ISD Majority's Will


Exited hyperspace at the edge of the system. Major Grell had the techs turn the sensors toward the planet to keep an eye on what was happening.

"Get me Imperial Center.." he barked out.


Sullust


Private Beckman shook his head at the alien's question.

"No sir. I will inform Colonel Messer of your m..message." he stammered. The Imperial was eager to be as far away from these invading aliens as his feet could carry him and as he was brought out, he took to a cave a like a fish in water, moving with knowledge, not looking back.

Well that's done. Now for my next assignment..


And he stopped, recognizing a rock formation and moved to a shadow that happened to be an opening large enough for a man. As he crawled inside, the opening widened and he took the tunnel heading toward another major cavernous vein.

Apparently, they have Sutter's Dreg well covered. What of the Eastern Wing?

Space
Onboard DA-003

"Ensign, do we have a escape vector on the Majority's Will ?"

"Not yet sir, we're analyzing the data from the TIE defender's sensors, but their are dozens of well traveled hyperlanes away from Sullust."

That was inherently the problem with following any ship into hyperspace. Still, if they had good sensor data and a few good calculations...

The captain sighed. The loss of the flagship of the Diversity Alliance fleet was unfortunate- the loss of the trained imposter Imperial crew mayber even more so. Still, it was more the feeling of uselessness than the fact that the ship had been lost.

Sullust was safe from orbital bombardment because of its unique terrain. The empire had not even feilded a large defensive force to defend the planet, though the size of the planetary garrison was not yet known, at least not to the fleeting personal involved in the attack.

He just wanted to do something.

"Captain... the five fighters with sheild damage are requesting permission to exit the conflict, and hyperspace to our space for repairs."

The loss of the Majority's Will hurt even more now, as the Captain realized without the docking capacity the ship provided, he couldn't even repair the snubfighters that were accompanying the fleet.

"Are they really in that bad of shape? I thought they had only recieved sheild damage."

The Twi'lek ensign's lekku made a movement equivilent with a human shrug.

"I'll check captain."

After a minute he returned.

"Sir- it seems that one of the TIE Defenders has a power coupling damaged and it sheilds won't recharge. Two of the others have damaged stabilizers and have limited manueverabilty."

It's not like the Empire is putting up much of a defense or anything. I don't think 3 damaged fighters are going to be much of a loss.

"Authorize the Defenders to jump, including those other 2 for escorts. However, tell them to make a micro jump to the edge of the system, then proceed to Falleen. We don't want any Imperial ground stations or satellites to take sensor readings of our jumps."

The ensign nodded and relayed the orders.

I'm really something- babysitting a few damaged fighters. Oh well, its what the duty requires.

Maybe it's better this way.

Sullust

Colonel Goruna watched as the Imperial private left. His smile evolved from one of sincerity to one of smugness. The Empire was simply going to surrender the planet.

"Major General Goruna."

His smile changed again from one of smugness to oen of egotism. He liked the way that sounded. If he delivered the planet with no losses, he could be assured of some promotion.

That was if the empire surrendered.

It was as if he didn't trust the stammering Imperial private.... but when your job was at stake it was important to be thorough.

"Major."

The Falleen bodyguard came into the old Chariot LAV.

"Dispatch several Bartokk to follow our Imperial friend and ensure our message is delivered."

The Falleen nodded and left the vehicle.

This is going better than anyone ever imagined.

Sullust


Eastern Wing..



The tunnel branched off here and there but having been part of the Sullust Garrison, Private Beckman was subject to Colonel Messer's insistent training drills throughout the caves and canyons.

Even, then, it was impossible to know every crag and cavern for, after all, Sullust is a large planet. Even the inhabitants didn't know everything for the volatile nature of the planet and tectonic activity caused the interior landscape to change considerably.

Which, he supposed was why most of the inhabitants lived in areas that have withstood the test of time, caverns that had remained for centuries.

Still, Private Beckman hated living on this hell-hole of a planet even if it was for a couple of tours. Even worse though, he hated living on this hell-hole planet with enemies trying to kill him over it.

Dying for a paradisaic world was one thing. Dying for a magma infested rock was something else.

He made enough turns and to hopefully confuse any trying to follow him as he slipped out under the cover of several steam vents, their liquid heat causing the Private's clothes to stick to his body.

His hand went to his side and he felt his knife was missing. He cursed under his breath realizing he had nothing to protect himself if he had gotten into a jam.

After mentally cursing the Colonel and his "plan" he, moved quickly along the wall, his vision blocked by the venting gasses. The path came to an abrupt end and he looked down for the opening to the surface (Behind him) did not run level with his path but descended.

And what a well occupied descent it was. He made out several companies of enemy soldiers, each moving to a specific purpose.

They will be reaching the Botannical Levels soon... and the caverns that contained the majority of the city's water supply.

But what he was more interested in noting was the ineraction between the locals in the area and the invaders.



Colonel Messer's Defenders


The cavern was large. Calling it so though seemed a somewhat inadequate description. The ceiling dripped with moisture as the defenders found themselves several levels below the Canals, leading off to the Botannical District, to the East.

The cavern held five openings, four widely known as three openings were to the head of the cave and one to the back).
Each opening was heavily guarded though the aliens were more interested in securing their position than charging headlong to where they knew not.

One route (of the three) lead all the way back to the area where Private Beckman was called, and Messer knew he held that cavern securely. Or as securely has he could but he knew it was a matter of time with the enemy digging in on top.

He cursed himself for finding himself in this situation.




Majority's Will


"Sir! Transmission coming in, Intelligence enryption!"

Ciscero turned quickly and Major Grell looked startled. He moved quickly to a comm consol and decrypted the message.

He looked up at a Major who was not hiding his impatience.

The Intelligence Officer grinned.


"The cavalry's here."

Space
Edge of System

The damaged TIE defenders had micro-jumped to the edge of the system, preparing to make secreted hyperjump to a Diversity Alliance world. However, as they exited the hyperspace, the discovered something quite unexpected.

The Majority's Will

The pilots were stunned, but not too stunned to realize that the ISD was still a danger. They pilots immediatly sent a transmission back to the Class 1000 cruisers. Meanwhile, they were also punching in their hyperspace vectors, preparing to make the jump to saftey. A sudden transmission came in from the DA's Class 100 cruisers.

"Abort hyperjump..... prepare evasive action and prepare vectors for an attack run."

The pilots, confused, stoped plotting jumps, the more intellegent realizing they could not let the Empire know where the damaged fighters were jumping to. Luckily, the Class 1000 cruisers and remaining TIE Defenders would be able to respond shortly.

They just had to survive untill then.

Sullust
Eastern Wing

He had to be around here somewhere. As much as they hated to admit it, the Bartokk trackers had lost the trail of the Imperial private amongst the many side passages and tunnles that meandered in an incomprehhensible myriad of passages, alleys and off shoots. One thing was for certain.... the Imperial private was not going immediatly back to his superior officer. The route that would have been much shorter was on a completly different path. The private, had however, slipped off in another direction.

That was not good.

With a sense of urgency, the Bartokk commander pulled out his com-link and transmitted back to Colonel Goruna.

Sullust
Col. Goruna's Chariot LAV

"What do you mean you lost him! You are supposed to be the best! So what if he had a small headstart, how could you lose that bumbling private.??!? No I don't want you to send out a larger party. Get back here on the double."

Colonel Goruna threw the comlink down on the metal floor of the Chariot LAV. The Imperial had duped him obviously. Then, he had gotten away! Those human scum would pay for the mockery they were making of him! He called for his Falleen bodyguard.

The large greenish skined humanoid appeared in the Chariot LAVs doorway.

"Yes Sir."

"Give the order. All forces are to move out imediatly. We're marching to the main imperial cabin immediatly. It's time the Empire felt the our wrath!"

"Yes sir."

ISD Majority's Will

Ciscero rubbed his tired eyes as the day's events were suddenly beginning to take their toll. Still, he had to be on hand for 'endgame'.

All the maneuvering, all the actions they had taken till now merely the set up.

Major Grell smiled a hard smile as the tide had turned against the invading aliens.

"Sir! The Tie Defenders have spotted us. Their evasive maneuvers are ...erratic." the scanning technician was confused until Major Grell offered the answer from the Command Deck.

"They are damaged."


"Sir," Ciscero, also on the Command Deck turned to the Major, "their fighter craft would have been innundated with the planet's harsh atmosphere during support runs for their troop landings. Flying under such conditions taxes equipment.. it taxes pilots."

"Yes, Intelligence Man, I see what you are saying. Their pilots must be tired and who knows what system failures volcanic ash and vacuum mixed brings about. What do you make of the Calvary?"

Ciscero frowned. "The acknowledging clicks seemed to indicate a signal originating in Shroud Command. But it tells us nothing but their presence in the area. Not their numbers."

"Then we prepare to receive the fighters." Grell came to an immediate decision. "All forward guns, lay out the welcome mat!"

And the forward guns of the Majority's Will began firing in the direction of the fighters.

Ciscero saw that the Major was not worried just yet about reinforcements though he informed the scanning crew to watch for hyperspacial reversion signals. If the Class 1000s didn't microjump, then they'd be a while in getting there.

He was also curious about the Major's use of the main guns on the fighters. Even damaged, the fighters could easily outmaneuver the shots at their distance. Still he noticed a pattern in the discharges noting that the Major was not so much trying to hit the fighters as much as he was trying to "drive" them a certain direction.



Sullust


The Past...

Major Grell stared at the holographic map of the planet. Nothing was seen of the surface but the tips of mountains and several active volcanoes surrounded by toxic gasses, ash, heat and wind that could sandblast paint of a starcruiser.

The Intelligence agent who had allowed them to fight a little while longer walked onto the bridge and narrowed his eyes at the display.

"Is it time?" he commented.

Major Grell did not turn, accepting an updated systems report from a young technician.

"Not yet. Close. Those @#%$ hit just before we could begin operations."

"Damn.. Will that affect Colonel Messer?"

Major Grell now did look up. "Of course, the @#%$, it will agent!"

And then he sighed. "I'm sorry, it's not your fault." He pointed to another monitor. "It's theirs."


Now...

Colonel Messer glanced at his timepiece and cursed. With all the tectonic activity on the planet, it was not always a good thing to leave to chance the eventual shifting of the habitat areas, caverns and tunnels.

No, the Empire began to take an active part in monitoring the geological strata and the pressure's increasing and decreasing around critical areas.

But all he had were estimates. What he needed was a reading and that is what Private Beckman was getting for him.


Suddenly a runner came up to him. "Sir, the enemy is advancing! They are attacking!"

Time is up..

In order to reach Colonel Messer and the Imperial forces under his command the enemy would have to leave the entrance areas for the inner tunnels.

Even with overwhelming numbers, it stood to reason that even if the Imperials could not hold the ground, they could make their alien enemies pay dearly for each section of rock covered.

Assuming the enemy was relentless and did not give them time to recover lost ground.

"Have the forward lines hold for 10 minutes and then break to the second line. Have the second hold for 10 minutes and have them fall back!"

The runner left and a Seargent who everheard looked at the Colonel. "Retreat?"

"Strategic Retreat, Seargent. Having our men hold every 10 minutes slows the rate of progress the enemy can make, it makes them pay for each 10 minute spot of ground and it slowly brings our men out of the tunnel to our location."

"While the tunnels fill up with theirs?" The Seargent asked suddenly comprehending.

"That's the idea."

"You're a slippery SOB, Sir."

"That's what my father said when he saw me come into the world."



Private Beckman


Imperial action...
Set up a series of runners.. we'll need them since our comms are being hampered by the ore in the rocks."

Enemy response...
That was not good.

With a sense of urgency, the Bartokk commander pulled out his com-link and transmitted back to Colonel Goruna.



The Bartokk commander did not get an immediate response which puzzled him. He tried again and again and was still met with static. He gazed about suddenly realizing why they had not received any transmissions from the enemy.

The rocks!

Suddenly, feeling very afraid that the situation was beginning to spiral out of control he turned and pushed his way through his men.

He had to get back!

He had to be able to reach Col. Goruna's Chariot LAV and reach it quickly.




*

Private Beckman, against the wall of the Eastern Wing Entrance, he kept his eyes on the companies of enemy troops making their rounds in and around the tiny Sullustian settlements situated near the cavern entrance.

He stopped at a particular spot near the wall and went to his stomach as he quickly began to sift the gravel, dirt and cold ash around with his fingers.

It was amazing how the tunnels could be one temperature and then the cavern be another. The ground felt really cool to the touch though his clothing was still damp from the steam from a connecting tunnel.

Suddenly a piece of machinery was uncovered and the Private flipped up the display cover to see the reading.

His eyes widened as the display cover was flipped back in place and he began to recover the machine.

Crouching up and saw another slight opening, the one he needed but it would mean running out in plain sight of several enemy soldier groups.

He was running out of time.

Taking a deep breath, he jumped down from his perch onto the rather wide descending road and made a mad dash for the opening.

An enemy soldier turned at the movement. Private Beckman's dash must have startled the guard for he hesitated to shoot for a few seconds. That was all Beckman needed and as he disappeared blaster shots struck the rock wall behind him.

Still, they had seen him and the chase was once again on.



*


It took another 15 minutes for the Bartokk commander to fully get himself out and away from the tunnel and as soon as he did he tried his comm once more.

This time he got through, albeit with a bit of static.

Colonel Goruna was not happy.


In fact, he ordered his men to attack.

Sullust was one of those planets that had little to offer that a government didn't have to work for. Actually, if not for the SoroSuub Corporation, the planet wouldn't have anything of value. As such, SoroSuub formally signed a contract with the Empire upon the demise of the Demosthesian Empire. The contract was similiar to the original (Proclamation 173d) with the exception of a permanently strong Imperial military presence to help enforce corporate policies.

The Demosthesian Empire had left the planet in a bad state as the leaders took but put nothing back into the planet. As such, the quality of products SoroSuub produced lessened as their concerns grew more and more local.

Given their planetar situation, geological activity had a lot to do with some corporate decisions such as the keeping of major manufacturing and storage off world within the conglomerate. It was all the corporate leaders needed, an untimely volcanic eruption taking out bulk warehouses and planet facilities.

For the Empire to truly benefit from the Sullustan occupation, they set up within their military stations equipment designed to monitor the planet's shifting crust and any mining operation's effects on it.

Speciallized bleeder valves, release vents designed to eleminate the buildup of pressure along many of the major habitable areas, caverns and pathways helping to keep those areas relatively safely cocooned from planet's unpredictable environment.

Needless to say, with the destruction of the Imperial Military HQ, the monitoring devices were left.. unmonitored. It also left many of the vents inert, their controlling hardware systems being vaporized with the rest of the base.



*


The operation was a typical vent release to lessen the pressure building all along the Eastern Wing Entrance.

The operation did not happen.

*


The reading on the monitoring device Private Beckman saw showed the pressure red-lining. Five minutes after he left being chased, steam began to burst through fissures in the ground and the cavern temperature along the Eastern Wing began to rise exponentially.

Something big was coming.


*


Private Beckman ran as if his life depended on it. Ironically, it did.


*



"Sir! the last of them are ready to pull out!"

"40 seconds!" Colonel Messer yelled as weapons fire escaped from the tunnel.

How can anyone live through that?

He looked all about as a good portion of his men were ready to provide covering fire for escaping Imperials and blast to hell any advancing aliens that burst thru the tunnel.


"Steady!" he called.

Space..


The massive guns from the ISD did destroy the more sluggish TIE Defenders but the others were simply driven along a trajectory of the Major's choosing.

"Sensors show hyperspacial reversion!" one of Grell's men shouted.

At that moment, lights shot out of nowhere striking the Defender's entire wing.

The fleet of shrouds uncloaked for a second and recloaked as they moved past the upper hull of the ISD, passing almost entirely in front of the bridge.

"Show offs.." grumbled Grell.

Ciscero stood a little bit straighter as, almost immediately, the Class 1000s arrived. The Shrouds opened fire immediately as the alien run ships exited hyperspace, immediately catching their shields down.

The Intelligence Agent also noticed the Major was retraining the ISD's guns toward aliens to provide heavy weapons support.

The battle was over in less than five minutes.



Sullust

*


The Eastern Wing disappeared as the crust burst open inundating the entire area with lava. The liquified magma poured like deadly syrup into the passages and byways leading away from the Eastern Wing.


*

The alien forces were coming from the Southern Passages while Private Beckman burst into the Imperial Line from the alien free East.

Of course with aliens chasing him, soon they would be pouring in from the East as well.

"Eruption!" he yelled as he tripped into the main cavern hoping the Colonel would hear.


*


"Fire's getting too hot!" yelled a soldier as the aliens began to gain ground pushing their way inch by inch, foot by foot into the Souther Cavern.

Messer straighted to wipe his brow when he heard a voice he recognized as Private Beckman shout, "Eruption!".

"BLOW ALL LINES!" he shouted to the soldiers behind him and they instantly carried out his orders.

Explosions rocked every Eastern, Southern and Western tunnel as aliens were buried under tons of rock, ash and earth.


*

"They trapped several divisions in the tunnels, the conniving bastards!" an alien spat.

Colonel Goruna merely smirked at the resourcefullness of his hated enemy. "They are trapping themselves for us to kill at our leasure!" he shouted beginning to laugh. "The puny human thinks he has trapped us when it is him that is trapped!"

Then the ground began to rumble...

"COLONEL!!" several soldiers screamed as soldiers were suddenly breaking and running from several passages.

"Wha--?" he started when he heard the onrush of the liquid fire as magma began to pour into the main passages cutting them off from the surface.

The totality of Messer's plan has revealed itself to Goruna and the alien could only shake his head in admiration as he and his soldiers had no where to run too.

Sure, he had a few support divisions on the other side of where the lava broke through.. but this move effectively destroyed the Diversity Alliance's attack capability.

He straightened himself as the magma grew closer.

With the explosives halting their advance deeper into the tunnel, Goruna realized that the humans hoped the closing of the tunnels would stop the magma's charge after it finished with he and his soldiers.

Colonel Goruna sincerely hoped that the tunnels would not halt the surging lava.

It was his last thought as the liquid burned him to ash instantly.




The attack on Sullust had been deflected by the narrowest of margins.