" Reversion to realspace:o ne minute."

The bridge of the Interdictor, command ship of "Admiral" Arelius, had been remodeled since the capture of Gallinore and the placement under New Imperial command of a small task force. The bridge was now permanently dark, the light of stars and command consoles the only ominous illumination. Pained on the catwalk was the New Imperial Crest: the Imperial Emblem with crossed daggers through it center.

Four Carrack Cruiers, modified to carry four torpedo launchers, along with four Lancer Frigates wre attached to the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> War Monger<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->, formerly the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Risk Factor.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

" Reverting: now!"

" Excellent."

From the bow viewports could be seen the planet of Falleen, the home of the infamous Prince Xizor. Above was a wealth of freightor traffic, less than thirty percent military. Of that total, less than ten percent carried weaponry.

" Admiral!" called the ship's commader, former GDI officer wh had been lured under the New Imperial Banner.

" Yes?"

" We read two Star Destroyers in orbit!"

" Threat assessment?" Arelius asked, turning his high-backed Permllian leather chair aft towards the tactical station.

" Minimal."

" Oh?" Arelius asked, making himself a promise: if the Destroyers were actually a threat, he would have to devise a special form of execution for he incompetent officer.

" Yes, sir. We've detected heavy combat damage. Their hulls register as 28 percent compromised, the planet-ward ship missing its port generator dome. Weaponry reads as minimal-"

" Admiral! The closest Destroyer is broadcasting a Medical IFF."

" Really." The "Admiral" stood and strode aft. At the edge of the crew pit, he stopped and spun fore. " Open fleet-wide signal:

" The ships opposite us are crewed with Imperial Pretenders. The planet below is infested with false Imperials. Their fate has been sealed by their choice. They will die."

The channel was closed, and Arelius glimmered down to the fleet ops officer. In his eyes raged villany. And rage.

" Send forward our fast attack ships. Maximum speed. They are to release their payload on the nearet Destroyer. Second pass, eliminate the other."

The GDI officer, the only one remaining on the command deck, nodded. His arrogance and skill had kept him alive.

From the task force, a quartet of Carracks shot off towards the Imperial-class Star Destroyers, each barely aware of the imcoming attack.

Only Fallen Defense Command was aware, and fighters had been dispatched to assist.

However, they would be no help, for they would not arrive in time.

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> 3...

2...

1...

Revert on my mark...

Mark!<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

The tiny clamour of the Fallen Hapan Prince through the comsystem was ignored by the bridgecrew commanding the Hyperspace engines. They were concentrating on bringing in the backup ships for the assault, and they had to be on time, the crazy Imperial was leading this assault.

As the command came through the reaction was well oiled and instanaineous. The two Imperial Class Star Destroyers dropped out of the hyperlane and into the Falleen system. Meanwhile, the Prince reclined in his quarters, seminaked, his body only covered in black sheets. Next to him lay the prone and sleeping form of Tevarii, his partner... Of sorts.

Sighing as he felt the intertial compensators kick in as the ship dropped out of Hyperspace. Pulling on some quick clothes, a white shirt and and dark leather pants, he strode upto the nearby turbolift.

Within moments he was on the Bridge of the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Malignent<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->.<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

"Captain, bring up Falleens status.. Defences?"

"None your highness, no sheilds, 2 damaged ImpStars, and some fighter activity on the ground. IFF signals on the ImpStars indicate one is a medical ship..."

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Ahh, Falleen, a important planet, fallen into disuse by its rulers.

A plnet <!--EZCODE BOLD START--> ripe<!--EZCODE BOLD END--> for the picking...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

"Excellent, launch all our Assault craft, dispatch them to seize the military ship, and have the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Corruptor<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> launch theirs as well, along with fighters, we want to run some sort of protection... I assume its hyperdrive is workable on our aquisition?"

"Yes sir, intelligence indicated it was sent here more for the rest than the refit. A dedicated crew could get it upto full condition within the week.

Might i ask what what we intend for the Hospital ship?"

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> A grim smile crossed Lupercus' mouth.<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

"Oh, i do beleive Admiral Aurelius is dealing with that..."

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> As the exchange took place, the TIE defenders aboard the two ISDs launched, and moved into defensive escort positions around the Delta-Class DX-9 Stormtrooper Transports that had already emerged. All ships were hyperspace capable, and the squadron leader had the details for emergeancy meeting point should the hit and fade turn sour...

Without a sound, they sped towards the ImpStar...<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

Line Captian Mallek Gertallya had looked forward to a night of sleep, which would, as usual be less than peaceful. The nigtmare of Hoth continued to play over in the officer's mind. The explosion, the retreat, the perverbial wound licking.

Worse still were the reports of siegeo several Jutraalian worlds.

One of which houed the Captain;s family. Togoria.

The Destroyer boe the marks of battle: almost all of her hull was covered with carbon scorning and pock marked with dents and steel abrasions. If a metallic beat could look sad, his ship did. Bits of Jileeak station had buffeted the ship, some puncturing the weakened shields. Without firing a shot, her and another Impstar Deuce had been nearly knocked out of commission.

Thus they sat over the world of Falleen, a dozen field repair vesses attending them at all hours, engineers and technicians scampering about, almost under the remaining crew's boots, tying to get weapons and shields ito a semblance of working order.

In the flight from Hoth, thousans of wounded were taken from the other escapees and piled aboard Gertallya's ship. So many that the number of non-combatants outnumbered the barely functioning 6,000 man crew by four times.

So many that the transponder had been changed to inicate their charges.

It was wth those and many more thoughts on his head that Gertallya exited the primary port corridor to his quarters.

Barely was his tunic undone when he began to relive the battle. He remembered his ship violently rocking as kiloton chunks of durasteel flew at his bridge. He rmembered being knocked down by the force of an impact, blood running down his forehead.

Gertallya reached to his forehead, feeling the unhealed scar. On bringing it to his focusd eyes, he saw blood on it. He felt crimson liquid oozing down his face.

He was not having a dream, a harsh realization that came as the decking shook under him.

Rushing into the corridor, his tunic open and dishevled, he gazed out with hundred other officers at what had caused their discomfort: four Carracks were heading towards the near defenseless titans, turbolasers blazing.

Into his comm, Gertallya spat " Shields-"

From the floor below him, fire erupted, steel decking shooting in every direction. The transpristeel shattered, shredding all in a hundred meter radius. The expansive corridor was filled with fire and molten metal.

Abov, theCarrcks thundered past, heavy torpedoes having been looed on the hapless medical vessel.

Fire belched from the port side, what guns remained, incinerated. The worst, however, was not over...

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> As the the TIE Defenders closed on the other Imperial Star Destroyer mark II, they were stunned as a series of explosions ripped the hull of what had been identified as a hospital ship.

Most of the Hapans laughed.

The Storm Trooper AX-9 assault transports were begining to dock with the ImpStar deuce. The TIE Defender pilots saw small bursts of light as the lasers and saws begin a powerful slicing through the hull. Within moments, there were troops onboard the ship, blasters blazing. As usual, Lupercus had employed a a majority of Rodians to lead the assault, along with a large number of former Royal Hapan Engineers, to take the engines.

They broke off after seperate targets, not yet meeting any resistance at all, apart from a few hastily produced emplacements manned by tired and war-weary men. The Hapans had planned the strike within a perfect window. Only these 2 ImpStar Dunce stood waiting to stop them. The fighter crews on Falleen were all on weekend leave, and it would take over an hour to get even a small number of them ready for launch. In much the same shape was the Star Destroyers crew. Most were on shore leave while their craft was repaired, the majority of those retained had drawn the short straw, and were intensly tired. They could do nothing but hold their positions until they were pushed back...

Or killed.

Suddenly a hail came in calling for a fire suppression pattern around the ImpStar Deuces Hangar area. Its sheilds were already out, and its weapon emplacements were mostly non functional, but just to make sure, a number of squadrons veered off, straffing the underside of the ship. Explosions marked their passing, the 3 remaining batteries knocked out. The sentinals sped on, rapidly reaching the hangar. The landing was swift, textbook even, the sentinals guns blaring as they disgorged their cargos, more Rodians, and battledroids, many of them tooled out and modified for use in ship to ship boarding engagements. Even amongst them was a small number of the lethal Droidekas, commonly known as Destroyer droids. <!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

<!--EZCODE UNDERLINE START-->Meanwhile, back on the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Malignent<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->.<!--EZCODE UNDERLINE END-->

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> A thin smile crossed the mouth of the disgraced Prince as the ships continued to report in, and that their cargos were well on their way to acheiving the objectives. Not only that, but the special shipcrews from the sentinals were already making solid progress, the entire hanger region secured as well as a number of tractor beam compartments and turbolaser batteries.

He smiled again, despite himself, and reclined on his chair.<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Almost time to go...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->