He was once a happy man, a man who enjoyed the pleasures of life aboard a former warship of his, a Kessel class Picket Ship. He knew, he knew all along thought Fleet Admiral Harker as the ship he was on swirled through hyperspace. Despite all apperances, he knew all along that those women were having affairs with me. And he baited me into a trap. I was tortured day in and day out, and when I was broken, he remolded me into a fine fleet commander. But still, he knew....... was all that Vincent Harker could think of at the moment. And this ongoing punishment, it's cruel, but I don't really care anymore, for I now have a greater purpose in life thought Harker as he strode away from the viewport and infinite view of hyperspace to a table filled with information about the planet that he would soon be laying siege too. Of course, it's not the planet that is important at all, but something found nearby...., for Harker knew very well about the precious stones. He didn't know how his master planned to take advantage of them, but he did want them. How would he use them, Harker wondered. Not that it was important, in any matter. Last he had heard, pirates and mercenaries alike had settled on the planet, and were using it as a base of operations to extract the rare gems that the mighty Black Dragon Empire now layed claim to. Any found in the system when they arrived would pay dearly for daring to mine the resources that was rightfully ours, thought Vincent.

Then the starlines faded away, and he found his ships floating side by side within the system of Lowick. And while glancing back and forth between the sensors station, and the viewport, Vincent saw that it was obvious a whole lotta of fighting was soon to occur..........

Harker glanced at the sensors once again, then turned back out the viewport one last time, and whistled. Out around the planet, and the asteriod field were a large number of large freighters, various asteriod mining units, and warships. The largest of these warships were modified Kaloth class Battlecruisers, moderate sized vessels, armed to the teeth with turbolaser cannons, and laser cannons. Also in evidence were Corellian Gunships, Corvettes, and smaller systems patrol craft, probaly captured from the New Republic and Empire by pirates, or mercenaries. Some of the ships sported decals on their ships, obviously belonging to one organization, or another. Within moments of their arrivial, some of the battleships had brought up weapons, and shields, and others had began to flee. The largest group of warships, asteriod miners, and cargo ships, all sporting the same decals, a black dragon set against a red star, identified as the Sun Dragon Pirate Gang, arrayed for battle, and sent a comm message to the largest ship, the one Vincent was on.

"Who the @#%$ dares invade our mining operation? In case you haven't noticed, this system doesn't have a ruling goverment. We are the goverment. And we order you to get your asses out of our system before we declare war, and blow your ships to pieces!" said the Pirate in a snappy voice.

"We are the forces of Farfalen. We have come to lay claim to this system by any means necessary. I will give you this opportunity to flee for your lives right now. If you do not, you will be utterly destroyed. I take no prisoners. Fleet Admiral Vincent Harker out." said Admiral Harker.

"Far....Farfalen?" stammered the pirate, "The same Farfalen that comitted genocide on a huge scale against the forces of the Tholatin Republic, and the Outer-Rim Sovereignty's capital planet. The same Farfalen that with ease repulsed a fleet that vastly outnumbered them in the Kessel system, and destroyed a Super Star Destroyer with little or no effort?"

"The one and the same. I will give you this chance to flee. After you two minutes are up, I will destroy you." said Admiral Harker.

"HA!" said the Pirate. "It so happens that I know it wasn't so much the fleets of Farfalen as it was it's commanding officer, Kyric Zen, who brought about those victories. Without him you are nothing, and this fleet is nothing. Prepare to be destroyed."

"Sigh. Navigator, bring us on a course of interception against these scum. Weapons, load all of the Wyvren cannons, and torpedo Octects. Power up all of our other weapons as well. Communications, relay orders to the rest of our ships in the fleet, and send an update to our commander, Kyric Zen. Then initiate jamming on all comlink frequencies except for number one forty four oh. Sensors, give me a H.U.D. display of the fleet opposing us, and bring up damages statistics for each of our vessels when the battle begins. Primary targets for the Missiles will be the two Kaloth Battlecruisers moving against us. Since they have mostly only ray shields, our missile should destroy them with realtive ease. The Wyrven cannons are to target the Corellian Gunships, and the turbolaser cannons should target the IPV systems patrol craft, and Corsairs. Good luck people, and good shooting." ordered Fleet Admiral Vincent Harker.

"And oh yes, bring up the shields on all ships." said the Admiral with a slightly embarrased tone.

"Sir, the enemy fleet has opened fire on our forces. They seem to be targeting the Kessel class Picket Ships, sir." shouted out the sensors officer.

"Of course it makes perfect sense for the enemy to try to eliminate our weaker ships first. Have all ships fire their missiles and torpedoes on the enemy Battlecruisers on my mark. Ready? Mark." said Fleet Admiral Vincent Harker.

Many, many Proton Torpedoes, and Concussion Missiles leapt out of the tubes of both the Shoto Battlecruisers, and Cutter class Picket Ships. They instantly streaked across the battlefield, with one or two being intercepted by enemy fighters, or primitive missile defense systems, before reaching their targets, the enemy Kaloth class Battlecruisers. The first few obliterated what puny shields the enemy ships did have, leaving the rest to impact against the ships hull. Great clouds of debirs were blown outwards, as the Kaloths were consumed with fire. When the debris cleared, both battlecruisers had been annihilated. Now Vincent took into account the other ships in the enemy fleet. The largest ship left was a Nebulon-B Escort Frigate that had emerged from the Asteriod field. Forming up around it were seven Corellian Engineering Corporation Series Gunships, three Imperial IPV Systems Patrol craft, and thirty Jompers type Pursuit ships. Also, coming in the general direction of the Farfalen fleet was a group of twelve Corsairs from another piurate gang, along with twenty four I-7 Howlrunners. Vincent ordered his group of ships all ahead at full flank, and he then ordered his ships to open fire with all weapons. The Kessel Pickets concentrated on the Corsairs, and Howlrunners, while the Cutters on their own gunship bretheren. The Shotos concentrated on the frigate, and picket ships. Within five minutes, the battle had ended. His fleet had fared not too well, with some Cutters, and Kessel Pickets drifting here and there, but non had been destroyed outright. As for the enemy fleet, the wreckage of the frigate was now drifting back into the asteriod field, and the remaining gunships, and picket vessels were fleeing. The corsairs, and howlrunners had all been utterly annihilated. But already he saw enemy ships regrouping with fresh reinforcements. It was going to be some battle......

The Shoto class Battlecruiser surged ahead, the Cutter class Gunships, and Kessel class Pickets in hot pursuit, intent on finishing off the remaining pirates. The pirates came at them in waves, the first one consisting of three Corellian Gunships, and five IPV type systems patrol craft. All of the came against the Shoto, hoping to at least knock out the command ship before they were annihilated. And in short order, they were indeed annihilated. The gun batteries aboard the Shoto opened up all at once, not on the lead gunship, but the one in the rear of the formation. This ship was most likely the flagship of the squadron. The turbolaser blasts tore away it's shields, and melted it's weapons, and engines. Then the shells from the cannons arrived, and ripped into the now vulnerable hull, creating lots of small explosions. Although the small bridge was still intact, the rest of the ship's systems were dead or dying, and multipule hull breaches were gouting flames into space, and letting loose with a long constant stream of debris. Next it was the turn of the Cutter class Pickets, picking on the gunship in the lead to arrest their momentum. Their own wyvern cannons roared to life, spewing out large amounts of turbolasers, and fast shells at the enemy gunship. Within mere seconds the gunships shields were down as well, and it's bow was ruined, with it's bridge destroyed. Fire was then shifted to it's engines. The engines suddenly glowed. Then, the gunship exploded as it's drive reactor went critical, and melted down. Secondary explosions wracked it's corpse as it's missile magazines detonated as well.

With the two gunships down, only the middle one remained. It came about to port, and opened fire with it's turbolasers on the Shoto, and it's quad laser cannons on the Kessel class Pickets. The IPV ships came about, and fired their turbolaser cannons on the Shoto as well. In the distance, Vincent sighted a good sized group of ships gathering. None were frigate sized, but the volume of ships indicated that it would put up a very good fight. Vincent couldn't allow too many more ships to join up with that taskforce, or they may actually have a good chance of defeating his ships, of which more and more were showing signs of battle damage, and probaly had crews that were getting tired from all of these skirmishes. After this group, he would allow a one minute grace period of rest, and quick emergency repairs of those vessels that needed it. A bright and violent explosion lit up the viewport, drawing him out of his thoughts to stare out the viewport. The last Corellian Gunship had detonated under the combined firepower of the Shoto, and Kessel class pickets. Of the IPV craft, Admiral Harker saw that they were beginning a retreat for the rest of the warships massing on the far side of the asteriod field. He ordered his fleet's tractor beams to log onto the enemy ships, then watched as his fleet's weapons finished slicing them apart.

Now it was time to rest. The weapons and shields were recharged, the hull was patched up on those ships that needed it, and Admiral Harker took a quick stock of the situation. One Cutter class Gunship and three Kessel class Pickets were out of the fight, though not destroyed, in exchange for approximatley 50% of all enemy assets destroyed in the system. Not a bad trade off, though most of the remaining 50% was now arrayed against them. It was going to be tough.......

Hours had past now, as the surrounding Farfalen starfleet orbited the planet of Lowick. The hour had finally come when plans will become fully disclosed to their ground forces. The conference room aboard the flagship was now adorned with the finest in dishes, as each officer was escorted there.

At the head of the table awaited General Grevious, as each officer of his team settled in their seats. Soldiers guarded the doorway, as they observed each server placing dishes in front of each of them, except the general. Each of them then observed the hulking half-machine mass at the end who was their superior. The armored cyborg general stared at each of them through his T-shaped visor, then tapped his glass with an eating utensil.

"Gentlemen, thank you for coming," he boomed. The officers nodded, and raised their glasses of Zadarian brandy. One of the Majors sat next to his superior, and raised his as well. Silence overwhelmed the table as they ate quietly, as their general briefed them.

He spoke with a deep vocorded voice. "It is my sincere pleasure to report that our invasion into the Lowick system has become a triumphant success. The Black Dragon Empire will once again flourish among the presence of the Tion sector currently ruling in this galaxy. It will be only a matter of time when once again, we will rechristen it as the BDE's Imperium." A wave of murmurs was heard from the circle of officers, and the armored helmet merely nodded.

"As of this hour, I must brief that our fleet admiral reports that reparations are being made to the fleet. The threat of the Sun Dragons have now been purged with the crippling of their forces. With them out of the way, we can now proceed as planned," he declared.

"And what is this plan you have? I thought our mere presence, along with the crippling of the Sun Dragon fleet achieved by our fleet admiral, would be the extent for now?" a sargeant of his army questioned.

"Yes, and that is a mere part of it. The real plan is of course, the complete obliteration of all resistance on the surface," the general replied in his deep robotic voice. The general's hand waved toward the keypad of the conference table, activating the holoprojector in the center of it. A blue hologram of a basecamp was displayed to them, as it spun in its axis. The officers surrounding the table peered at it in curiousity. Some peered at the general in awe. Was their new leader a Force user?... some whispered among themselves.

"This is our objective: setting up basecamp and establishing a foothold. The fleet admiral of the Farfalen fleet has granted us 50 hover tanks and 5,000 of his soldiers to accomplish this task.." A smile emerged on the scarred general's face, underneath the cybernetic helmet.

"And do we really think we can achieve this?" the major next to him asked in wonderment.

"Yes, Major. I have no doubt we can accomplish this mere task. After all, Heir Raktus has sent me here to accompany the Farfalen army to lead them to victory."

"Most interesting, General... but what of any pirates that have escaped from our clutches?" the major inquired.

"They will be dealt with in time. I have planned to have our army scatter to hunt them down, once we have accomplished our objective. As well, I am sure we will have prisoners held for bartering." The party around the table remained quiet, as they nodded their heads.

The grey-armored general rose in his seat, and presented his glass to his dinner party. "A toast to the rise of the Black Dragon Empire." His officer and aides rose in unison as well, raising their glasses. Some of them observed the lightsaber clipped to his upper thigh.

"To victory and glory of our Imperium," they all declared, accompanied by sips from their glasses. Grevious did not sip, as he did not wish to unmask himself to spare his officers the horror of what remained of his face. All that remained under that helmet was scarred tissue and cybernetic eyes.

A bridge officer in a black tunic, quietly emerged into the room and approached the General. "Sir, Comscan has picked up activity on the surface. It seems our little battle above Lowick has alerted their forces. Fleet Admiral Vincent Harker has given you the order to proceed to the surface."

"Excellent. Report to the Admiral that my army shall proceed to the hangar bays and ready themselves," the general ordered. The bridge Lieutanant saluted and quickly retreated from the party.

"And so it begins, General Grevious?" his Major questioned, as he took another sip of his brandy.

"Indeed, it does..." he replied, with a fire in his cybernetic eyes underneath that battered helmet...



The assault shuttles and dropships had disembarked from their hangar bays to a close proximity above Lowick's ecliptic, and quickly descended down toward the coordinates the Farfalen fleet had transmitted to them.

Inside each shuttle's cargo hold, a battalion of soldiers were gathered motionless facing each other. Armored soldiers, not much different in appearance to their general, with matching grey battle-armor, T-shaped visors, and armed to the teeth. They were Grevious' elite shock troopers, and they were the new death commandos of the Black Dragon Empire.

And, held ready in their hands, were fully-charged Imperial-issued T-21 heavy repeating blaster rifles.

General Grevious scanned his men through his visor and casually reached his free hand toward the comlink attached to his collar plate.

"Time?"

"ETA, five minutes," replied the pilot.

"Ready yourselves," he ordered in his vocodored voice, lifting his blaster rifle warningly. The team of trained killing machines broke the circle and organized themselves in front of the cargo door.

"If all is according to plan, the strongholds should be there and the pirates will be waiting when we land. As soon as we disembark, find your targets. Leave no one alive. In time, other Farfalen forces will meet us in the course of the attack." A circle of nods acknowledged their superior. "We'll take the roof of the stronghold. The other two shuttles will land on the platform and terrace. The rest of the dropships will land outside the perimeter and advance with their hover tanks."

"The fortress is in sight. I'm hovering over the roof. The resistance have been spotted and making their way toward our landing," voiced the pilot over the comlink.

"Wait for my signal," General Grevious mewed in a deep, gravelly, cybernetic voice to his team. The cargo door hissed open, exposing the BDE commandos to the elements and the rooftop below where a shuttle had already landed; its cargo disgorging itself of its troops. The general stretched his cybernetic-armored arm almost casually out toward the cargo opening, steel-wire muscles moving visibly beneath his grey armor. "Now."

The team leapt from the opening and landed on top of the roof in succession. Grevious quickly rose to his feet and rushed to formation, the rest of his team arraying in a rough circle five meters around him in a perimeter.

"Attack."

The team moved fast and swift, jumping from the rooftop onto the terrace, where the other assault shuttle was dropping off its cargo of BDE commandos. The large figure in the center of the semicircle-- the leader-- gestured with his blaster rifle. A commando planted a charge on one of the sidedoors of the fortress and moved. An explosion launched outward and the door was no more. The general gestured again and the commandos herded themselves inside the structure. Elsewhere, the other teams were quickly making their way to gather their forces in order to commence their attack as well; the alarms were blaring loudly across the area as the resistance began firing upon them.

Grevious and his men charged into the hallways and two pirates spotted them immediately, reaching for their weapons. The T-visored commandos quickly levelled their repeating blaster rifles and fired.

The blaster bolts ripped into them, peppering their bodies. They crumpled onto the floor, dead.

The BDE commandos pressed on the attack: four throwing themselves around the sides of the corridor, the other two leaping over the corpses of their defenders. More pirates were sighted as they rushed to see what the commotion was. The death commandos squeezed their triggers and let the repeating rifles fire into the surprised crowd. More bodies fell.

"Continue the attack! Find the other teams and coordinate! We'll set the charges to blow the fortress while I guide us to the main power generators," General Grevious shouted. The commando teams nodded and fanned out; one of them heading their way toward the lower levels of the fortress.

More blaster fire was heard. More screams and shouts echoed within the corridors...

"Sir, ground ops are picking up a very large, dispersed signal moving in from the jungles behind our landing site. It is just now emerging from the tree line." said the sensors officer.

The data was projected into the screen. It showed a line of All Terrain Armoured Transports, All Terrain Scout Transports, and Juggernaught Assault Tanks, plus a few number of Chariot LAVs, but those weren't as numerous as the infantry, wearing salvaged stormtrooper armour. The walkers themselves were obviously patched together. But together there were 50 walkers, 50 assault vehicles, and 50,000 infantry. More than enough to take care of the intial army that he had dispatched. Vincent tensed, then ordered Plan B enacted immediatly. A message was sent to General Grevious, with orders not to blow up the fort, but capture it as soon as possible. In the meantime, his ships would move into a close bombardement position. They were setting up for a slaughter.

"Sir, General Grevious and his men have successfully landed on the planet below. They report that they have established a beachead, and eliminated any opposition in the immediate area." reported the communications officer.

"Very well. What is the status of the enemy force coming up from behind on our deployed troops?" asked Admiral Vincent Harker.

"They are approaching firing range, Admiral. The situation does not look good for our troops." stated the sensors officer.

"Not right now they don't, but in one minute's time, all of that will change. Have the Kessel Pickets finished their manuevers?" asked Admiral Harker.

"Yes sir. The pickets are deployed, and have their weaponry trained on the ground below them." said the sensors officer.

"Have them target a zone extending five kilometers in every direction from the enemy force except in the direction towards our forces. They are not, repeat, not to hit the enemy force, just burn off the jungle around them. I want to see whether or not the enemy deployed any backup forces with his main force." said the Admiral.

The orders were relayed, and in a moment's time later, the Kessel class Pickets opened fire with their turbolasers, and wyvern cannons on the planet below. They shifted fire slowly as each picket worked over it's assigned targeting grids, and after two minutes, one, then the other, until finally all of the Kessel Pickets ceased fire. Admiral Vincent Harker called up an image of the area, and saw how the turbolaser fire had essintally burned away all of the jungle foilage in the area. He also saw the carcasses of at least a few hovertanks, ones without the usual weapons, or shapes, even in their destroyed states. The enemy troops seemed less confident now of victory, but continued to advance, non the less.

"Have the Kessel Pickets secure from bombardement duty, and form a screen around us along with the Cutter class Gunships. And position this ship for Planetery Bombardement. Now it is our turn to let loose, and destroy the enemy ground forces. Send a message to General Grevious informing him that he is to finish securing the enemy base, and our beachead, and to sit tight for the meantine." ordered Admiral Vincent Harker. With that, the Shoto class Battlecruiser descended into a low orbit, with the other Farfalen warships forming a nice screen around it to prevent it from falling under attack by any of the remaining enemy space forces.......

A blaster bolt struck nearby as the firefight continue inside the stronghold. Grevious looked up, saw a small squad of battered, armored pirates nearby with blasters leveled at him. They were less than a few meters away; he could sense the fear lingering in them as they shuddered under their armor.

"What the hell are you?!" one of them exclaimed. The pirate gang of troopers stared in confusion at the armored, grey figure, with a lightsaber clipped to his belt. One of the them cocked his head and recognized this.

General Grevious turned slowly and faced them, revealing a countenance that was a T-visored helmet and full battle-armor. He stared balefully at the soldiers under his helmet, then spoke in an icy, mechanical voice.

"Only the last thing you will see before your deaths..." His hand gestured slightly and the lightsaber was quickly called into his hand. The amber energy blade activated. One of the pirates panicked and opened fire.

Using one hand to spin his lightsaber in a blazing pattern that blocked the blaster bursts, he gestured with his free hand, plucking the invisible lines of the Force and sending reverberations that caused the blasters to fly from the surprised trooper's grips.

Before they had time to recover from their surprise, the general leaped forward, skewering one and then another with quick deadly thrusts. The lifeless troopers sagged to the ground, and Grevious wheeled quickly about to deal with the rest. The last pirate died with a croaking gurgle as he plunged his blade deep through his armor and into his chest. He crumpled to the ground.

Grevious deactivated his blade and sensed more approaching. He reached out with his free hand and sent out ripples of the Force, toppling a few of them over a catwalk. He then turned and made his way toward the direction of the entrance of the fortress to wipe out the rest of the resistance, steering recklessly through the firefights, hurling pirates and aliens aside with savage Force-laden gestures.

One of his troopers approached and saluted. "Sir! Admiral Harker requests that we are to secure this stronghold and the beachead that has been established outside the perimeter."

The armored helmet veered to his soldier. "Inform the Admiral that the fortress is on its last legs. It will be secured within the hour. As well, send half of our division toward the beachead and secure it. The rest of us will finish this."

"Aye, sir!" The death commando quickly raced away as another explosion consumed a few more battle-armored pirates.

General Grevious loved the smell of battle...

"Sir, General Grevious sends his report that they are still fighting rebels and peasents inside the fortress, and beachead." said the Communications officer.

"All right. Since he's preoccupied, let's take care of that backup force without his help. All turbolasers, and wyverns, target pattern Beta, with these squares of the target." ordered Admiral Harker.

Then there was a pause as the weapons aboard the Shoto class Battlecruiser depressed to target the planet below, and each individual weapon or two targeted it's individual square. The weapons prepared to fire in sequence, in accordance with targeting pattern Beta.

"Weapons Batteries Group 1, open fire." ordered Admiral Harker. Green Turbolaser fire emitted from some of the Turbolaser Cannons, and Wyvern Cannons as a group of weapons opened fire, targeting the outer portions of the enemy ground force. Those consisted mainly of scouts, and were quickly killed. But still the bombardement continued, in order to assure that no enemy forces escaped.

"Weapons Batteries Group 2, open fire." ordered Admiral Harker. More Green Turbolaser fire slashed down, followed by shells from the Wyvern cannons. They impacted again on the outskirts of the formation, but a little further inside, killing more infantry, and some speeders. And now it was even less likely that any of the enemies would be able to escape. The enemy formation of walkers, speeders, and infantry began to disperse as they realised what kind of deep doo-doo they were in.

"Weapons Batteries Group 3, open fire." ordered Admiral Harker. The last of the Turbolaser Cannons that had not yet opened fire blazed to life, raining screaming green turbolaser bolts into the middle of the infantry formation. Large explosions were observed at first as shots penetrated enemy armour, and blew up the large enemy walkers, and speeders. The decimation continued, and a slighty red mist that had to be vaporised human blood in large quantities was seen floating away from the bombardment.

"All weapons: Cease Fire." ordered Admiral Harker. The turbolasers, and wyvern cannons abaord the Shoto fell silent. Admiral Harker called up an enhanced view to personally see how effective the bombardement was. There was a one mile by two mile area of scorched earth, a quarter of the way consumed by large burning fires, and molten pools of metals, along with different colored mists of human and alien blood slowly floating to the surface. It appeared that there were no survivors.

"Sir, remaining enemy space and atmospheric forces incoming from all directions." shouted out the sensors officer.

"It appears that they don't want a repeat performance of our little bombardement. Very well, all ships, prepare for combat." ordered Admiral Harker.

The Farfalen fleet oriented to meet the incoming forces, consisting of a few leftover capital warships, and picket ships, along with wave after wave of enemy starfighters.

"Oh, one more thing. Send a message to the General. Enemy Backup forces eliminated, and I am sending down another 2,500 troops to reinforce his forces. Have him assembled wounded near the landing field. They will be taken back up here after the shuttles finish disgorging their loads." said Admiral Harker.

As the Farfalen fleet assembled for battle, a group of shuttles descended from the Shoto class Battlecruiser.......

General Grevious glanced around swiftly at each opponent as he stood back to back with his BDE death commandos, the glowing amber blade of his lightsaber drawn open in a defensive position. The tension felt thick in the air as the nest of pirates attempted to surrounded his battalion. The general of the Black Dragon Empire took a quick moment to close his eyes and retreat deep within himself. His cybernetic eyes then snapped open as his brief surge into the Force detected the intented movements of these opponents. It was time to act. Now.

The band of marauders then started to fire in unison, as the first shot indicated a signal to attack by the pirates. The tense moment suddenly exploded into action as the pirate gangs closed in with their arsenal of weapons. Grimly, Grevious waded into the battle, lightsaber flashing in unison with his unit's attack. He wielded it now as if it were fused to his hand; as if it were an extension of his own arm. The general cut through the onslaught like a light dissolving shadows, as the attack intensified. All this happened in a matter of seconds.

Grevious's lightsaber deflected blaster fire into a charging thug, then quickly raised his hand, palm outward, and two of the gang's goons were sent crashing into a ferrocrete wall of one of the fortresses' gates. The soldiers stumbled for a second, then crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

A snarling Devaronian aimed his blaster rifle at Grevious, but before he could fire, the general spun around, sweeping his glowing amber blade in an arc that sliced the criminal's weapon in half. The alien shrieked in fear, and quickly retreated away from the scene.

The BDE army were an unstoppable force as they defended their new ground from being taken again by the gang of pirates. The death commandos worked in unison against their adversaries, seemingly able to anticipate every form of attack. Their leader's lightsaber flashed and stabbed in brilliant bursts of color, as he countered the attacks only in defense. The air was filling with the acrid smell of scorched flesh and blaster fire as Grevious noticed more of them coming out of the woodwork.

"Men! More are coming!" he shouted, pointing to more of the enemy. Didn't they know they were defeated?

"I see them, general!" was an officer's reply. They raised their blaster rifles and began firing in rapid succession.

Grevious's attention was immediately diverted by the incoming second wave of gangsters firing their weapons. He nodded to one of his soldiers to follow his lead, as he sheared another pirate in half, then leapt into the fray.

It was a tactical rule-of-thumb, but it took the thugs by surprise: when outnumbered, attack. General Grevious jumped directly into the center of their circle, and immediately began decimating them in their midst with lightning sweeps of his bright amber lightsaber. Blaster bolts lanced through the outskirts of the battlefield from all directions, as the general moved quickly to dispatch the others. Laser bolts were blocked, weapons were knocked aside, and Grevious launched himself at the last of the soldiers, cutting into them with ferocious determination. General Grevious watched his progress, his sweeping grey cape flying out as he withstood yet another rush from his enemies attemping to claim what was theirs, blocking their laser fire with his glowing blade as he fought to hold his stance.

It was then the others turned to flee, as they viewed more of their companions cut down by the blade of the general, and realizing their efforts were unable to slow the advancing forces of the Black Dragon Empire. The gang of henchmen, now reduced to a few, scattered in a panicked retreat into Lowick's forests.

The air beckoned a screaming silence as the victorious general viewed the scene around him, amber lightsaber disengaging and retreating back into it's handle. Grevious took a deep breath and sought peace with the Force as he viewed the carnage surrounding him, then closed his eyes tightly. It felt exhilirating to see death surrounding him.

A hand rested on his shoulder. His officer's words suddenly rang quietly in his ear. His cybernetic eyes turned to face him.

"General Grevious, sir. Message from Admiral Harker: he is dispatching troops to the surface to aid in the clean up and assist as reinforcements," he informed. "He also orders you to assemble the wounded near the landing field in order for our medical shuttles to pick them up for support."

"Very well," he replied in his deep vocordered voice. "Make it so, and be quick about it."

"And what of any prisoners we capture?" the death commando inquired.

Grevious slowly opened his eyes wider and faced him through his visor. "Prisoners do not concern me, Commander. Advise Admiral Harker what to do with them. For now, our only concern is the wounded."

"Yes, sir," the officer said, nodding his head in agreement. He then looked about the remnants of the smoky battlefield, and heard the distant sounds of warfare continuing in the forests.

"We must leave now and await our reinforcements to finish up here. For now, secure the fortress of all resistance. I believe now it is ours to keep."

His officer nodded, "Are all resistance to be eliminated?"

"I want none alive." Grevious emphasized.

General Grevious clipped the hilt of his lightsaber under his grey cape, and quickly began to make pace toward the ruined charred fortress in the far distance. "I will head back to the fortress and await our reinforcements. I want our wounded assembled and ready for pick up near the landing field within the hour. No exceptions."

The death commando nodded in agreement and followed his orders, as he retreated into the opposite direction...