The cold wind whipped across the frozen/jungle landscape and tremendous speeds. President Xander Griff pulled up the hood of his parka as he stared out at the pristine white and green landscape through the forward viewport of the Lambada-class shuttle. The shuttle shook slightly, and Griff watched over the pilot’s shoulder as the young man adjusted the course of the small ship.

“What is it?” Griff asked the copilot.

“The shuttle is not properly equipped to withstand the extreme temperatures and the other forces of nature. We are having difficulty maintaining flight, and we will have to put down soon.”

“When will we arrive at whats left of Echo Base?” Griff asked.

“In two minutes. But I am afraid we will be forced to leave after landing. We cannot stay down here until the technicians on the Sovereign can outfit the shuttle with the necessary equipment.” The copilot said.

“How long will that take?” Griff asked.

“I do not know. We haven’t had much call for this kind of thing. Could take days.” The copilot said, as more volatile winds buffeted the ship.

“See that it doesn’t. Use whatever you need, but I need transports to get down here with the proper base facilities so we can claim Echo Base.” Griff said.

“It will be done.”

“Good.” Griff said, and retreated to the aft cabin, where his Shi’ido bodyguard, Aeon, was waiting patiently.

“Refresh my memory.” Griff said.

“When whoever messed up this world cleared out, scouts were sent here immediately to ascertain the current status of the former Echo Base.”

“And?”

“The report stated that it was destroyed. The previous inhabitants apparently destroyed it in their attempts to restructure the planet."

Griff scoffed. "Whoever helped them restructure the planet did a pretty bad job. They didn't realize that while they could terriform the planet, they couldn't physicly move Hoth closer to the sun. So now the planet is gradually returning to it's former state."

"There are certain areas where jungle life is flourishing" Aeon responded.

"What about native life?"

"No reports. But they could be nonexistant now that the planet has been radically altered."

"We'll see."

"I do want to know why you decided to bring the Sovereign though.” Aeon said, glancing down at a datapad periodically.

“It’s a good trial run. Head from Bakura with the strongest ship in the Sovereignty, resupply a watchbase in the Ison Corridor, and head to Tatooine to tour the Army Training Facility.”

“The clones performance, from what I’ve seen, is most adequate.” Aeon said.

“Yes. But I am still reluctant to put them into full use. The Old Republic had them, and we know how that turned out.”

“The Khommites are a part of the Sovereignty, Kamino held no such allegiances to the Old Republic. “ Aeon stated.

“Yes…” Griff said just as the trajectory of the shuttle noticeably changed. They were about to land.

“Then why are we here?” Aeon asked.

“The Empire has taken notice of the surrounding area. Bespin is close, and I want to remain on guard.”

Aeon looked up at him, his eyes full of mirth.

“You feel the need to keep up with them?” He asked, amused.

The shuttle jolted, signifying a landing on the icy surface. Aeon pulled the hood of his parka up as well as they both stood and headed for the landing ramp.

“Keep up with them? No. Keep an eye on them? Absolutely.” Griff stated as the landing ramp slowly lowered.

He stared out at the white landscape, it was desolate, completely devoid of life. His eyes swept the terrain, searching for any sign of life or…anything. The surface of Hoth was empty, but many knew that out there in those snow deserts lived one of the most lethal and intelligent beasts I the galaxy, the feared and mighty wampa. But from recent reports, that great predator may have become extinct.

The huge white monsters roamed the wastes, looking for wandering tauntauns or other animals. And they were known to be very territorial, if there were any left.

The party disembarked, and Griff noticed that they had landed next to a large mountain of snow.

"What is it?"

"The previous inhabitants destroyed the base, and attempted to terraform the planet. But again, the planet is in a stage of change, it is rejecting the global...'modifications' and reverting back to it's frozen state. It will never fully recover, however." Aeon said.

Griff and Aeon, accompanied by a dozen soldiers from another shuttle, made their way a few dozen meters to the huge imposing doors of the old Echo Base, formerly of the Rebel Alliance. Griff noticed that the big doors were new, most likely replaced by the ORS techs that were rebuilding Echo base.

The two turrets positioned on either side of the doors were shredded almost beyond recognition, there were two different types of distinctive markings, one looked like cuts from some sort of laser cutting device, possibly a lightsaber. The other was easily recognizable as slashes from large claws.

Griff passed the two destroyed weapons emplacements, along with the Sovereignty cold assault clone Shock-Troops and Aeon to his right. As they approached, the huge doors creaked open with a muffled roar. The fourteen individuals waited until the doors were about eight meters wide open before heading inside. They were greeted by three people, two men and a woman with very close cropped blond hair.

“Mr. President, I am glad you were able to make it. Welcome to the rebuilt Echo Base. I am Commander Powell, in charge of all base operations, this is Major Brinnon, Security Chief on loan from the Army, and then finally Falyn Larson, the Sovereignty Engineering Corps. Team leader assigned to this project.” The man in the center said.

“It’s good to meet you.” Griff said, throwing his hood back as the doors behind him slammed shut.

“Have the supply transports landed?” Major Brinnon, the Security Chief asked.

“No. We are having difficulty adapting our ships to the cold weather, and changing climate, it could be a day or so until we can get any aid down here.” Griff said, “We will discuss that a little later, if you do not mind. In the meantime I would like a full status check up of the base, I need to know what needs to be done, and what is needed to get the task accomplished.” Griff said, as Powell motioned for him to follow.

Griff gave a hand signal to Aeon, who pulled Brinnon aside, and turned over command of the Shock-Troopers to the Security Chief. Griff, meanwhile, followed Larson and Powell, to the functional command center set up by the engineers.

The place had been completely rebuilt, old consoles that were destroyed or smashed had been placed in a massive pile on the far end of the room, along with almost every other piece of unusable or destroyed equipment. The Sovereignty engineers had but together a few sensors outside of Echo Base, and had replaced a lot of the broken and destroyed consoles, it was now a functional command center.

Powell led them to a colored map of the base.

“In blue,” He indicated a portion of the map,” we have all the inhabited and explored areas. When we got here, all we had was a heavily damaged base. We basicly had to hollow it out again, and restore everything. The previous inhabitants did a great deal of damage. There are some areas that we haven't gone. But we only have personnel active in these areas.”

He indicated a red part of the map.

“Here is the un known and unclaimed areas. We have sealed them off, but we have no idea what is there. We suspect wampa infiltration here,” He pointed specifically at several different points in the red zone,” here, here and here.”

Griff looked up, "Wampas? They survived?"

Powell nodded, "Yes, but they were almost completely wiped out. They are suited for cold enviroments, but now Hoth isn't exactly cold anymore. We only have scattered reports, but the previous inhabitants used some sort of...laser device. Melted alot of the ice, to make room for the new climate. We do know that the wampa population was in the millions, now there are only a dozen or so left"

Griff studied the map, “Have you located the wampas?”

“No. Our first priority is to rebuild the base and gain a secure and firm foothold of the hangar, command, and stable parts of the base. We have all the suspected dangerous area’s effectively sealed off, but we would like to go in there, hunt down any rogue wampas that may have survived, and patch up any holes that they have made.”

“And for that you’ll need weapons, and men to fight…or hunt.”

“That’s not the only thing,” Engineer Larson spoke up, “We have no heaters, barely enough light sources, we have only one power generators partially working, and that power is being used for partial illumination, powering the consoles, sensors, and those doors over there.” She said.

Griff looked at her, “What happened to the generators?”

“The Empire heavily damaged them, during the Battle of Hoth. And the previous inhabitants came in and decimated them as well. We were able canabalize some pieces of equipment that we brought along to create a temporary power source. But we need those supplies badly.” Powell said.

“And they are sitting in three transport ships onboard the Sovereign, in orbit. The ships are being outfitted to survive in sub-zero temperatures as we speak. I am told it could take days.” Griff said, feeling some sadness at delivering bad news.

“Well, you got here. Is it possible to land more soldiers, and weapons? We each have blasters, but if those wampas out there decide they are hungry enough to attack, we won’t hold out long.” A new voice said from behind them. Major Brimmon, followed by Aeon, strode up to them and saluted to Griff, who returned it.

“Major?”

“Sir, these people are technicians. No offense intended to Ms. Larson, but they will not fight near as well as soldiers. Can you land more troops?”

“I will speak to Captain Braxton on the Sovereign immediately. In the mean time, we must all make due what we have. I’ll see about getting you some soldiers, Major, and some generators for you, Ms. Larson.”

He nodded to Major Brimmon and to Ms. Larson, and then with Commander Powell in tow, he headed off.

“Mr. President, there is something else you should know.” Powell said.

Griff nodded and the two headed for a quiet section of the hangar, with Aeon standing guard a few meters away making sure they would not be disturbed.

“Sir, I have looked into history files on this base. The Rebel Alliance compiled a composite of many, many reports, including a few by Luke Skywalker. I know that there were a group of hunters, black market wampa pelt hunters. They came here to, obviously, kill some wampas and sell the captured pelts on the black market. They were driven into Echo Base by the beasts, until Luke Skywalker and Jedi Knight Callista arrived, and tried to help the hunters. Within three days, Skywalker and Callista were the only survivors. Their reports, documented by New Republic zoologists, specifically state that the wampas exhibited a rudimentary intelligence. They would use distractions to occupy their enemies attention while they worked secretly to enter the base.”

Griff nodded slowly, taking it all in.

“Have you made the necessary security precautions?” He asked.

“As best as I, and Major Brimmon could. We are understaffed, I say soldiers and lots of weapons are more important than power generators and blankets. What good is a blanket is we aren’t around to use them?” Powell said. Griff nodded solemnly.

“I will speak to Captain Braxton right away.” He said. Powell saluted and headed back to the command center.

“Aeon?” Griff asked. The Shi’ido approached, glancing around.

“What do you think?”

“I have also studied the reports made by Master Skywalker and Knight Callista. What Powell says is true.”

“You agree with him?”

“Yes, actually. But I am afraid the Sovereign can offer no aid. It is getting worse out there. The climate has been changed radically, and it is fighting with the old cold temperatures. I project we have a half an hour window to get shuttles down here.” The Shi’ido said.

Griff nodded and pulled out his comlink.

“Griff to Sovereign.”

“Captain Braxton here, sir.” Came the static and broken reply.

“I need you to send a platoon of Shockers down here right away.” He said.

“The modifications to the ships aren’t complete.”

“I believe the Sovereign is carrying a compliment of YT-2400’s to be locked down on Tatooine, correct?”

“Correct sir.”

“Those ships are tough, they should be able to withstand the cold for a few minutes.”

“But the room in those ships is limited.”

“See what you can do. I want to be shaking hands with those Shockers in fifteen minutes, max.” Griff said.

“Yes sir.”

“Echo Base, out.” Griff said, and turned to Aeon.

“How many Shock Troops can fit into a YT-2400?” Griff asked.

The Shi’ido answered immediately, as if he had already done the necessary math.

“Around thirty.” He said after a moment. Griff sighed.

“Brimmon won’t like it.” Aeon went on.

“He will have to. It is all we got for another day or so.”

Powell walked up to them, from the direction of the command center.

“There is something you may want to see.” He said to Griff and Aeon. Griff nodded and they headed for the command center.

Powell led them right up to a large transparent radar screen.

“This is the area north of here. Outlaying sensors detected this,” He indicated a group of blips heading on a path that would take them directly to the front door of Echo Base.

“The Sovereign is sending down about thirty Cold Assault Clone Shock Troopers, fully outfitted and armed.” Griff said. Brimmon lofted an eyebrow.

“Only thirty?”

“That is all they could send, with the available ships. I think thirty, combined with the security volunteers and the ones I brought should be enough. After all that hunting group only had a half dozen members, right?”

Powell looked over at him.

“But they were all trained wampa hunters…”

Griff looked back at the group of incoming blips, with a hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“What are they?”

“Well, as we mentioned earlier, very few wampas are still alive. We count them maybe at fourteen. Our radar is sophisticated enough to detect them.”

Griff scowled.

“Damn it. I want to know who did this. Whoever it was didn’t they know they were destroying whole indigenous species to create their new world.”

Falyn Larson spoke up, “Hoth is undergoing massive changes. It is still primarily snow and ice, but various jungles have sprung up across the planet.”

“Mr. President, the wampas are getting closer.”

“When will they get here?”

“Five, maybe six hours.”

Griff nodded and looked over at Brimmon.

“Get every capable soldier to the doors, now.” He said. Brimmon nodded and went to carry out the orders.

Griff left the command center, Aeon following.

“Aeon, get me a rifle, and one for yourself.” He said to the Shi’ido.


“Sovereign to President Griff.”

Griff stopped.





“Captain Braxton.”

Captain Jeorg Braxton looked up from his status report to the young ensign seated at the communications console, “Yes, Ensign?” He asked.

“Sir, I am receiving a distress call.” The Ensign said, pressing slightly on the headset he wore.

“Origin?”

“It is in the next sector, in the Ison system.”

“Ison?”

“Yes sir.”

“Put it through, bridge speakers only.”

“This is Captain Bando of the Xalta Agricultural Corporation freighter Galloway. We are based out of Ison, and are under attack from Orko Mining Consortium vessels. We require immediate assistance, I repeat this is Captain Bando…”

“Cut transmission. I want the status of the Invincible, have them prepare to get under way.” Braxton said, “And open a channel to the surface.”

“Channel open.”

“Sovereign to President Griff.”

“Go ahead.” Came Griff’s immediate reply.

“Sir we have received a transmission from the Ison system, it is a distress call.”

“What is it?”

“Two rival companies from the sound of it. Xalta Agriculture and Orko Mining Consortium.”

“Hm. Xalta is the Sovereignty’s chief supplier of foodstuffs in this area. Have a ship go and offer it’s assistance, and send an escort of two squadrons of Tie Defenders.” Griff said.

“Yes sir.” Baxton said. After the transmission was cut he looked out the viewport at the two Strike-class cruisers flanking the Super Star Destroyer, “Status of the Invincible?” He asked.

“They will be ready to get underway as soon as Captain Fren reports in.”

“Keep me posted.”





Darkness on Hoth.

It was technically daytime, mid evening. But thanks to the previous inhabitants' terraforming, it seemed like nighttime. The sky was almost always dark, and the cold whether and snowy landscape made it seem even darker. Outside during the night, you could hold your hand in front of your face, and you would not be able to see it. The pelts of the wampa’s had almost exactly the same color as the snow. It was like your hand, even during the full light, a wampa could stand right in front of you, and you wouldn’t see it until it was too late. The darkness made it even worse.

“Zero visibility. I don’t like it.” Brimmon muttered next to Griff as the blast doors slowed to a creaking halt six meters wide. The forty-two Sovereignty Shock-Troops, accompanied by Brimmon, Griff, and Aeon, crouched ready. They had a layered defense line, if the white wampa monsters managed to get through one, they would have four others to go through to get to the rebuilt base, and the technicians inside.

“Quiet.” Griff said back, as he swept the terrain in front of the doors with his high-powered blaster rifle, “They should be here anytime.”

The blackness seemed to creep in on the defenders. It stretched for five minutes, then t ten, then finally to twenty minutes. Griff motioned to Aeon, who silently spoke into his comlink.

“Requesting illumination in sector zero-zero-one.” He said quietly. As Griff swept the area in front of the doors for a hundredth time, floodlights winked on, spreading light directly ahead of the forty-five defenders. Griff’s eyes widened as he saw the newly lighted area. There were Wampas alright.

Dozens of them.

“Fire!” He ordered.

But it was too late. The Wampas knew that they had been discovered. Griff was astounded by the speed and ferocity of the attack. The huge monsters broke upon them like waves on rocks. The Shockers (short for Shock Troops), fired back, but the wampas drove right through the ORS defense lines, splitting the soldiers.

It was tactically, the best plan the wampas could have used, the Sovereignty forces were forced to cease fire, for fear of hitting their own forces. The wampas began to attack with their claws, one lunging at Griff.

Before he had time to raise his blaster to fire at the beast, another wampa came out of nowhere and crashed into the attacking beast, sending it stumbling to the side. Griff shot it in the head, sending it to the ground. The wampa who had saved his life suddenly became smaller, as Aeon returned to his normal shape.

Griff heard Brimmon order a retreat, and all the shockers turned and fled into the half-open doors, and safety. Griff and Aeon poured blaster fire into the attacking beasts, holding them off long enough for everyone to retreat to safety.

“Close the doors!” Griff yelled, and three seconds later, the large doors slammed shut. The wampas began to pound on the door from the other side. Griff turned to the survivors.

“Aeon, the count?”

“Eighteen.” The Shi’ido reported.

Griff sighed and cast a dark look in the direction of the doors. As he did so, a very frightened Engineer Larson came up to him.

“Mr. President…”

“What is it?” He asked, turning to her.

“While you were out there, a wampa managed to get in from a hole that it had dug and killed three technicians before we got it.”

“What? I thought this place was sealed off,” Griff asked, turning to Powell who had just approached.

“The previous inhabitants destroyed the original base, we rebuilt a lot of it, but we couldn’t have found every single opening or entrance.” The Commander said hesitantly.

“Three men are dead. Three unarmed men. That plus fourteen Shock Troops. We underestimated these things. I thought they were all dead.” Griff retorted.

“There were millions of them. Millions! The previous inhabitants could not have killed every single one of them. They live in underground caves, a network of them. It is possible that some were able to dig deep enough to survive.” Powell said.

“We must hold out for tonight. Brimmon! I want every single person in this base armed, and I don’t care if you give some snowballs to throw, just make sure everyone has a weapon. And get every available person to search for any more holes in the base. I don’t want any of those things getting in.” Griff said, pulling the power pack out of his blaster and inserting a new one.

Captain Fren sat in his chamber, looking at a holographic image of Tralus when the call came.

"Captain, you are needed in the briefing room. Bring your squadron."

"Yes sir."

Gordon quickly hit the button to summon the Slasher's to the briefing room.

When he arrived, they were all there, as was the one who would brief them, one Lieutenant Kern. Also present were Destruction Squadron, a relatively knew squadron.

"Thank you for coming. We have received a distress call from Ison, where it appears Orko Mining Consortium vessels have attacked the Xalta Agricultural Corporation freighter Galloway. You are to escort the Strike Cruiser Invincible to Ison, and save the Xalta Agrivultural Corporation freighter."

"Yes sir. We understand."

"As does Destruction Squadron."

"Good. You leave immediately."

The pilots ran down to their fighters. When they launched, they quickly moved out with Invincible.

"Invincible, this is Captain Fren, reporting in for Slasher Squadron and Destruction Squadron, the two TIE Defender Squadrons assigned to escort you today."

"Thank's Slasher One. Do you have the co-ordinates?"

"Yep."

"Good. In three, two, one, mark."

The small fleet quickly jumped into hyperspace.

A few minutes later, they were suddenly pulled out of hyperspace for some reason. Directly ahead of Gordon was an asteroid, which had obviously been pulled there by the two Battle Horn Transports, that were now launching fighters. Also present were two modified action IV Transports, two Marauder Corvettes, and four Corellian Corvettes.

"They are launching fighters, Uglies. I have 36 X-TIEs, 60 TIE-Wings and two squadron of unknowns. The unknown's look like Lamba Shuttles with the wings taken off. Instead they have four X-wing wings. Wait, we also have 36 Clutches."

"Damn. Execute a Fren Slash on the Clutches now."

Slasher Squadron manuvered to form a triangle of diamonds. Then they poured on the juice and came full speed at the Clutches. Each TIE Defender shot one missile at two targets, before blowing past the Clutches. Then they followed Gordon.

"Angle in on the X-Lambas, execute Fren Slash."

The squadron moved off and fire another salvo of missiles, and blew past the X-Lambas. So far 20 Clutches had been destroyed, along with 15 X-Lamba's. 4 Clutches had had their shields stripped away, and 9 of the X-Lambas had also lost their shields. The X-Lambas did have strong shields though, and scans showed that they had a lot of weapons as well. As Gordon brought his squadron around to finish off the X-Lambas and the Cluthces, he noticed that Invincible was under attack from all the capital ships.

"Slashers and Destructions, this is Invincible. We have to retreat. If at all possible, can you destroy one of the Marauder Corvettes that is in our way?"

"This is Slasher Lead, I'm on my way."

Gordon turned his squadron, and accelerated towards the Marauder Corvette mentioned. As he did so he looked as his scanners. Destruction Squadron was in a fierce dogfight with the X-TIEs, and losing badly.

"Desctruction Squadron, prepare to retreat. Try to carve a way out of there, and meet up with Slasher Squadron and Invincible."

"Yes sir. If at all possible could you spare a flight to help us? We are being beat by the X-TIES and we have DIE-Wings incoming."

"Sure thing. One Flight, follow me. Two Flight and Three Flight, take down the Marauder Corvettes."

Gordon turned around, followed closely by his flight.

"Arm your remaining missiles. Fly in and launch them all, we will be able to take down 16 of the X-TIEs that way. Do not aim for any X-TIE that is being attacked by Destruction Squadron."

"Yes sir."

The flight flew in and launched it's missiles, all aimed at taking down the X-TIEs. Once all their missiles were launched, Gordon issued more orders.

"ALL TIE Defenders, follow my flight on the way out, form up to us. Two Flight, what is your situation?"

"The Marauder Corvette is destroyed. We are moving in on the 9 remaining shieldless X-Lambas, with lasers, and then are going for an attack run on the Clutches. We can't help you, we have to protect Invincible."

"Ok."

One flight roared through the rest of the skirmish involving the X-TIES, killing the remaining 9 more X-TIEs and collecting the remaining four TIE Defenders from Destruction Squadron.

"Destruction Squadron, follow One Flight through the DIE-Wings, and do the Fren Slash. Once we are through we will meet up with Invincible. Fire all your missiles on the DIE-Wings. Any fighters we kill here will be less fighters that we have to fight later on."

One flight moved in on the DIE-wings, firing with the laser cannons and ion cannons. Destruction Flight moved out and fire it's missiles, laser cannons and ion cannons on the DIE-Wings, extracting vengeance for their comrades.

"I have DIE-wings' on my tail. I can't shake them. My shields are dow-."

The transmission was cut short as another Destruction pilot was killed.

"I'm under attack. Shields off line, engines off li-."

Another Desctruction pilot was killed by the DIE-wings. One Flight was through, and Gordon checked his scanners. Another TIE Defender was destroyed. Only one Destruction pilto had made it through the battle. Even as Gordon thought this, the remaining 4 Clutches moved past One Flight, and destroyed the last member of Destruction Squadron.

"This is Invincible, we are jumpping back to Hoth now. Our scanners show that Slasher Squadron is free from the enemy fighters. I look forward to seeing you at the Sovereign."

"I copy Invincible."

The survivors jumped into hyperspace and left the system, where 12 good pilots had lost their lives in an ambush, and ambush that would haunt Gordon's dreams for a while yet, as the ambush where 12 of his subordinates had died, fighting an unknown enemy, though Gordon guessed that it was Orko Mining Consortium, giving their lives to save the crewmembers of the freighter Galloway, though it was safe to assume that they had failed. Gordon pitied the man that ahd to write the letters to the family, letters that would be forced to say that their loved ones had died for a goal that was not succeeded, a goal that was probably not worth the loss.

(This message was left blank)

Darkness on Hoth, but this was true darkness. It was around midnight on the stormy planet, and the rebuilt Echo Base was silent. Inside, the Sovereignty engineers, techs, and soldiers waited the night out. There had been no communication with the Sovereign, or the Invincible, and there were still no word on the attacking wampas, that were no doubt examining the defenses of the base.

“They are out there.” Griff said to the Shi’ido next to him, “I can almost feel them. I is like they are surrounding us, slowly closing in and tightening the noose. I hate being helpless.”

Aeon looked at the radar board again. The wampas had found the sensors placed by the engineers and had wrecked them, so now the base was blind. The board was, as it had been for hours, blank.

“We are not helpless. But we have an advantage. The enemy, or the wampas in this case, do not know that we have reinforcements on the way. I have read the old Rebel reports, and I know it did not take them long to adapt their vehicles to the cold.” Aeon said.

“However, Hoth is not what it used to be. It is no longer completely ice, and the planet is in a state of turmoil.” Griff said, “There are snowstorms mixed with thunder and electrical storms, jungles sprouting up across the planet, indigenous life being destroyed and created.”

“It is almost like it is at war with itself.”

“Yeah…”

They were interrupted by a clone soldier, walking up to them, muttering into his helmet communicator.

“Sir, patrol one-one-seven reports hearing scraping noises in sector three.” The clone said.

Griff grabbed his blaster rifle and, with Aeon and two other soldiers, they headed for the aforementioned sector. It was a wall of collapsed ice. It was the site of a direct turbolaser blast point, most likely after effects of the Imperial attack. It had obviously caved in on a corridor. But sure enough, as they arrived at the site, faint scraping and digging noises were heard.

“Where does this corridor lead?” Griff asked to one of the soldiers.

“It leads to a landing zone. Our records indicate that it is the entrance corridor to the area where the Rebel Alliance stationed their Gallofree Transports. When the Sovereignty crews arrived, they dug the corridor out, and this is as far as they got.” The clone said.

“Is this Gallofree landing zone outside? Or is it a hangar?”

“Outside. It is one of the entrances/exits that was sealed off.”

Griff studied the wall of ice in front of him. The scraping sounds were getting closer, and it was coming from the other side of the ice wall. But something didn’t feel right. The wampas had been less than three meters away when the Sovereignty soldiers had discovered them. They had almost been completely silent…

“Captain,” He said to the soldier that had led then to the corridor, “Have all sectors report in. And have them get ready at all posts.” He said.

The soldier instantly began issuing orders and retreated behind the group for a moment, to confer with the different sector patrols.

Aeon looked over at Griff, “What’s going on?’

“This is a distraction. They wouldn’t be this sloppy and let us hear them coming. It would be like sounding a horn or something. They aren’t this stupid. They are attacking elsewhere.” He said. “Aeon, would you please clear us a path so we can see what our white furry friends are doing on the other side.”

The Shi’ido nodded and tossed Griff his blaster rifle. His skin began to crawl and he morphed into a huge Krayt Dragon, causing the other Sovereignty forces to back away a good ten meters to give the Shi’ido some room. In dragon form, he then easily pushed his way through the mound of snow and ice, creating a large enough hole for a human to easily fit through. There were two wampas on the other side, who looked up, startled at seeing a ten-meter long lizard charging through. They were able to utter a single roar before Aeon’s Krayt Dragon claws found targets.

Griff, and the two other soldiers were on Aeon’s heels, sweeping the general area with cover fire as Aeon reverted back to his tall, imposing form.

“Aeon, change into a bird and do a perimeter sweep. I want to know where they are concentrating their attack. When you are done, please get back here and make a new door.” He said, leaving the two soldiers behind to guard the new entrance as he and the clone Captain headed back to the command center.






“Breach!”

Griff looked up from the holo map of Echo Base as a Sovereignty clone soldier shouted over the comlink. The Captain immediately tapped the side of his helmet and began requesting information. After a moment he looked up at Griff.

“Sir, patrol four reports that the wampas have broken through the ice in sector two.” The Captain said.

Griff grabbed his blaster rifle and he, the captain, and two more clone soldiers headed for sector two. Sector two, he knew, was the supply area, where most of the available foodstuffs and munitions had been stored. The President pulled out his comlink.

“Griff to Aeon. Report.”

“I have made a circle of the base, but the wampas blend in to the surrounding terrain better than I ever imagined. I am afraid I cannot report on their location. I have sealed the hole however and am headed to the command center.”

“No. Go to sector two. We have special visitors there.” Griff returned.

“On my way.”

They made it to the supply area in short order where three clone soldiers were fending off eight wampas. Blaster fire crisscrossed the large room, missing their intended targets more often than not. This was not due to the clone’s marksmanship, but the wampas used the low light and numerous storage bins as cover. They had learned.


Griff and his soldiers came in firing, catching two of the white beasts by surprise and dropping them, smoking, to the ground. The others acknowledged this new threat and four of the wampas turned to them and began hurling empty bins, rocks, and other scavenged projectiles. One of the soldiers that had accompanied the President was hit by one of these and was thrown across the room into a wall.

The Sovereignty forces returned fire, killing another. However, the wampas became increasingly angry at this and began to pick up their assault, killing two more clone troopers. Griff was just about to order a retreat when there was a loud rumble from the darkened end of the storage area. Griff looked up.

A slow smile crept over his face.

A huge and monstrous….thing…came bursting out of the shadows. It was huge, perhaps ten meters tall, it had brown skin and looked like across between an insect and a mammal.

A rancor.

Aeon, in rancor form, roared again at the surprised wampas. He charged, the five surviving beasts did as well.

It was over quickly. Aeon was once again his regular, tall, grey-skinned self. He brushed himself off as if he had been shuffling around in some smuggler’s dusty closet.

“Aeon my friend you never cease to amaze me. Good work.” He said. Aeon merely nodded.

“Captain, make sure the other patrols report anything, no matter how small ore miniscule.”

He looked at the three dead clones.

“And we cannot leave them here. Help me get them out of here.” He said, leaning down to pick up one of the dead ones. The surviving forces retreated from sector two, with Aeon sealing the area off.

“Sovereign to President Griff.” Captain Braxton’s voice came through Griff’s handheld comlink.

“Go ahead Captain.” Griff said, taking aim with his blaster rifle and firing, hitting a wampa square in the face, dropping it to the grass/snow covered ground.

“Is everything alright?” Braxton asked after hearing the blasters.

“Yes, the wampas are just giving you another reason to hurry with those modifications.” Griff said, taking aim of another wampa and blasting it.

“Actually, sir. They are done, I was going to ask for your final clearance to initiate the drop operation.”

“By all means! We are being overrun.” Griff said, crouching down a wampa-thrown rock hurtled toward him. Griff motioned and Aeon took his place, issuing a stream of cover fire for Griff as the President, accompanied by two soldiers, retreated to the half-open blast doors.

“Ye sir, I am ordering the drop now. One other thing, sir. There is a priority message for you from Bakura. It is labeled with the words ‘Broken Blade’”

Griff froze, he knew all about the broken blade callsign.

“Understood. Send a shuttle to pick me up, and send enough forces to occupy the base here and destroy these confounded beasts.” He said.

He was already hearing a whine of distant repulsorlifts even as the last of the wampas retreated or were killed.







Two Noghri took up position behind Griff as he and Aeon walked through the corridor’s towards Griff’s private stateroom. Griff didn’t even have to look back to know that the Noghri were there, they were always shadowing Griff and Aeon, even though the Sh’ido bodyguard was more equipped to protect the President.

Griff reached his stateroom quickly, and with a signal from Aeon, the two Noghri took up positions on either side of the door. Aeon entered the room with Griff and took up position in the shadows by the door. Griff headed directly to his computer console on his desk.

A single message was blinking, requiring a password to display. Griff entered the password and gazed intently at the screen.


Broken Blade – Transmission / Bakura

“…the Outer-Rim Sovereignty has made overtures in the direction of the Kathol Sector, as well of the neighboring Minos Cluster....”

A face appeared on the screen, with those words as a caption. Next to the picture, of a human female, and the caption was scrolling text, headed by the term ‘broken blade’.

Broken Blade was the call sign that is beamed across the galaxy to every Sovereignty base, from minor garrison, to subordinate organizations and governments. It is sent to the corporations that supply the Sovereignty, it is also sent to Sovereignty allies. It is only issued whenever a faction, planet, or government declares war on the Sovereignty or it’s allies. It is a call to war, in essence.

“Compute, display message.” He said.

It was from The Black Hand Director, Kirson Platt. Griff took a deep breath as he read. Kirson Platt was a good officer, and a trusted friend to Griff. It stated that several colonies in the Kathol sector had decided to band together, buy ships from anywhere, and ready themselves for war. Platt also stated that he had taken the liberty of issuing the broken blade call sign and had ordered a task force to report to Tatooine within the week.

He had also called a meeting with the Joint-Chiefs of Staff and the Commandants of the Sovereignty member worlds, and his presence was needed on Bakura.

“The Kathol Sector.” He muttered. Aeon made no move in the darkness, but continued to scan the room.

“What do you know of the Kathol Sector.” Aeon asked him.

“It is the outback of the galaxy.” The Shi’ido stated simply.

“Griff to Braxton.” Griff said, not bothering to answer Aeon.

“Go ahead.”

“Set a course for Bakura and get there as fast as possible, and make sure the garrison on Hoth has everything they need.”

“Yes sir.”

“Any report from the Invincible?”

“No sir. I was going to send out search parties.”

“No need. I will have a ship take our place here.”

“Understood.”






Commander Powell watched the shuttle with President Griff onboard lift off the ground on repulsorlifts and dissapear into the sky. Powell wandered what was so urgent that Griff had to leave. He felt a hand slip onto his shoulder and he looked back at Falyn Larson.

"I was watching a feature on the holonet, someone named Garen Brodder, elected Chancellor of the Kathol Protectorate, just finished her announced declaration of independance to the Outer-Rim Sovereignty."

"The Sovereignty has been involved with Kathol Sector affairs since before the Federation cropped up." Powell mused.

"It is rumored that one of the colony planets in the Kathol Sector is the homeworld of President Griff, and the orginator of the entire Sovereignty."

"Are they going to name it the capitol?"

"Bakura is the capitol." Larson said.

"So, the President is from the Kathol Sector, and the Sovereignty's homeworld is somewhere in there..." Powell muttered, deep in thought.

"There was just a messagre beamed directly to the comm center from the Sovereign. Something called 'broken blade'."

Powell looked back at her, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Do you know what that is?"

"Yes. We have to get ready." Powell said, staking across the landscape, heading for the doors of the base. Falyn Larson followed, confused.

"...for what?" She asked.

He didn't look back, "War."

The summer evening’s light filtered down through the overhead glass ceiling of the Sovereignty Congress building. The entire please was a square-like structure topped off by a huge transparasteel dome. Bakura’s evening sunlight graced the halls of Congress, casting a orange-gold glow over the entire hall.

Griff stood at his designated podium, gathering his flimsiplast documents together. It had been 24 hours since he had left Hoth, during the short trip to Bakura, he had studied the intelligence reports on the Kathol Protectorate, what planets they held and what kind of forces they were using, and so on. He had arrived at Bakura two hours before, composed a short speech to present to an emergency session of Congress. He was exhausted from fighting the wampas on Hoth, to dealing with this joint declaration of independence/war from this brand new ‘Kathol Protectorate’.

He rubbed his eyes and leaned forward heavily on the podium. His Shi’ido bodyguard, Aeon, stepped forward and leaned down and lowered his voice to a whisper.

“Perhaps you should postpone this tommorow. You haven’t slept in four days.”

“Are you my wife now, too, grey man?” Griff retorted.

Aeon smirked and retreated to his former position, off to the left and hidden from view. Griff grabbed both sides of the podium and tried to focus as a double knock resounded through the chamber, marking the beginning of the session. The first hour of discussions went through the various declarations the female Chancellor of the Kathol Protectorate had issued. Then to the military status of both the Kathol Protectorate and the Outer-Rim Sovereignty. The next hour they deliberated what was going to be done, until three hours into the session, it was Griff’s turn.


”Ladies and Gentlemen of the Outer-Rim Sovereignty Congress, honored representatives of member worlds, I come before you today not as the leader of a galactic faction, not as a humble civilian, not as an economic supporter. I come before you today as a soldier.

“I have spent the last four days in combat against the forces of nature, on a world called Hoth, and I was successful in adding it to our ranks. But now we have a different kind of foe. This is not nature, this is a living, breathing enemy.

“I have read these accusations the so called ‘Kathol Protectorate’ has issued. I have read their declaration of war. I wave read their declaration of independence. It is true, we did establish colonies in that region, and now those colonies are trying to throw off our government and form their own. Now while I admire this, I will not tolerate this. Valuable resources come from those colonies, and I have other personal reasons.

“How dare they try to fight us. How dare the declare war. Where have the days of diplomacy gone? Does everyone just openly fight each other now? Are we destroying ourselves with the very weapons we have created to protect ourselves with? This is madness!”

He paused, suddenly feeling very tired.

“We are our own force. I ask the Congress of the Sovereignty to order a state of war against this ‘Kathol Protectorate’. I will not stand by idly and watch what we have created, destroy us. Thank you.”

A few hours later, Aeon silently entered Griff’s personal chambers in his large home on Bakura. The President was laying on his bed, presumably asleep. Aeon knew better.

“Well?” Griff asked.

“The measure passes. Congress just finished the debate and declared war on the Kathol Protectorate. Admiral Keyan has been ordered to Ison, to locate the Invincible and to push the Kathol forces out of the area.”

“Good. Keyan can do it.”

“Yes.”

Aeon saw Griff smile.

“I’m going to sleep now.” The President of the Outer-Rim Sovereignty said.

Aeon nodded and left the room.











“This is Vice-Admiral Toln Exerp of the Kathol Protectorate Expeditionary Force. Xaltin forces, stand down.”

The large Strike-class Medium cruiser exited hyperspace smoothly, bearing the circle of stars insignia of the newly created Kathol Protectorate. The likewise Xaltin corporation’s own Belarus-class medium cruiser drifted into a defense position. The Strike cruiser launched it’s fighters, along with some larger freighters, most likey paid off or blackmailed smugglers that had been contracted to fight the defending forces of the Xaltin corporaton.

“I am Captain Jenar of the medium cruiser Xaltin’s Pride came the female voice of the captain of the Xaltin vessel.

“The Kathol Protectorate is annexing the planet of Ison and the surrounding area, I suggest you give yourselves up.” Exerp said.

“You are annexing this area?”

“Yes.” Came Exerp, getting more annoyed.

“Then I suggest you give yourself up. Or we will be forced to destroy you.” Jenar said.

The low chuckle came through the comlink.

“You and what army?” He laughed.

As if on cue, two Imperial-class Star Destroyers dropped out of hyperspace and moved to flank the Xaltin’s Pride. They drifted easily into a flanking position and launched the Tie Defenders from their bays. When Jenar’s voice came back through the pickup, her grin was evident.

“This one.”

“Attention Kathol Protectorate vessel. You are hereby placed under arrest, and will be held as prisoners of war by the Outer-Rim Sovereignty. Failure to surrender your vessel immediately will result in your destruction, you have one minute to reply.” Came the official-sounding voice of Admiral Keyan, Griff’s most trusted commander.

“We have no trouble with you, Sovereignty.” Exerp almost spat out, “This is a private matter between the Xaltin Corporation, and the Kathol Protectorate. You have no right to interfere.”

“Actually I have every right to interfere, by Sovereignty defense order three-eight-oh-four-one, all Kathol Protectorate forces are hereby ejected from Sovereignty space, and a state of war against the aforementioned protectorate has been issued to the illegitimate government of the Kathol sector. Stand down or we will destroy you.”

Exerp sneered, “You underestimate us, Sovereignty.”

Keyan watched from the bridge of the Star Destroyer Defiant as eight smaller Corellian Gunships exited hyperspace behind the three allied vessels. The gunships, along with the strike cruiser, were easily a match for the two Star Destroyers and one Balarus medium cruiser.

“Oracle is to target the gunships, while we pound the strike cruiser. Keep the Xaltin’s Pride between us in the protected zone.” Keyan said calmly to the bridge crew.

“Sir, the Strike cruiser is diving in between the Defiant and the Oracle. We cannot fire at them, for fear of hitting our own vessel.” Someone said from the starboard crew pit.

“Very well, shift position to ventral course, I want us above the Oracle. Have all bombers launch from their bays and begin runs on the Strike Cruiser.”

“Sir, we cannot launch bombers. The gunships are swarming around us, and if we drop the dorsal shields for just a moment to launch the bombers, they can place a well-aimed torpedo into our bays, heavily damaging us.” The Captain of the Defiant, Cage, said.

“I am aware of that, but that Strike Cruiser is going to do a lot more damage than any torpedo could do if we don’t get into a position to fire at it!”

Cage nodded and ordered the bombers to launch. To Keyan’s shock, as the bombers launched, a gunship swung around and launched several missiles into the bay. But the bombers made it clear and only two of the three missiles made it in.

The explosion was enough to knock Keyan off his feet, sending him chest-first into the bridge’s guard rail. He felt at least one rib give under the pressure. He blacked out, and darkness was all he could see or remember.

He opened his eyes a few minutes later to find a medic leaning over him, scanning him with some sort of medical device. He immediately tried to sit up and realized that he was in the medical bay.

“I’ve got to get to the bridge.” He said.

“Sir, you are badly hurt, I need to repair these broken ribs.” The medic said, pressing him down.

“These? How many?”

“Three sir, now you need to get to a bacta tank. Please come with me.”

“No, I’ve got to get to the bridge…the battle..”

“Is over for now. Captain Cage issued a retreat when you were incapacitated, we are a few parsecs out of the Ison system, repairing the damage to the aft hangar bays.”

“The Xaltin’s Pride?” He asked.

“They made it out with us, last I was told. Sir you can rest for a few hours in the tank…now please come with me…” The medic insisted.

Keyan relented and allowed himself to be helped to the bacta tank.






"Admiral." Captain Cage said, handing Keyan a towell as the older man stepped out of the bacta tank.

"Report." Keyan said, wasting no time.

"Repairs to the engines and shields are complete. We suffered heavy damage to our aft section, it is going to need a major overhaul. I suggest we set course for Sh'shuun to-"

"No. We have to drive the Protectorate out of the Ison system. Those were my orders and we will complete them, even if our ass is on fire." Kayen said, throwing a new uniform on.

Cage opened his mouth as if to protest, but then quickly shut it, hiding his sigh.

"Yes sir, the Oracle is battle ready, and I took the liberty of reporting to Bakura." Cage said.

Keyan threw a glare in the general direction of the subordinate.

"And?"

"The President wishes to commend us, and you. He has sent reinforcements."

"They are here?"

"No. They are on their way from delivering supplies to the garrison at Hoth."

Keyan nodded his thanks to the medic who had tended him and then left the medical bay, with Captain Cage keeping in step next to him.

"Ahhh. Excellent. What about scans of the Ison system?" He asked the Captain as they entered the turbolift.

"The Strike Cruiser and it's escorts settled in quite nicely and quickly took control of the planet."

"Have they received any reinforcements?"

"No. They are still up to strength."

"I see. Have all crewers report to battle stations, and get everything ready. As soon as our reinforcements arrive, we can jump back into the Ison system and get rid of those pests." Keyan said.

Cage nodded and headed to the front of the bridge as soon as the turbolift doors opened up. Keyan went to stand next to the sensor opperator.

"Scan the Ison system and report back to me. I want to be up to date on everything, Ensign."

The sensor opperator nodded and began to go about doing the task Keyan went to his private office, to contact the President. He entered his code into to the private communications console and after ten minutes, President Griff's face appeared on the screen.

"Mr. President."

"Admiral Keyan, what is it?"

"My force is battle ready again and we are prepared to jump back into the Ison system and take it from the Protectorate." Keyan said,

"Good. I have diverted two Birds of Prey to your location from Hoth. They should be there at any time. And I urge you to hurry about taking the Ison system. Word is the Protectorate has responded to Congress' little declaration and are mobilizing their forces. The Sovereignty is on the brink of invading the Kathol Sector." Griff said.

"What are my orders following the success of this attack?" Keyan asked.

"Proceed to Af'El and pick up a contingent of their new soldiers who are willing to help spearhead the operation. Wait there for further orders. High Command is still getting itself moving. I may have to take a task force myself and spearhead the invasion of the Kathol Sector." Griff said, and for the first time, Keyan could hear the exhaustion in his voice.

"Yes sir. I will report back to you when we have seized the Ison system."

"Good. Bakura out."

Gordon frowned as he reverted from hyperspace back into real space at the Hoth system. Voices came over the com unit.

"Where the hell is Sovereign?"

"Cut the shatter. This is Captain Gordon Fren to Echo Base, what happened to Sovereign?"

"Sovereign has returned to Bakura, with President Griff. The Kathol Sector has declared war on the Sovereignty. We are waiting for two Birds of Prey to arrive. The Bird's of Prey are supposed to go to Ison and help remove the invading Kathol Sector ships from the system."

Just then the two Bird's of Prey arrived in the system.

"Welcome to Hoth."

"Thank you Invincible Taskforce. Who am I speaking to?"

"This is Captain Fren of Slasher Squadron."

"Ok. I am Captain Dell. We are assigned the task of helping a Sovereign Fleet at Ison defeat the Kathol Sector Fleet that is invading Ison."

"I see. Before you do that we need to finish off a pirate gang that is in a nearby system."

"Ok."

"Launch your TIE Defenders now, and prepare to activate your cloaks. I just need to get some more missiles from Invincible and then we will be on our way."

"Ok. I would be happy to serve under you."

"Ok."

Gordon landed on Invincible to have his squadron loaded up with more missiles, and then he launched.

"Does everyone have the co-ordinates?"

"Yes sir."

"We do."

"Excellent. On my mark, three, two, one, mark."

The fleet vanished from the Hoth system, to deal with the enemies.

When they reverted from hyperspace Gorond immediately checked his sensors.

"Bird's of Prey, cloak now."

"Yes sir."

The two Bird's of Prey disappeared from view.

"I have two Battle Horn Transports, four Corellian Corvettes and two modified Action IV Transports. That fits with what we expected, right?"

"Yes sir. The two Marauder Corvettes had already been taken down by the Slasers and Invincible."

"Good. Fighters are launched. We have four Clutches and 30 DIE-Wings. I want Slasher Three to take command of the squadron. Lead the Slashers and the other pilots through a Fren Slash against the DIE-Wings."

"Yes sir. All right, listen up Lightning Squadron. Arm two of your missiles. When we fly through the enemy formations, fire your missiles seperately, one against each DIE-Wing. Once we are through, continue to follow us, we will lead you in a turn and prepare to go against another target."

"Yes sir."

The Slashers and the Lightnings flew off and went straight for the DIE-Wings. The Clutches moved in, to intercept them, or fall in behind the Lightnings.

"Renn, follow me in closely. We will follow the Lightnings at a distance, and we will be below them. When the Clutches swing in behind the Lightnings, pounce on them with all your weapons. Only use two missiles. I want all the fighters to have used two missiles after the first skirmish."

"Yes sir."

As the Slashers and Lightnings launched their missiles and then flew through the cloud of explosions, Renn and Gordon fell on the Clutches, with no mercy. Both of the men remebered how these same four Clutches had moved in on the remaining Destruction Squadron pilot, when he was obviously retreating. They also remebered how these same pilots had been part of the ambush, a cowardly ambush at that. They each launch two missiles, one at each target. The missiles impacted against the shields of the clutches, but none of the Clutches were destroyed. The only reaction was that the shields came down, and one of the Clutche's slowed down, showing a lot of damage to it's engine. Gordon quickly destroyed that Clutche with laser fire, while Renn destroyed another. Then they both fired lases and ion cannons at the remaining two Clutches, destroying them. Gordon looked down at his scanners and saw that the DIE-wings were all destroyed.

"Bird's of Prey, I want you both to launch assaults on the two Battle Horn Transports. Invincible, take down the two Action IV Transports. Two Flight and Three Flight, take down a Corellian Corvettes. Lightning Lead, assign one of your flights to follow me in on one corvette, the rest of your squadron can take another. Slashers Three and Four, form up with me."

"Yes sir. You have Three Flight."

"Ok. Three Flight, follow us in. I will broadcast a target lock on the Corvette, all you have to do is pull the trigger. Arm two missiles."

"Yes sir."

Slasher One Flight and Lightning Three Flight moved in on one fo the Corvettes.

"Transmitting target lock now. Fire in three, two, one, fire."

16 missiles flew at the corvette, leaving a gapping hole in the side, near the engines.

"I'm moving in on a second. Arm two missiles."

"Yes sir."

"Transmitting target lock now. Fire in three, two, one, fire."

16 more missiles flew out, nocking down the shields, and destroying the engines, leaving a hole in the back of the corvette, near the bridge. Atmosphere was now venting from all four of the Corellian Corvettes into space.

"Strafe the bridges and weapon emplacements, to make sure that they are destroyed."

"Yes sir."

Slasher Squadron and Lightning Squadron strafed the various corvettes, leaving the hull with numerous holes in it. Meanwhile Invincible had moved in on the two Action IV Transports, and placing itself inbetween the two of them, it blasted away. First the shields fell on one, and then the other. The hull plates started to be blasted off, until eventually both transports had been destroyed. The two Battle Horn Transports had ben forced to withstand numerous strafing runs from invisible oppenents.

"Battle Horn Transports, surrender now, or you will be destroyed."

"We surrender."

"Good. We will not destroy you or take you captive. Go off and find honest work, and never attack a Outer-Rim Sovereign ship again, no matter how much money you are being payed."

"Yes sir."

The two Battle Horn Transports left, but not before the Bird's of Prey strafed them again, and then turned off their cloaks, showing the crews of the transports that vessels half their size were more then a match for them.

"All TIE Defenders, land on a vessel. Captains, plot a course for Ison."

"Yes sir."

The fleet vanished from the system once more, and made it's way to Ison.

"Reroute emergency power to the shield generators!" Keyan heard himself yell over the loud din of battle.

The Star Destroyers hung over the world of Ison, it's significant weapons turrets firing in every direction imaginable. Red-gold, and green-gold traded places across the starscape, creating a colorful symphony of destruction.

"Port turbolaser turrets, concentrate all fire on that flanking Corellian Gunship!" He heard Captain Cage say.

Keyan gripped the armrests of his command chair tightly, watching the tactical holomap carefully. The Kathol Protectorate ships were down to the one Strike Cruiser and four gunships. So far, the Sovereignty forces had lost no ships, but that could change at any time.

The Admiral stood from his seat, and thanks to the rumbling of the ship, half stumbled to the communications console, where a young ensign was trying to call more Sovereignty forces to the system.

"Status of our reinforcements?" Keyan asked the ensign.

"Captain Fren is leading them here. They should be here at any moment." Another blast struck the bridge in a direct hit, sending Keyan to his knees. He gave the ensign a slap on the shoulder and then made his way over to Captain Cage, where he stood next to the command chair.

"Open a tactical channel!" Keyan shouted.

"Open, sir."

"Oracle, this is Admiral Keyan on the Defiant. Initiate Griff one-one-three." He said.

The effects were almost instantaneous. The other Star Destroyer, who had it's superstruture pointed towards the Defiant as it warded off the Strike cruiser, was to the aft, and starboard of the Admiral's Star Destroyer. As Keyan issued the order, the Oracle gunned it's engines and drove straight at one of the Corellian gunships, with the Strike Cruiser in hot pursuit. The gunship's engines had been crippled, and it was unable to get out of the way of the suicidal Sovereignty Star Destroyer.

At the last moment, the Oracle dove straight down, in a difficult manuver. The Strike Cruiser had no time to dodge, so intent was it on it's target.

Gunship and Srtike Cruiser collided, and ended the career of Toln Excerp, and the Kathol Protectorate's presence in the Ison system.

Two minutes later, two Birds of Prey and the Invincible exited hyperspace into the system, just as the Corellian Gunships retreated.

Keyan let out a sigh of relief, one that was reciprocated across the Ison system.


But the battle was far from over.






"I have recently issued a press release concerning this coming conflict with the Kathol Protectorate."

Keyan nodded to the hologram of the President of the Sovereignty, "And?"

"And there is a war coming." Griff said, "And you have fought the first battle."

"In which we were victorious I might add." Keyan replied.

"Yes."

"My orders, Mr. President?"

"At the time? None. I am having problems with the High Command. It seems that whenever the broken blade callsign is sent out, someone high up panics. I am still trying to get them in line, we may have to hold off for a week or so before getting a force in order to deal with those unruly Kathol people." Griff said with a sigh. "I will be calling upon the Black Hand."

One of Keyan's eyebrow's shot up. Griff, apparently didn't notice, "Really?"

"Yes. Indeed. Director Kesov has been quite busy."

"With?" Keyan prompted.

Griff eyed him carefully before continuing. "Trying to uproot Project Scorpion from the mix."

Keyan had heard that name before. Supposedly, according to rumor, Project Scorpion was a highly secret rogue intelligence organization working within the ranks of the Black Hand - the Sovereignty's regular intelligence agency. They were invisible, supposedly. A woman, a black market slicer/hacker, had been recruited by the Black Hand to find the Project in the Sovereignty's extensive information networks. She had only been partially successful, and the Project's secret leader had remained hidden.

Keyan shook his head, "So. What am I to do? Stay at Ison?"

"Yes. Establish a garrison there. It will be our operational base in the corridor."

"Yes sir."

"Bakura out."