There was an old smugglers maxim, "Knowledge is more than equivilant to force," that Kach Thorton had pondered over for a long time. "Just what," he always reasoned, "mades a professor or a scholor better than a stormtrooper in a fight?"

Of course, in his youth he had been much more short sighted than he was now.

It had taken him years to figure out just what that meant; it wasn't until his fifth year "on the job" that the pieces had snapped together inside his head. It wasn't knowledge for knowledges sake, it was knowledge for leverage, blackmail, extortion. Whatever you wanted to call it. Even the best soldier is powerless against a man who has his family at gunpoint (any rational one, anyway).

Now in his latest fleet assignment he was finally applying that lesson.

3/1000s of a light year from Bandomeer, Kachs command, a fresh off the line Venerator-Class Command Star Destroyer, named the Stormhawk (as the first man to command it he had been given the right to name it), sat silently waiting for the signal to jump the last little bit of distance to its target.

Blackmail. Extortion. Leverage. He had it now. The ship under his command had enough firepower to, given enough time, to turn any planet into molten slag. With a tiny D-class planet like Bandomeer, it would take no time at all should the circumstances arise.

Of course, it was a bit ironic that his command was this massive, powerful vessel since his goal was to capture the planet intact. But really the huge ship was a feint to divert attention away from his bluffs, to get them to concentrait on something else so that the planetary government of his target was too busy sweating it out to realize he wouldn't follow through.

The timer was slowly counting down to 0. When it hit 60 he gave the order to charge up the Hyperdrives for the jump.

Now it was up to a combination of luck and fate. As powerful as this vessel was, Kach didn't want to risk it. Therefore, he had sent in the other four ships under his command, all cruisers, in an hour earlier and to the other side of the planet to draw all of Bandomeers modest Patrol Force in that direction, clearing a way for his own ships entry.

"Einsign," he said, addressing a man in a nerby crew pit. "As soon as we're in orbit around the planet I want you to get me a line to the government so I can make demands. I belive this time was chosen for the attack because there congress is in session, so that shouldn't be such of a problem."

"Uh, yes sir," was the reply, "We have the encrypt codes right here, so as soon as you give the word you'll be through."

"Good," Kach said, stepping up onto the elevated holonet transmitter in the center of the bridge.

The timer hit zero and they rocketed into hyperspace.

Ever since the end of the last war against The New Order, the Coalition and the Empire had enjoyed a state of undeclared war. Except for a few Imperial attacks there hadn't been open conflict, rather both governments would regularily denounce each other and do their best to foil the other's plot. The Empire's attack on Bandomeer was no exception to the rule.

The Coalition kept agents on Bandomeer, just as it did on most of the planets of the galaxy that were located near it. The Black Hand of the Outer-Rim Sovereignty had built up a massive net of informants and much of that net had passed on and been added to the Coalition Intelligence Bureau, giving the Coalition one of the biggest groups of on the ground informants.

Paul Ramsey was one such informant. For years he'd been a middle official in the Unity Party, one of the main parties in Bandomeer's Congress. Currently he enjoyed the post of Minister of Cultural Affairs, a relatively minor post but still a Cabinet position non the less. His son worked in the military, commanding one of the Patrol Ships operated by Bandomeer, It had been him that had warned Paul of the Imperial ships appearance in the system. Immediately after receiving this news he sent a communique out to the Coalition, they would be interested to hear this he was sure.

<center>****</center>

The <i>Bakura</i> Star Destroyer, <i>Pride of Iridonia</i> had been on a routine patrol for pirates not very far from Bandomeer when Ramsey had sent his message. Even though Bandomeer didn't border the Coalition it was close enough that the Coalition still would patrol the area around it looking for pirates and other bandits. The local military authority immediately ordered that the <i>Pride</i> be deployed to Bandomeer to observe the actions of the Imperials and to make suere that no coercion was involved.

Immediately upon arrival, the <i>Pride</i> transmitted a message of peace to the Bandomeer government saying that they only wished to stay in system for a few days and that their intentions were peaceful. Before they received a response however the Imperial flagship arrived.

When Captain Thortons message came through Bandomeers congress had been watching a dull but informative holodocumentery made by the Freedom party to try to swing the vote on the latest bill on Droid Rights. When the blue figures began to brake up, there was a sudden release of tension as everyone, assuming the player to be broken, turned to their neighbors for a bit of relieving conversation. But almost before it had begun it was over, the sight that greeted them making many a Senators face turn white. Now on the holoprojector was a trim, Grey clad Imperial officer.

There was a short burst of muttering by the ones not to scared to speak. Word of the Venerators arrival hadn't been given to the Congress yet, so they assumed they had nothing to worry about. Their tiny picket and patrol fleet, after all, was holding off the 4 Cruisers that had came in earlier just fine and for that reason the meeting hadn't been postponed.

The quiet whispering was immediately as the "projection" began to speak.



The bridge was silent as Kach began to transmit his message to the Senate. He was naturally a very efficient man, and this address would be a reflection of that.

"Hello, gentlemen. I am Line Captain Kach Thorton of the Imperial Navy. I have come to bring your planet under Imperial Control. By doing this, you will gain all the rights and privileges of being an Imperial World as well as the taxes and burdens that come with them. Fortunately for you, the gains outweigh the losses.

"Your fleet is currently on the opposite side of the planet as my flagship, and therefore powerless to engage us in any insignificant burst of heroism. However, in the event you do find a way to engage us, I must warn you any attempt to resist our Liberation of your world will result in an orbital bombardment.

"Now on to business," he stated, his voice suddenly becoming much harsher. "All ground weaponry will be immediately deactivated and moved to major military bases until your defense forces are absorbed into our own. Ground to Orbit weapons will be powered down. Your spaceships power down all weaponry and shields, abandon all offensive or defensive actions, and move into a parking orbit above your planet. And finally, you will make preparations for my arrival on the planet so we can discuss your absorption into the Empire."

Short, Effective, and brilliant. Almost Kach Thorton in words.



After a short 5-minute period when the Senators were informed of the new orbital situation, including the Bakuran Star Destroyer, and a quick discussion the debate between letting the man land was put to a vote (only to hear him out: They were'nt surrendering the planet yet). Even though they really had no option, it was a republic after all, and thus they had to do it merely for principals.

It was in this way, in a nearly unanimous vote, that Kach Thorton was permitted to land on Bandomeer. 10 minutes later, men were already moving out to prepare the reception for their guest.

George Harrison was the commanding officer of the <i>Pride of Iridonia</i> and he, along with the rest of his bridge crew heard the Imperial commanders ultimatum. Normally a quiet, diplomatic man, he was rarely prone to emotional responses. Witnessing, however, the Empire threatening a planet was one of the things that definitely pushed him to anger.

"Does that son of a bitch really think we're just going to stand by and let him threaten a planet into submission?"

Harrison's question was accompanied by various muttered agreements from the rest of the bridge staff as he stared resolutely ahead at the viewport.

"Sir, there's a message coming in from the planet."

"Alright, what is it?"

"Sir, they're asking that we take up a position in geo-synchronous orbit over the capital city. They're also asking that you shuttle down."

"Helm! Do as the message asks. Flight Control, prepare a shuttle, I'll be accompanied by three guards."

"Aye Captain!"

<center>*****</center>

George Harrison stepped out of the shuttle and into the warm air of the capital of Bandomeer, in late spring. Already some flowers were blooming and the city was beautifal. Up ahead, Harrison saw a delegation hurrying to meet him. In the lead was a women with her arm outstretched.

"Captain, I'm Minister Ono, so glad you could make it."

"Delighted to meet you minister. I am Captain Harrison and these are my aides Paul, John and Ringo."

"Delighted to meet you," said the minister. Her eyes surveyed the guards/aides and paused for a second on John before continuing on to Ringo.

"As you know," she continued, "We have a bit of a situation. We're wondering what you are prepared to offer us."

Harrison drew himself up to his full height for this. It would likely be the most momentous decision of his career, "My primary mission is to ensure that you make your choices without any outside coercion. I am also prepared to offer the world of Bandomeer full membership in the Onyxian Commonwealth and the Galactic Coalition."

The Minister smiled at this, "That was exactly what I was hoping to hear. If you'll follow me the President is waiting. I hope that you can provide a bit of a counterweight to this young impulsive Imperial Captain who has arrived."

Unlike his Coalition contemporary, Kach was not one to be extremely modest if the situation didn't call for it, and the news of the Coalition Star Destroyer in orbit didn't help. Thus, as opposed to 4 bodyguard aids, going planetside with him were 36 Stormtroopers, 2 Lambda Shuttles, his own personal shuttle, and 2 squadrons of TIE Defenders flying top cover.

Seeing what he had brought with him, the Bandomeer Honorguard (with weapons unloaded!) was at a loss for what to do. But in no position to make demands, they let him take 4 Stormtroopers into the president’s office and requested the other 32 wait outside, a request Kach granted.

Stepping into the Presidents office, Kach saw just whom he was up against. Sitting behind a desk at the far end of the room was an older man with Grey hair that he tried to mask with dyes; obviously the president. Sitting on the other side of the desk was a man clad in a Coalition Navy uniform. Roughly 45 years old with brown hair, he was rather young for a fleet officer, though not as young as Kach, who was a mere 32; a sign of his brilliance and promise.

Each man had his own bodyguards. Behind the president were two Bandomeerian soldiers holding stun clubs they were immediately relieved of by Kachs Honorguard when they entered the room, and behind the Coalition Captain were 3 men, either aids or bodyguards. His own Stormtroopers made a move to relieve them of their blasters, but hands moving for them halted them. After a quick moment of thinking, the Stormtroopers removed the powerpacks from their rifles and the Coalition troops followed suit.

For a moment the 3 men sized each other up. Kach was the first to speak.

"Now," he said softly with an almost unnoticeable smile, "let's get down to business."

OOC:

Kach Thorton

as young as Kach, who was a mere 32; a sign of his brilliance and promise.

. Wow don't love youself too much.

IC:
George frowned at the young man sitting across from him. He was obviously very young and very sure of himself as were his troops. The automatic way in which his men releived the honour guard of their weapons, and the ridiculously large contingent that he'd brought along showed George that this man was very confident and very arrogant.

<i>"He thinks he's already won."</i> George thought. <i>"But power does not always translate into victory."</i>

"Now," the Imperial said, "let's get down to business."

Immediately the President stood up and began to speak.

"I welcome both Line Captain Thorton of the Empire as well as Captain Harrison of the Galactic Coalition. I am President Starsky representing the people of Bandomeer. I heard your demands Captain Thorton and I will get to them in a minute but first I would like to ask Captain Harrison as to why he is here."

"Thank you Mr. President." said Harrison. "As you know the Onyxian Commonwealth has long helped patrol the areas near Bandomeer, searching for pirates and other such filth. We were on one such patrol mission and decided to stop here to meet a resupply convoy from Onyx and perhaps allow my men some Rest and Relaxation on your fair planet. However the presence of <i>Commander</i> Thorton and his group has forced me to change my plans. I heard the inflmmatory transmission by the <i>Commander</i>, and I would like to assure you that the Galactic Coalition will not stand for planets to be threatened and coerced into submission against the will of their people. To that end we are here to offer support to you Mr. President and remind you that you are not alone and there are other options besides the Imperials."

Harrison settled back into his seat, his face showing no expression at all. He was a diplomat and used to these games, his opponent obviously was not. This battle could still be won by might but in doing so he would risk far greater consequences.

Wow don't love yourself too much.

I'll try not to Beatlemaniac (I had to re-read the thread to see that)

IC

Kach couldn't understand why his superiors were requiring him to negotiate for the planet. Why couldn't he just come in here, blast the Bandomeerian defenses, and take the planet by force? Easy, simple, and it most certainly wouldn't be a problem; fleet battles were nothing new to him, and the weak patrol fleet the planetary government maintained wouldn't make it any harder.

What Kach didn't understand was that his superiors were trying to teach him a lesson: Wars can be won in battle but lost at the conference table. They could simply have told him and the other 100,000 troops at the officer’s academy that, but that wouldn't really rub it in. This was a lesson each man would have to learn for himself the hard way.

Right now the Coalition commander was blabbing about something, probably just flaming him for threatening the planet. Now was as good as time as any to take a quick inventory of his diplomatic weaponry.

Against Bandomeer he had quite a bit. A Venerator in orbit that he could bombard the planet into submission with, 36 Stormtroopers that he could hold the President and/or the Congress hostage with, and possibly most importantly, a commando team that he had sent on an... errand.

Against the Coalition Commander... he didn't have as much. He had two of his cruisers tailing the Coalition Star Destroyer 30 kilometers to the rear, ready to destroy or immobilize it if ordered to or it made a move. And of course, he had the Stormtroopers if he wanted to take the man hostage or shut him up. The mans guards didn't have any visible loaded blasters, though he was sure there was at least one as well as a couple vibro-shivs. Of course, this was countered by the fact his own four men in the room's weapons were unloaded as well, though each had two Thermal Detonators. Both Kach and this Captain Harrison's sidearm blasters were still loaded.

He planned on doing this peacefully, but if it came to it, he was sure his superiors would understand.

OOC:I was wondering if you were going to pick up on that.

IC:

Harrison glanced over at Kach Thorton and saw that his eyes were flickering over him and his troops. This was obviously a young man who was out of his league, diplomacy was not a skill that many Imperial commanders these days had much of. It seemed the days of the devious commanders like Simon Kaine and Theren Grevel were coming to an end. Now there was just the Park Kraken's, the Bhindi Drayson's and this young fellow hear. They represented the new wave of Imperial might. All of them confident, all of them used to serving in a Navy that could dominate any one or even two other navies in the world. They were all aggressive and used to getting there way. In many way's George was happy to see this new wave.

Seeing that his opponent wasn't about to make a move George quickly turned to the President.

"Mr. President, I suggest that <i>Commander</i> Thorton here to withdraw nearly all of his forces from both the planet and the system leaving behind only one ship of similar size to mine. At the same time I suggest that he withdraw his troops and his fighters from the atmosphere. If there are so many benefits to joining the Empire, he hardly would need to negotiate from a position of such overwhelming strength. I personally find the tactic of intimidation quite despicable and I would hate to think that such a fine upstanding government as the Empire would try to intimidate you or your people into joining them."

The President immediately jumped on this idea seeing it as a way to both assert control over the situation and make himself more powerful in the overall equation.

"That is an excellent idea Captain Harrison. Unless you have anything else to add Captain Thorton I formally request that you withdraw your troops, fighters and most of your ships from the system leaving behind only one ship of under 1000 meters. After that if you wish you can of course present your argument as to why we should join the Empire."

Harrison looked at Thorton with a smirk on his face. He'd just been outmaneouvered and if he didn't know it yet he was too dumb to be put in charge of a ore barge let alone a major imperial fleet. The question is, how would he react?

OOC: Well, what can you expect from an arrogant Imperial :) (by the way, I try not to "love myself" more than six times a day :D )

IC
"No," Kach said, letting a wolfish smile grace his face.

His two adversaries were not prepared for this answer and their expression showed it. Up until this time in the conference he had been very agreeable and had made it a point to cooperate with the locals. This turn around was completely unexpected.

"No," he repeated, letting some of his agitation surface, "I am not here to negotiate with this Coalition scum for control of Bandomeer. I am here to coordinate the transfer of power from your government to our own, and if you don't like it, then I am here to force you to do it."

He paused for a moment to let his words sink in.

"However, it doesn't appear you have much of a choice in the matter. A single Coalition ship against a Venerator class Star Destroyer and four Assault Cruisers would not be able to stop us or even hold us for long. Your closest reinforcements are over 400 light-years away, and even those are just Patrol ships and Light Cruisers. During our vanguard attack earlier today we were not trying to destroy your ships, merely to draw them away from my ships jump vector. If just one of my Cruisers went all out it alone could destroy the entire Bandomeerian Picket Fleet. Neither of you are in any position to make demands.

"Now I'm afraid that this conference can serve no further purpose. I am fed up and it has become clear to me that it is getting nowhere. Therefore, you are to immediately surrender your planet and all of her assets to me or I will be forced to take a course of action I do not wish to take."

Lifting his hand up, Kach made the hand signs for Gamma-Theta-Sigma; the prearranged code for a demonstration bombardment.

Wasting no time, one of his Stormtroopers went into the hall to transmit the message up to the Stormhawk . His position was immediately filled by another trooper (this one with his blaster loaded!).

Ten seconds later the first of the massive green lances began striking the hilltops around the capital city. The building began to shake as if it were in a small earthquake, and green flashed began to dance around the room that moments before had been lit only by the setting sun. Small objects began falling off shelves and the president’s desk, including a picture of his family that shattered when it hit the floor almost as if it were an omen.

In the middle of this Kach stood proud and defiant, his arms crossed and his face baring the expression of triumph. To the others in the room it appeared as if he were looking down upon them like a lord looks upon his subjects. Reacting to this some took a step back, others grimaced in hate. President Starsky, however, didn't even look at Kach. He was starring the Coalition captain right in the eye, who met his gaze unflinchingly, and silently mouthing the words, "What have you done to us?"

George could only smile as Kach Thorton sat there with his grin. Clearly this was a man who was barely on the edge of control. He wasn't surprised at the reaction and he'd been expecting it. He could only hope that Thorton was slightly more reasonable and slightly more intelligent than he had appeared thus far.

As the first Stormtrooper left the building George knew what was going to happen but there was nothing he could do. It all lay in how the President was willing to play it. George could only hope he was a man of conviction and courage as well as a man of power.

George turned to the President to see that he appeared slightly shocked. His mouth open as he stared at the audacious Imperial Captain standing here with him. "Mr. President? Do you agree to these terms presented by Captain Thorton here?"

The President reacted slowly to George's question. Slowly he closed his mouth and stared at Thorton.

"Captain, I lead a democracy! You and your leaders may not be familiar with the concept but it means that the people or in this case their elected representatives make the final decisions. If you have nothing else to add to these discussions. I will procede to the Senate. There we will debate the issue and a vote will be called in 12 hours time." Turning to George the President nodded. "Thank you for your words Captain. I request that your ship remains in orbit. Your vessels will be given free passage in our system for the duration of this crisis."

"Thank you Mr. President. I will leave one of my aides with you to act as a liason between you and myself." George replied. Without acknowledging Thorton George strode from the conference room, not even glancing at the men that Thorton had brought with him. As he left the building he saw his shuttle already landing, Ringo having called for it the second he left the meeting. As he walked up the ramp and settled into the seat he grabbed the comm unit sitting beside his chair and transmitted a message to the <i>Pride</i>.

"Prepare for Delta-Ten."

<b>12 Hours Until Vote</b>