Rachuk

"For the glory of the Empire!" came the shouts from a thousand throats, the men and women standing in the black and grey attire of newly minted Imperial enlisted and officers for the Imperial Star Fleet. This was their official coronation ceremony, one of several taking place in the various training facilities scattered about the surface of Rachuk, in the same planetary system as Vladet, the current capital of the Empire.

The man giving the current speech was a Commodore in the navy, considered too wounded with an prosthetic leg and arm each to continue shipboard duty, and so served now in a training and administrative role on the planet. Previously he had served as a Task Force Commander during a previous conflict against the Outer-Rim Sovereignty, where he had been injured.

About ten kilometers from this ceremony, a trio of officers sat in a control tower on the south side of Training Base Beta-N5's primary landing field, one of them in charge of communications for the base, a second being a Lieutenant and one of the personnel assigned to accounting, and a third the Brigadier General in charge of the Base itself, which was managed by the Imperial Army, since it was a planet based training facility.

General Hawitzur was currently looking at a list given to him by the accountant.

"Hmm, so our entire class is to be transferred to the Administrator?" asked the General.

"That is correct General. High Command has informed us that although the Administrator took few losses, about half of her veteran personnel has been transferred to other ships in the new Task Force that is being created, to pass on their Cree'Ar combat knowledge. The current veterans left aboard will whip these rookies into proper shape in no time," replied the Lieutenant.

"Very well, contact the Administrator so that we can begin the personnel transfer," ordered General Hawitzur.

"Super Star Destroyer Administrator, this is Rachuk Training Base Beta Dash N Five," spoke the communications specialist into the deskborn mic.

The three of them waited a moment for a holocomm link to be established, but no reply was forthcoming after five minutes.

"Super Star Destroyer Administrator, this is Rachuk Training Base Beta Dash N Five, please establish hololink, over," the communications specialist tried again.

This time fifteen minutes passed without any response.

"Tap into traffic control where the Administrator is orbiting," ordered the General. After a moment of viewing the screen and comparing notes on his list, he tried something else.

"Okay, the Courageous is a new ship with former Administrator crew aboard her. See if we can contact them and get them to contact the SSD. The bad link may be on our end," ordered the General.

"Imperial Star Destroyer Courageous, this is Rachuk Training Base Beta Dash N Five, please respond, over."

"Still nothing sir," said the communications specalist after another five minutes had passed.

"Okay, so the problem is likely with our transmitter. Try broadcasting a systems test and see if anyone responds," speculated the General.

"Comms test, Rachuk Training Base Beta Dash N Five, comms test, over."

"This is Rachuk Training Base Beta Dash N Six, read you loud and clear Rachuk Training Base Beta Dash N Five."

"Rachuk Training Base Alpha Dash N Six, read you and reply Rachuk Training Base Beta Dash N Five."

"Imperial Star Destroyer Penetrator reads you loud and clear, Rachuk Training Base Beta Dash N Five."

The comms specialist and accountant both turned to look at the General for further instructions.

"Establish a link with the Penetrator, I wish to speak to her commanding officer," ordered Hawitzur.

"This is Captain Ohdeep of the Penetrator speaking," came the voice a few moments later.

"Captain, this is General Hawitzur of Rachuk Training Base Beta Dash N Five. We are trying to establish a link with the Administrator and have failed to do so. The Courageous is also not responding. Have you been able to communicate with either ship recently?" asked the General.

"No, but then again we haven't had a reason to contact those vessels. I'll have my communications specalist work on it for a few minutes and give you a reply," said Ohdeep before breaking the link.

"Hmm, he's a real nice officer," commented the accountant.

"New ship plus a new crew coming onboard, he probably has his hands full. I heard he and his bridge crew were the only survivors off of his previous command, the Gnawer," interjected the comms man.

"Gnawer? Never heard of it."

"No reason you should have. A Steadfast class Escort Frigate, assigned to escort VIP Transports in the Core Regions. Destroyed defending Coruscant from the Cree'Ar. Reportedly destroyed one corvette sized ship and damaged another before a big plasma volley took out most of the vessel."

"Damn. A Cree'Ar War veteran then. Glad to see he's getting a decent sized ship now to combat those bastards with."

"Oh yeah, he'll pay them back for Coruscant, definitly count on that."

The expected reply from the Penetrator cut off further conversation.

"General, we're unable to contact the Administrator as well. Same goes for Courageous. The other two Star Destroyers in that area of space, the Titan and Agony, also aren't responding to our hails. Other transports and ships in the other regions have responded though."

"Hmm, most strange. Perhaps there is a jamming test going on?" asked the General.

"Generally all warships are notified beforehand to prevent confusion, and we've recieved no such notification. The Agony and Titan also have crewmen embarked from the Administrator. We're sending several TIE Scouts to check on the vessels to make sure nothing is wrong with the crews," said Captain Ohdeep.

* * *

Flight Officer Galleredo flew TIE Scout Penet-One, the Leader of the TIE Scout squadron assigned to the Star Destroyer Penetrator. He and three of his comrades had just carefully approached the main hangar bay of the Super Star Destroyer Administrator, with no response to their multipule hails from a variety of transmission sources, anything from comm to tight beam transmission to winking their lights on and off in murst code.

"No response, I'm going in. Penet Two will accompany me. Penets Three and Four, stay out here and be ready for anything, including evasive manuevers," ordered Galleredo. He recieved acknowledgements from Garret, who flew Penet Two, and from Hansen and Julia, flying as Three and Four.

Once inside the hangar bay, they were greeted by a bustling assortment of activity. Personnel were all over the place, servicing and boarding various shuttles, barges, and starfighters in the main hangar bay area. So caught up in looking at the activity, that it took them a while to notice it. Garret was the first to notice it.

"Sir, look at how everyone is moving. Why is everyone slouching over, and moving in such a meandering pattern? Even if their superior officers aren't present, they should still be standing upright."

"Hmm, sleeping problems? Perhaps their communications officers are asleep at their stations."

"Perhaps, but...what is that on the hangar ceiling?" asked Garret next. Galleredo craned his neck upwards to look through the ball cockpit at the roof of the hangar. Where normal Imperial paint and steel existed, there was now a strange purple and green discoloration of almost the entire ceiling.

"Sithspawn, it's the Reaver virus!" shouted Galleredo.

"Reaver...but this ship was at Coruscant, not the Borderlands!" shouted Garret in protest.

"Shit shit shit, the personnel transfers to Courageous, Titan, and Agony," cursed Galleredo.

"Oh my Krath, you're right. Scanners are picking up signs of the virus in the hangar atmosphere. We gotta get out of here and report buddy," said Garret.

The two TIE Scout Fighters zoomed out of the main hangar bay and rejoined the others.

"What did you guys see?" asked Julia.

"Reaver virus. The entire ship appears to be infected. We need to get back to the Penetrator and report.

"Report from Penet-Six from the Courageous. Personnel seen moving about in hangar bay, but they aren't responding to our hails. Personnel seemed to be tired. Penet-Five is landing to attempt voice communications," interjected Hansen.

"Belay that, pass on orders for Penet-Five to not leave his cockpit and take off immediatly," ordered Galleredo. They waited for a few minutes before they heard back from six.

"Report from Penet Six. Courageous personnel swarmed Penet Five as soon as he emerged from his fighter. They appear to be eating him alive. Penet Six has withdrawn and ordered Penet Seven to break off as well," said Hansen a moment later with bleakness in his voice.

Moments later, the eleven remaining TIE Scouts swarmed away from the four destroyers, waiting until they got closer to Penetrator before making their report.

"Penet One to Penetrator, presence of Reaver virus confirmed aboard all four vessels. Host vessel appears to be the Administrator, but the crews of all four vessels are at stage five infection level. Reaver ships are preparing to launch a lot of vehicles from their hangar bays filled with hosts, over," said Galleredo.

"Repeat Penet One, confirm Reaver presence."

"Sending recorded data files over now," said Galledero.

Captain Ohdeep looked over the incoming holofiles of the hangar bays, infected hangar decks, and scanner confirmations.

"Damn. Prepare these data files for transmission to Vladet, the other ships and stations in orbit, and Rachuk Ground Control. Also, go ahead and sound General Quarters," ordered Captain Ohdeep.

"Requesting landing clearance in Penetrator's forward bay," came the voice of Penet One.

"Negative Penet One, it appears from the data files that your fighters may be carrying the strain of Reaver virus. Divert to Reaper-3 for Reaver Decontamination," ordered the Captain as klaxons began blaring onboard the Penetrator.

"General Hawitzur, message from Penetrator. Their scouts have confirmed active Reaver presence aboard. The scouts report the four ships are preparing to launch shuttles and barges," his comm specialist almost shouted at him in alarm.

"Calm down Major. Open me a channel to Base Defenses."

"This is Brigadier General Hawitzur speaking. Reaver presence has been detected aboard the Star Destroyers Administrator, Titan, Courageous, and Agony. The four ships are in orbit above us and are preparing to launch what looks to be a ground invasion. Therefore the base's shields are to be raised, and base turbolasers are ordered online. Sound the klaxon to repel invasion, and be sure everyone knows that this is not a drill," ordered the General.

"Sir, scanners report all four vessels are powering up weapons and shields. Sir, traffic control buoys report the launch of vehicles from all four ships. A lot of vehicles sir, trajectories appear to be coming down towards us," said the specialist in a panicky voice.

Moments later, several flashes of green lit up the landscape as monstrous turbolaser strikes that could only have come from the Administrator struck several buildings at the base, the buildings exploding before collapsing, including one critically important dome and radar shaped building.

"Sir, they just took out the base shields," stated the Lieutenant unnecessarily.

"Issue a planet wide alert, request the Imperial Army to mobilize several armored battalions to come to our aid. In the meantime, prepare every soldier, tank, artillery gun, and anyone else who can fire a weapon for imminent assault," said Hawitzur with a grim look on his face.

Up above, they could just begin to see the first several dozen landing craft and shuttles growing large in the atmosphere above them. Moments later, the Turbolaser towers dotting the base opened fire.

* * *

Imperial Star Destroyer Penetrator, Rachuk Orbit

Captain Ohdeep gulped audibly as he watched the Administrator fired a few shots into Rachuk's atmosphere. Moments later, it was confirmed that Rachuk Training Base Beta N Five's shields had been taken down. The emission glows of a thousand vehicles entering the atmopshere were a daunting sight.

"Sir, are we to engage?" asked the gunnery officer.

"Negative Colonel. We don't have nearly the firepower needed to bring down those four ships. Vanguard Seven will be orbiting near us soon, we'll team up with the Golan-V Battle Platform to attack the Administrator then. Go ahead and launch our Starfighter squadrons though, I want them to be clear of the ship before action begins."

TIE Defenders swarmed out of the hangar bays of the Penetrator as the Star Destroyer shadowed the tracks of the four enemy vessels at a safe distance.

"Sir, even with the Golan V Battle Platform, we'll still be badly outmatched by the Super Star Destroyer, two Imperial V Star Destroyers, and Victory VI Star Destroyer over there."

"I know Colonel, I know, but we need to put a hurting on the Administrator. She's the only vessel over there capable of punching through Rachuk's planetary shields once them come online, something that we don't want to happen," replied Ohdeep.

"If possible sir, we should use the Golan V as cover. We could coordinate our fire then, and have some protection for the Penetrator. The Administrator, Titan, Courageous, and Agony are already write offs, it would really hurt the Empire if it lost the Penetrator, a third Imperial V Star Destroyer."

"I know Colonel, believe me I know. But the Empire stands to lose far more if the Reavers destroy or infect the training bases all over Rachuk. Vanguard Seven is approaching our orbit. Prepare for ship to ship combat."



Fleet Admiral Carson crumpled the message in his hands as he walked out of the Fleet HQ and headed for his personal hover vehicle.

"It's been confirmed?" asked Carson as he got in the vehicle with his top aide.

"Yes sir. The Administrator has bombarded one of the training bases on Rachuk, eliminating its self defense shield. The planetary shields are coming online right now, but a wave of assault craft has already made it past the shield boundary and are commencing an assault on the aforementioned training base."

"Damn, what do we have on hand to stop it?" asked Carson as they headed for the local military starport.

"The Imperial Star Destroyer Penetrator and a Golan V Battle Platform are preparing to launch an assault on the Administrator. They can't bring it down, but they're hoping to disable or destroy enough weapons to where it can't punch through the planetary shields. Also in orbit above Rachuk are the Imperial Star Destroyers Terminator and Renown, the Heavy Cruiser Conqueror, and several other warships, light cruiser sized and down. Of course, the balance of the Home Defense fleet is orbiting above our heads."

"Yes, we'll head for the Dominion. Have her form up with oh, the Majestic, Impervious, Sultan, and Fuhrer. As soon as we arrive I'll take command of the Task Force, designated Stopgap," ordered Admiral Carson.

"Do you have orders for the rest of the ships above Rachuk?" asked the aide.

"Yes, have the Terminator and Renown form up with Vanguard Four. That's the next Golan V Station to pass through the Administrator's orbit. They'll make their passes and then clear out with the station. I don't want to hurt the Dominion to take out the Administrator, so we'll have to use our TIE Defenders to primarily kill the Administrator. However, we'll likely have to keep the remains of the Administrator from crashing into Rachuk. Therefore, divert Reaper-3 from debris field clearing duties and have her start making for Rachuk as well," Admiral Carson ordered.

Minutes later, their shuttle was en route to the Super Star Destroyer Dominion, riding in high orbit above.



"Here they come," said General Hawitzur. He had drawn his sidearm, and the Lieutenant and Major had both armed themselves with E-13B Blaster carbines. A squad of twelve stormtroopers had ascended into the control room tower to help them defend it from Reaver assault. The first wave of shuttles, some of them damaged by turbolaser fire, landing on the various buildings and fields, disgorging dozens upon hundreds of Reaver infected Imperial troops, and apparently some civilians from the evacuation of Coruscant as well.

"Shit, they didn't offload all their civilians, I....shit, Major, did the Administrator offload any civilians at Vladet?" asked the General in sudden fright.

"No sir, I'm already looking it up. The Administrator did offload her wounded and some civilians to Beta General Hospital, but none went to Vladet," replied the Major.

"Open a line to Beta General Hospital then."

"Beta General Hospital, this is Training Base Beta Dash N Five, come in over."

"Training Base Beta Dash N Five, this is Training Base Beta Dash N Six, Beta General Hospital's comms currently aren't working. We're awaiting word on whether our repair teams we've sent will be able to help fix their problems," came a voice over the unit.

"Be advised that is unlikely going to happen Beta Dash N Six. Administrator's wounded and some civilians were transferred there," replied General Hawitzur.

"Acknowledged Beta Dash N Five, contact Imperial Army to send a reconissance unit there. Unable to raise repair teams at this time."

"Roger, Beta Dash N Five out," said the Major, closing down the link.

"Get word out to our troops that any wounded with non Reaver-virus linked weapons are to divert to Alpha or Cyan General Hospitals," ordered Hawitzur.

The three of them watched as the one thousand sailors at the coronation ceremony earlier fought off the advance of several hundred Reaver hosts, the former firing blaster pistols and rifles set on KILL, while the hosts fired their own rifles and pistols set on STUN, probably hoping to take and devour the cadets alive. Hundreds of the Reavers were cut down, before the cadets began forming into a box shape at the behest of their commanding officer. The reason became apparent a moment later when more Reavers streamed up behind them from other landing sites.

"Damn, we need a squad of AT-PTs over there on the double to provide those Cadets with help," said Hawitzur.

"On it," replied the Major.

A few minutes later, six All-Terrain Personal Transports walked into the clearing, their double blaster cannons cutting down rows of Reaver hosts as they launch stun grenades to temporarily subdue others. Given an avenue of escape, the cadets withdrew to a more defensible position.

"Sir, ground scanners are indicating at least a million Reaver hosts are now on the ground," said the Major silently.

"....we'll do our best Major, but by the time is over, they may need to raze this entire base," replied General Hawitzur forlornly...

As the Administrator came within the inner kill zone, Vanguard Seven's weaponry lit up the space between the Battle Platform and the Super Star Destroyer. Riding just above and beyond Vanguard Seven, the Penetrator opened fire with her starboard side weaponry, focusing on the same area of the Super Star Destroyer that the Battle platform was attacking. The Administrator blasted back with her complement of weapons, with the Titan and Agony joining in. On the other side the formation, the Imperial-V Star Destroyer Courageous couldn't bring her weaponry to bear.

The starboard amidship shields of the Administrator were the first to go, collapsing after a torpedo salvo from Vanguard Seven. The remaining torpedoes in the salvo, along with heavy turbolaser strikes, tore up hull plating and destroyed external weaponry, sensors, and other equipment on the Super Star Destroyer. The Administrator responded with a broadside of over a hundred heavy ion cannons, disabling many of the weapons on that side of the Battle Platform. As Vanguard Seven rotated to bring more weaponry into play, the three Reaver destroyers focused their fire on the Penetrator.

The starboard side of the Imperial Star Destroyer was blasted by volleys of ion cannons, turbolasers, and concussion missiles, the latter coming from just the Administrator and Agony. Her shields collapsed as explosions ripped apart her starboard side. The Star Destroyer executed a barrel roll to bring her port side weaponry and shields into play, firing another broadside as Vanguard Seven brought her fresh weaponry to bear. The Administrator mimicked the Penetrator's moves however, rolling up and about to bring fresh shields and weapons into play. Vanguard Seven took more hits, but none of the three vessels targeted by each other suffered further shield failures as the orbits of Vanguard Seven and the Penetrator took them out of range from the four Reaver vessels.

Aboard the Penetrator, Captain Ohdeep was moaning in pain as the medic removed shards of flexiglass from his face. His right eye was gone, a replacement already being prescribed. He shouldn't have been looking over an ensign's eye into his console when the volley of ion cannon fire hit his ship, causing the monitor to explode into their faces. But the monitor he was watching showed the damage assements to the Administrator as they were engaging it. With his one good eye, he looked and listened to the damage reports of what his ship had sustained. Forty percent weaponry gone, shields down to half strength but recharging, and moderate damage to the starboard side compartments. Estimated fatalities eight hundred dead and two to three thousand wounded.

Their starfighter wing was still attacking the Administrator, staying on her weak port side firing torpedo volleys. The starfighter wings from Terminator and Renown were in route to join in the attack, even as the destroyers were preparing to have their turn against the Reaver flotilla.

"Analysis indicates we knocked out twenty percent of their weaponry. In addition, Vanguard Seven reports it's lost sixty percent of its weaponry destroyed or disabled," reported his aide.

"Very well then. Break orbit, and have us head for the dockyards above Vladet. Order our starfighter wing to rendezvous with us once they've expended their armaments," ordered Captain Ohdeep. The Penetrator was out of the fight, but her attack run may have just saved Rachuk from further harm.

That hope was shattered however when all four Reaver vessels opened fire on the planetary shields, concentrating on the one spot above the targeted Training Base. The assault continued for another five minutes before one of the power stations supplying the regional shield projector exploded from the amount of energy trying to be sent to the station for shield reinforcement. With that sector of the planetary shields down, the training base was once again open to bombardement.

* * *

Rachuk Training Base Beta-N5

"The situation is getting pretty desperate, General," said the Major, reviewing the screens they had of the battle area. So far few of their soldiers had fallen to the swarms, but his men weren't equipped to repel an all out planetary invasion, and so they were running out of power packs for their blasters very quickly.

"I know Major, I know. Help will get here when it gets here though," said the General with a finality in his voice. Down below they could hear the sounds of their own stormtrooper guard fighting off the Reavers trying to gain entry into the main control tower. A barricade had been erected in front of the only door, and the stormtroopers were picking off Reavers trying to batter their way through.

"The barracks," breathed the Major, indicating a screen.

General Hawitzur looked over his shoulder, seeing the security holocam footage, where streams of Reavers were pouring out of the barracks, including a lot of Reavers with what looked like fresh wounds.

"No one should've been in the barracks," protested Hawitzur.

"Actually General, Troop B of the new recruits just returned from a three day conditioning march through the jungle territory. Battalion strength, five hundred men and women. They were resting and recuperating today," corrected the accounting Lieutenant.

"Shit. They probably thought the Klaxons were a drill or slept through them," Hawitzur muttered.

"Sir, the shuttles and barges are lifting. We've recieved word that the Reaver infested destroyers have broken through the planetary shields."

"Oh Krath, they're going back up to load another wave?" asked Hawitzur.

"Perhaps, but the starfighters from Penetrator, Terminator, and Renown are swarming the Reaver destroyers right now, they should be able to pick off most of the shuttles and barges before they return."

"Hopefully," whispered Hawitzur.



Captain Hazer cursed as he watched the Terminator explode, her reactor going critical after sustaining a massive volley of concentrated turbolaser fire from the four Reaver Destroyers. This was after her shields had collapsed from a volley of concussion missiles from the Administrator and Agony.

His ship hadn't sustained any hits, hadn't even been targeted yet as far as he could tell, but everything had gone wrong when the engagement began, almost as if the Reavers were learning right from the get go. Vanguard Four had been pummeled with Ion Cannon fire from the Administrator, Titan, and Courageous, the latter having shifted orbit to where she was directly above the SSD. The Agony, being a Victory VI Star Destroyer that was armed only with turbolasers and missiles, withheld her fire.

Then, the four Reaver destroyers had blasted the Terminator with everything they had, first firing a huge missile volley, then waiting until the missiles hit to fire off all the turbolasers they could bear, all aiming for the amidships of the ISD. Scanners indicate she took as many as eight hundred hits in just a few minutes before her reactor blew.

"Sir, missiles incoming from the Administrator and Agony," called out his sensors officer.

Captain Hazer knew what he had to do. The Renown couldn't inflict much more damage to the Administrator, and it wasn't worth the effort to lose his ship in exchange.

"Cease fire. Reroute weaponry power into the shields. Helm, place us behind Vanguard Four."

Oh Krath did he hate having to hide behind the Golan Battle Platform, but he just didn't see any alternatives at the minute. He did issue orders though for TIE Defenders from his ship and Terminator to rearm from Renown if they were out of missiles, at least they could be doing something.



Captain Ohdeep watched the visual displays even as his remaining TIE Defenders redocked with the Penetrator. Seven TIE Defenders had been lost from a wing of one hundred eight, from self defensive fire from the Administrator. Ohdeep barely noticed this, watching the engagement between the Reaver vessels and the two Imperial Star Destroyers and Golan Battle Platform.

"Twenty eight thousand lost aboard the Terminator. Good thing her nine thousand new stormtroopers hadn't embarked yet."

"Captain, the Administrator is breaking orbit," reported his sensors officer.

"Coming this way?" asked Ohdeep in trepidation.

"No sir, angling outbound, away from the system. We're getting reports that she just finished recovering the remaining shuttles and barges she launched earlier. Sir, Titan, Courageous, and Agony have also broken orbit."

"Hmm, most strange. Fortunate for Rachuk, but most strange, not very usual Reaver behavior, is it?" asked Ohdeep to no one in particular.



"Sir, our starfighters are approaching the Administrator," reported the Captain.

"Have them engage at will. In as much as I don't want to engage her here, we can't have her joining up with more Reavers elsewhere," ordered Admiral Carson.

He tapped his fingers unhappily on the armrest of his Admiral's chair. This whole situation was rotten, but it'd be better to clean it up here instead of elsewhere. Already Reaper-3 was enroute to Rachuk, it would've been preferable to destroy the Administrator here and break her up for the blast furnaces to purify her carcass of the Reaver virus, but now the SSD and her consorts were heading for open space.

What's worse, he had no way of stopping them, short of the star fighters scoring a critical strike. Based on previous Reaver behavior, he hadn't bothered to bring an Interdictor cruiser along with the hastily assembled Task Force. In the far distance, turbolasers flashed as the Reaver destroyers opened fire on his approaching star fighters. Moments later, hundreds of ball shaped detonations occurred within his star fighter formations.

"What's happening?" demanded Carson.

"Sir, our star fighters reported heavy barrages of turbolaser fire. Apparently a volley of concussion missiles was launched at them with proximity fuses. Star fighters suffered heavy losses, are continuing to sustain heavy losses, but are commencing their attack run."

A line of explosions blossomed along the stern of the Administrator, before they faded away. No secondary explosions were visible.

"Star fighters report shields are still up on the Administrator."

Moments later, the Administrator vanished from their tracking displays, jumping outbound, along with the Titan, Courageous, and Agony moments later.

"Do we have a course on their jump?" demanded Carson.

"Best track indicates they're heading to Bandomeer," said the chief navigator.

"Bandomeer, hmm, well then. Nothing we can do about that now, let's concentrate on helping our beleagured comrades on Rachuk. Dispatch our starfighters to assist the ground troops with strafing runs."

"Yes Admiral."