll be in his stronghold? What happens if he isn't?"

[Kyle Raiden]

Well noticed, Mr Trippen. That's the same flaw I spotted. Fortunately, its my job to deal with it.

Kyle let out a fake sigh. "You are correct, Lieutenant. Our plan does rely on that assumption. However, we have good reason to believe that, if he is anywhere, he will be there. Kordo is, by his very nature, a coward. He has gone to great lengths to ensure that we couldn't tie any of these attacks conclusively to him...not without admitting to several Intelligence operations that we are not ready to admit to at this time." He paused again, trying to simplify the situation into an easily-understandable concept. "Kordo would never willingly put himself in danger. He is a coward. If he is anywhere in the P3X-494 system, it will be in his bunker. Also, intercepted communications transmissions seem to indicate that he is there."

"If Kordo is not present in the P3X-494 system..." Kyle paused again. "If he is not there, then we will hurt Kordo as best we can and, if necessary, wipe him out. I can assure you, Lieutenant, my Special Forces are more than capable of doing that."

[Jacen Parami]

"They are indeed," Jacen said, echoing Kyle's comment as he rose to his feet. "I know they are, because there is no one in this unit who wouldn't be able to."

An edge slipped into Jacen's voice. His confidence and resolve echoed around the briefing room. "We have been sent on this mission not just because we have the right number of troops, or the right sorts of troops, or the right kind of ships. We're not being sent because we might be able to do it. We're being sent because we can do it. We're being sent because we will do it."

"Halo Force will not fail. So lets do it." He let the resolve in his voice slip away, dropping it back to its normal tone. "Dismissed."

[Luka Nantaii]

The sound of footsteps rang through the tunnel that led towards General Kordo's private chambers. He didn't hear it, of course. Several inches of the strongest materials credits could buy separated Kordo's Military Advisor from Talon himself. Kordo's obsession with security was born out of a paranoia so extreme that, for Colonel Luka Nantaii, it was rather amusing. Pretending not to notice the hidden security cameras, Luka pressed the intercom beside the door, and waited for it to open.

"Come in," Talon's voice crackled back, as a hefty set of blast doors opened, letting Luka in to a small airlock. The Colonel sighed, and ducked his head to step into the restrictively small space. The doors behind him closed with a thud, plunging him into total darkness. He counted the seven seconds he always had to wait before the next set of doors opened.

In the dim room, Luka could hardly. A wall of vid-screens displaying feeds from every security camera in the facility provided what little light there was. Luka wrinkled his nose at the smell. It seemed strangely medical, disinfected. Across from it, seated on a throne of sorts, his body's position simulating the illusion of life that it was in reality lacking. Medical droids drifted around their Master's form, maintaining their 14-month vigil over the slowly dying man.

Luka sighed a little from pity. Two years ago, Talon had been diagnosed with a rare medical disease. Since then, he had slowly begun to degrade, dying slowly, cell by cell. Since then, the Colonel had been overseeing the operation of the Kordo Coalition. Since then, the Colonel had been in control. Since then, he had made an enemy of the New Republic.

"They will come for you soon, General," he said softly, moving to Kordo's side. Talon stirred, looking vaguely towards the source of the sound. "All you have worked for will soon be destroyed. They want justice for your justice. The Rebels will charge you with the crime of serving those who should truely rule. They will..."

Two hands reached up, and gripped Luka's as firmly as they could. The Colonel looked down at them, confused, and then back into the eyes of the General. "Do not..." Kordo wheezed. "Do not...let them...take me..."

Luka nodded slowly. "I will preserve your dignity."

Kordo's hands fell away, as his body slumped back in the chair. A solid, constant tone bit through the darkness...a flatline. Rising to his feet, and wiping his hand on his trousers, Luka re-holstered his blaster. "I'd say it was a pleasure serving with you, General..." An evil smile split his lips. "...but I have lied too much already." He turned and, adjusting the hang of his all-black Admiral's uniform, walked back towards the door, and faded into the shadows.

[Kyle Raiden]

"What are you thinking about?" a voice called from behind him.

Kyle turned, hands releasing his knees, and falling down to the fuselage of his X-Wing, maintaining his balance. "Commander..." he said quickly, swinging his legs round and dropping the several meters to the floor. He landed in a crouch, and straightened up, moving smoothly into a smart attention, and saluting his superior. "Sorry sir, I didn't see you there."

Annex Vallen smiled. "I've been practicing my stealth skills. I've not quite reached your level, but..." she chuckled. "You seemed deep in thought, Major. Did I disturb anything important?"

Kyle shook his head. "Nothing important. Just..." His eyes fell to the floor, and he frowned. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"The mission?"

"No...not the mission. At least, not specifically. The plan will work. I now it will. Its just..." He let out a sigh. "I don't know. Its probably nothing." He shook his head clear, and looked back up at the Commander. "Was there something you wanted?"

Annex looked a little reluctant to speak...very uncharacteristic of her. "Yes..."

Kyle frowned. "What is it, sir?"

"I'm on an important mission, Major."

"Oh?" Kyle's frown deepened. "What did I do this time?"

"You turned your comm link off."

"Oh."

Annex smiled. "You have a message from Coruscant...its waiting in your quarters."

Kyle's frown softened, but not by much. "I wonder what that's about..." he looked towards the door. "May I?"

Commander Vallen nodded. "Go ahead. And make sure you get some sleep...tomorrow is going to be a busy day."

"Aye, sir."

[Malcolm Trippen]

08:00 hours. Fourteen hours before they were due to deploy. Twenty-six before they'd arrive at 494. Twenty-seven before, hopefully, they'd be coming home.

Trip brushed his fingers along the underside of an X-Wing S-Foil, hand running over the grey-on-black paintwork of one of the Dark Angel Squadron fighters. Compared to the Asgard, the bay on the Bifrost was tiny. Its twelve fighters and shuttles didn't require much room...unlike the fourty-eight and six of the Asgard. Everything seemed darker, too. For the first time in a while, Trip was glad he served on such a large ship. I bet the refresher stations aren't as far apart here, though, he thought to himself.

Thirteen craft occupied the bay. Twelve were the X-Wings of Dark Angel squadron. The last however, was much larger. Her wings folded up around her, the Lambda-class Covenant was an imposing sight. Her usually cold grey hull had been painted to match the Dark Angel fighters. Trip shuddered. I'd hate to be the guy trying to shoot that thing down in the dark...

Malcolm spotted a pair of legs on the other side of the Covenant. Frowning, Trip ducked his head, and walked beneath the big black craft.

"Hi there," he said with a smile, holding out his hand, discovering himself stood at the shoulder of a young, blonde-haired woman, perched on top of a munitions crate. "Lieutenant Malcolm Trippen, Archangel Squadron."

[Shelly Waye]

T -14. hours. Less than a day to go. This time tomorrow, she would be deployed on her first mission for Halo Force. But, right now, Captain Shelly Waye was cleaning.

"Damn techs," she muttered, wiping the focusing lens on her blaster carbine. The weapon lay in several pieces on a cloth draped across her legs. Slowly, piece by piece, it was getting put back together. But before that happened, each individual piece had to be cleaned and checked. It was a boring, tedious task, but at least she'd be sure that her gun would actually fire when she squeezed the trigger.

Shelly ran her fingers back through her hair, dragging the fringe away from her face, and sighed. When she'd been selected for Special Forces training, she'd never expected to end up doing this. Her job was romanticised beyond belief, and she'd been tricked by the illusion. In reality, she spent more time preparing for an operation than she actually spent on it, and yet more time without anything to do. Sure, training missions, weapons ranges, drills, and those sorts of things kept her occupied, and she wasn't exactly short of paperwork, but still...Here was me thinking that soldiers were supposed to shoot things.

Shelly let out a silent growl of annoyance, as she heard a pair of footsteps come to a halt behind her. "Lieutenant Malcolm Trippen, Archangel Squadron," a voice behind her called.

"Good for you," Shelly replied.

[Malcolm Trippen]

Trip drew his hand away slowly, frowning. "Thanks..."

Unpeterbed, Trip walked round in front of her, and grabbed a crate of his own to sit on. After a few moments of questionable stability, he eventually got him settled and seated comfortably. He looked at Shelly, but recieved a cold glare in reply.

Trip winced a little, reaching up and scratching behind his ear. "So...I'm guessing you're Captain Waye, right?"

[Shelly Waye]

Shelly sighed, and lifted the cloth from her legs, carefully putting it on the deck beside her. re-positioning her legs, and folding her arms across her chest, and looked at Trip with mild disinterest.

"Let me guess...you looked at my file before you came over, and recognised me from the picture?" She sighed again before Trip could answer. "What is it with you fly-boys? Are you trying to impress me or something?" She held up a hand to stop him. "Don't answer that. I don't want to know."

Rolling her eyes, she stood up, slid the crate aside with her foot, and paced around, arms still crossed. "Lets see...what reason could you have to talk to me? Are you trying to 'meet the people you're going to be working with'? Are you trying to 'be friendly'? Let me know when I've hit the mark. Are you here on a bet? If you are, go and tell your slimy fighter jock friends that..."

Shelly was stalled by the datapad thrust at her by Trip. She froze, staring down at it as the pilot walked away across the bay. Blinking, she scrolled down through it...a message from Major Raiden...a refined copy of their orders, to forward to her team. She stood there, her mind trying to catch up.

"Hey!" she yelled at Trip, jogging across the bay to catch up. "Hey," she repeated, gently grabbing his arm. "I'm sorry. I..." She sighed again. "Every pilot I've ever met has been some kind of stuck-up jerk. They think that they're better than us marines, or something. I just thought that you were..." She looked away, her form shrinking. She looked up at him, and smiled, holding out a hand. "Captain Shelly Waye, Covenant Platoon."

[Malcolm Trippen]

Malcolm shook her hand, and smiled. "If you think Republic pilots are bad, you should meet some of the guys that fly with local militias...I ran into some real jerks back when I was trading. Probably because they all started out as farm-boys, or something."

Malcolm nodded down to the datapad in her hand. "Anything exciting? Ours consisted of 'Fly, shoot bad guys, and go home'. Not very imaginative...yours any better?"

[Shelly Waye]

"Sorry Lieutenant...if I told you, I'd have to kill you." She smiled again.

She slipped the datapad into a pocket of her trousers, before glancing over her shoulder. She nodded back towards the shuttle. "I've really gotta get that finished...then I've got to make sure the techs load up my shuttle right...You still gonna be on the Bifrost in 2 hours? If you are, I'll buy you a drink."

[Malcolm Trippen]

Malcolm smiled. "Sure...it'll have to be caf or something, though. I don't really wanna end up flying with a hang-over again...an A-Wing isn't as forgiving as a YT-2400."

The comlink perched in his ear beeped. Pressing his finger against it and listening, he nodded to the transmitted voice. "Ok...I'll be right up."

He smiled at Shelly again. "Sorry...duty calls. I'll see you in two hours..." He waved, and then helf-ran out of the bay.

Stepping into a turbolift, he sighed and shook his head. Women.

[Luka Nantaii]

"I'm afraid General Kordo has passed away," the Colonel informed the senior-most members of his staff. He expressed concerns that the Republic would be coming soon...and I agree. We will prepare as best we can for whatever the Rebels may throw at us. "

Slowly, the "officers" dispersed. Somehow, Luka doubted they had a collective rank above Corporal in any "real" military. But that was of no importance. They were the people who would follow his orders. At this point, that was all Luka needed.

Kordo's paranoia had been advantageous in some cases. His fortress was in a very defensible location. Of course, the defenses to keep the enemy out would eventually keep Kordo's forces in...but Luka had no desire to escape. The time for hit and run missions had ended. The Rebels would come expecting an easy fight against pirates...instead, they'd get hurt, and hurt bad, by one of the few true Imperials left in the galaxy.

"The Emperor will thank me for this," Luka whispered to himself. "In this life, or the next."

[Jacen Parami]

The chair drifted a little as Jacen sat into it a little harder than planned. His eyes roamed the bridge, wondering if anyone had noticed. No? He smiled. Good.

He twisted to his left, and cleared his throat, attracting the attention of his Comms Officer. "Signal the group...have them ready to move out. Commence the Hyperspace countdowns..." He turned right a little, and nodded to his Navigator. "That means you too."

"Aye sir...Hyperspace in five minutes."

"All vessels report ready."

"Alright." Jacen's eyes narrowed as he stared through the viewport along the ship's Hyperspace vector. This was their first jump, out of three. Right now, they were the wrong side of P3X-494. They had to make two jumps rimward to get on the right side...the third jump would bring them in to their designated positions in the system. And that is when the fun begins.

Jacen's eyes fell to the countdown, rapidly scrolling away on the arm of his chair. As the last minute began to stream rapidly away, he tightened his grip on the arms of his chair slightly, preparing for the lurch into Hyperspace. "Here we go..."