Radon looked on in surprise. The group of 25 appeared not to be suicidal. They had moved through the middle and divided the mass of enemy soldiers into two groups. And, they had only lost four men. Four men is still bad, but they had done a good job.

The rest of the groups were attacking around the perimeter with a substantial affect. They picked off enemy troops while falling back as the mass of enemy troops surged towards them. Radon looked over to his Exec. Officer.

“Have the E-wings concentrate on the left-most group. Have the defenders work on the other group.” Radon said as he sat down.

“Yes, sir.” Captain Donora said. “Sir, I understand you are not Prince Vondiranach, but, will you be wishing to go to the planet and fight?”

“Indeed I will, Captain Donora. Just not at the moment. Once one of the groups is destroyed, I will head down and assist.” Radon said as a quizzical look appeared on his face.

I have forgotten something, but what is it?

He sat there for a second, and then almost keeled over laughing. He had brought extra troops with him in order to help secure the planet. They numbered at least five thousand troops.

“Is everything all right, Admiral?” Captain Donora asked.

“Better than alright, Captain. I forgot about the extra troops I have on my ship.” Radon said as he sat up and wiped off his face.

Radon walked over to his Comm. Officer.

“Patch me through to the Harmony.” He said.

“Yes, sir.” The Lieutenant replied as he complied with the order.

A miniature version of Captain Trit appeared in holo before him.

“Yes, Admiral?” Trit asked.

“Have the troops readied. When I give the command, launch them. But send one of the shuttles over to the Starfire. I am going to go down as well.” Radon ordered.

“Right away, sir.” Trit replied.

The holo disappeared. Radon went back to the command chair and sat down. A few minutes later, the Comm. Officer reported that the troops were ready. Before Radon could give the go order, a button blinked on his console. It was the Comm. Officer again. Radon pressed the button.

“What is it, Lieutenant?” He asked.

“Prince Vondiranach wants to speak to you.” The lieutenant replied.

“Patch him through.” Radon said as he sat back.

A holo of the Prince appeared before him. Radon stood and bowed.

“Greetings, my Prince.” Radon said.

“Good to see you as well, Admiral Mont. Give me a full report on the situation, would you?” Prince Vondiranach said.

“Yes, sir. We lost 25 E-wings in the air battle. We have troops on the ground assaulting the enemy’s last troops. But, we are losing troops rapidly. However, we have taken them down to 2000 troops from the 9000 they started with. I have five thousand troops on stand by. I intend to go down with them.” He winced as he said the first part.

“Sounds like we are doing better than I expected. I want this operation finished as quickly as possible, Admiral. The New Republic is getting antsy.” Prince Vondiranach said.

“Yes, sir.” Radon said as the holo disappeared.

Radon sat back for a second. He was trying to think of something that would end this operation quickly. Nothing really good came too mind. He decided just to go with sending down the troops. He buzzed the Comm. Officer.

“Tell the Harmony to launch its shuttles. I’ll be in the docking bay.” He ordered.

“Yes, sir.” The lieutenant replied.

Radon turned to Captain Donora.

“I’m going to the planet. If you need to contact me, my comlink will be on.” He said.

“Yes, sir.” Donora responded.

Radon got up out of the chair. He walked to the turbolift and picked up his blaster from the guard. Entering the turbolift, he shot down to the docking bay floor. He stepped out of the turbolift and walked toward the shuttle that had just docked in the bay. The shuttle lowered its ramp, and Radon walked up it.

He sat down in one of the seats. Across from him was General Trevelan. He had been stationed on Tholatin, but Radon had picked him up. The shuttle shot out of the bay, and lowered its wing pylons. Its engines kicked in, and they shot toward the planet. They broke the atmosphere, and were immediately in the middle of a bunch of fighters that were preparing for a strafing run.

The planet was desolate, because the Sklatniers had no need for food. They fed off of minerals. Most of the shuttles had already landed and dispersed their troops. Those that hadn’t, did it now. Radon’s shuttle was the last to land. It dispersed its troops and the General quickly. Radon was the last one off.

His boot struck the ground, and he was surprised to feel that the terrain was very soft. It conformed to his feet, as he walked toward the HQ. Inside, he found General Trevelan, and General Tryvl. They saluted him as he entered.

“At ease, gentlemen. What’ our status?” Radon asked.

“Surprisingly good. We have them pinned down in quadrant Z31x.” General Tryvl said.

“Very good. Once they are finished off, General Trevelan and I are going to take his troops inside to kill the queen and any other troops they have waiting. During that time, your troops can begin setting up a garrison.” Radon said.

“Very good, sir. Lets watch the rest off the battle on the map.” General Tryvl said.

They moved over to the map. The area where the enemy was hiding was small and there were less than 500 enemy troops left in it. The TTR troops moved in and quickly finished off those five hundred. Radon turned to Trevelan.

“Well. Let’s get moving.” He said.

Radon and General Trevelan met the troops from the Harmony at one of the entrances to the underground caverns. Radon donned a military grade helmet, and pulled out his blaster. He snapped a power pack in and nodded to General Trevelan. General Trevelan nodded to the troops, and they began to enter the cave.

Once inside, they headed for the hotspot of Sklatnier activity. It would take some time to get there, and the Starfire reported that enemy troops were moving to intercept them. Radon decided to set a trap. Inside the cavern the troops moved up against the walls. They took cover behind boulders, and other troops.

Radon ducked behind a boulder with General Trevelan. He set his blaster on kill, and waited. The Starfire reported that it would take a while for the Sklatnier troops to reach them, so they settled in to wait. Some troops pulled out an energy bar, and ate them. Others drank from their canteens, or did nothing at all.

Meanwhile, on the surface, General Tryvl had ordered that the prefab garrison should be sent down. The shuttles brought it down, and the troops began to set it up. They worked extensively. Sometimes not taking a brake until they had put up multiple walls. Soon enough they had the outer wall and the gun towers set up.

The troops moved inward from there setting up the other small buildings that were used in a garrison. Including troop quarters, a headquarters, a supply depot, and a galley. They also set up a temporary landing pad. Once everything was put together, the shuttles began coming down to supply the troops with food, ammunition, toiletries, and other articles of need.

S-swoops had been brought down from the ships as well. Some of the troops loaded up on these and left the base to skim over the planet in order to look for remaining pockets of resistance. They met up with a few of these but quickly eliminated them. None of the pockets contained more than fifty troops. So, the TTR troops quickly eliminated them.

Back at the garrison, the troops began to man posts. Troops stood along the outer walls watching for enemy forces. Other troops manned the gun towers, which were armed with a single laser cannon. Some enemy troops came out of hiding to attack the garrison. These were futile attempts, and were quickly dispelled.

Back inside the caverns, Radon and the other troops still lay in wait for the enemy troops. But now they could here the enemy coming. Soon enough the enemy troops rounded a corner and moved as if to go past them. Radon gave the signal, and the TTR troops opened up on the Sklatniers.

Red laser fire poured in at the enemy, killing tons of the enemy troops before they knew what was going on. The rest of the enemy moved behind boulders and began to fire plasma blasts at the TTR troops. It was a futile attempt to destroy them; the TTR troops heavily outnumbered the Sklatniers. Still, the Sklatniers had good cover. They continually provided resistance.

Radon decided that it was safe to use the thermal detonators that they had brought with them. Some of the troops moved over to the box they had brought with them. They opened it and pulled out the weapons. Passing them out, they moved into position to launch the weapons of destruction. When they were in position, they waited for Radon to give the signal.

Radon decided to wait a little bit longer. During that time they cut down the number of enemy troops, making it easier to pick where to throw the detonators. Radon gave the signal and the detonators were launched, everyone ducked and loud explosions filled the caverns. Radon stood and took a look around. The last enemy troops lay dead on the floor. Now all the TTR troops had to do in order to insure victory was destroy the queen.

The troops headed out again in the direction of the queen. They passed through one of the spots where a war coordinator had been hiding. The area was covered in green goop. Radon stepped carefully through the area so as not to get his boots really dirty. They headed on, passing through caverns that had once held the enemy younglings. They were empty now because it had been years since a spawning.

Soon enough, they entered a well-lit chamber. A minimal amount of guards put up some resistance, but were quickly cut down. They queen looked at them from the far side of the room. Radon drew his blaster, and moved over to her. He wanted to polish of their victory himself. Before he killed her, he walked around her, examining her.

She had a large bulbous body; apparently it was almost time for a spawning. It was too bad for the young ones; they would never see the outside. Radon moved around to the head of the Sklatnier queen, and pressed the muzzle of his blaster to its head. He released the safety, and moved his finger up to the trigger. He pulled the trigger, and the queen fell to the ground dead. The last Sklatnier had died.

Radon and General Trevelan eventually led the troops out of the caverns. The moved away from them and entered the garrison. General Trevelan and Radon met General Tryvl in the headquarters.

“Is it done?” General Tryvl asked.

“It is done, and the planet is ours.” Radon replied. “Is the comm. Tower set up?”

“It is.” General Tryvl replied.

“Ok. That where I will be.” Radon said as he left the building.

Radon entered the comm. Tower and called Prince Vondiranach. Eventually, a holo of the man appeared, and Radon re-counted the whole story. He told the Prince every last detail. The Prince nodded his approval and said he would contact the New Republic. The Metak campaign was at an end. The planet now belonged to the New Republic instead of a hostile alien civilization. Radon went to the bunker, and lay down for a long rest.