In an announcement today that may or may not have came as a surprise to many members of the Sovereignty public, the Vice-President announced that the senate had voted to declare the Kathol Province under Martial Law until the disturbances there have been resolved. Legion-General Hassad Khaln has been assigned to oversee the province. At his command he will have elements of the 2nd Fleet as well as the 1st Army. Commanding the 1st Army is General Neth Month. Commanding the 2nd Fleet is Admiral Gary Turdin and Force Marshall Hiran Shime. The task force will be called the Kathol Combat Response Taskforce. In other news, a monument was unveiled on Bakura for…

Kathol Combat Response Taskforce Headquarters-Kal'shebbol

Legion-General Hassad Khaln sat at the head of a long round table. Around it there were his 3 major subordinates as well as a representative from the local Kal’shebbol Planetary Political Council and Black Hand. A small man Khaln had been the commander of the Bakuran Army before it’s induction into the Sovereignty. After that he’d been promoted to the position of Legion-General because of his extensive command experience with all branches of the armed forces and because he was well liked by his colleagues in both the Navy and the Starfighter Branches.

“So we know that the Kathol Protectorate Fleet retreated to Lorize correct?”

“Yes sir. We have multiple sightings of the same ships that were seen in orbit over Kal’shebbol now orbiting Lorize.”

“You.” Khaln said turning to point to Admiral Turdin “Think we should ignore the Kathol Protectorate Fleet and secure control of Rimma first so we can shut off the trade of goods and the running of arms to the Kathol Protectorate Fleet.”

Turdin nodded, “Correct sir.”

“And you, Marshall Shime, think we shouldn’t attack Lorize. Rather you think we should strike at the logistical support the Kathol Protectorate is receiving from planet’s in the Kathol Outback with a portion of our forces and lay siege to Lorize with the rest.”

“Yes sir.”

“I’m interested to here your opinion General Month. Do you think we should strike at Lorize or do you have any other suggestions?”

General Month cleared his throat then looked around the table.

“It is my personal belief that we should attack Lorize. I realize the validity of my colleagues’ arguments. They are saying that if we attack Lorize and the Kathol Protectorate Fleet retreats then we’ll have had minimal gain besides the planet and also if the Protectorate ground forces fought like they did on Kal’shebbol then we will suffer grievous losses. Even with the new equipment and troops that have accompanied us we can’t afford to win many “victories” like we did on Kal’shebbol. The people of the sovereignty will accept war and they will accept losses, but there is a limit.” At this point General Month paused for a second. Just as the other men around the table were about to voice their opinions he started again, “I’m sure you’re all wondering what is my reasoning behind attacking Lorize. What we need to do so as to bring this war to a fairly quick conclusion is to send a message to the Kathol Protectorate. They learned respect for us on Kal’shebbol, we managed to take a world they had heavily fortified. Now they need to learn fear. How we teach them fear? By destroying their fleet and by taking Lorize with barely any losses. But it won’t be just enough to destroy their fleet. We have to do it in a way that makes it seem supernatural. We need them to view us as gods. And taking Lorize with barely any losses won’t be merely enough either. We need to take Lorize with speed. Imagine this a planet conquered in a week. That’s impossible, nobody’s ever done it in anywhere near that time, but we can and we will.”

“What you propose would require a lot of planning.” Khaln said.

“True, but we have the resources. With a bit of help from Black Hand I doubt it would take nearly as much time as you think.”

“Maybe. Is there any other opinions anyone wants to present?”

Nobody around the table said anything or made any move. Khaln nodded then stood up.

“Alright. This meeting is adjourned. I’ll be in my stateroom if anyone wants to speak to me. I’ll have an Operational Plan ready for tomorrow. Dismissed.”

Kathol Combat Response Taskforce Headquarters-Kal'shebbol

Legion-General Khaln was waiting for his subordinate commanders when they entered the briefing room. After they'd all sat down he nodded to his adjundant Captain Bracken for him to dim the lights. Whent he lights had been dimmed Khaln touched a key on his datapd. In the middle of the table the small holographic projector implanted there projected the image of a blue-green world. Text in multiple languages scrolled around the planet identifying it as Lorize.

"As you can see the target has been decided. We will strike at Lorize in 3 days. An operational plan is know on all of your datapads." Khaln said.

Operational Series Vigilance

Target: Lorize

Starting Time: Day 356, 0630

Primary Objectives:

1.Complete Destruction or surrender of all Kathol Protectorate Naval Assets in the Lorize System

2.The capture and ending of all enemy resistance on Lorize within a week of the beginning of the ground campaign.

Operation Starry Might

Assets:
Elements of Bird of Prey Formation and Vanguard Formation 2nd Fleet as well as elements of 2nd Light Infantry Regiment, 2nd Light Infantry Division, 2nd Infantry Corps, 2nd Army

Command and Control:
Task Force: Legion-General Khaln Vigilance
Fleet: Admiral Turdin Intrepid
Starfighter: Marshall Moen Alliance
Army: Colonel Bnen 2nd Light Infantry Regiment, Avatar 1

Plan:
1. Vanguard Formation led by the Vigilance will begin a blockade of Lorize.

2. At 0630 Avatar and Rapier Squadron jump into the Lorize system under full cloak.

3. At 0800 Avatar and Rapier Squadron attack Protectorate Fleet.

4. Vanguard Formation drops out of hyperspace shielded by the moon. Intredictors Activate.

5. Avatar Squadron will dock with the Kathol Protectorate Command Ship and begin boarding.

6. Once the Kathol Protectorate Command ship is taken it will transmit an order of surrender.

7.The remainder of Vanguard Formation jumps into system.

Estimated Time Elapsed: 2 hours, 30 minutes.

Other Operational Notes: Avatar Squadron should board the Kathol Protectorate Command Ship without the rest of the Kathol Protectorate Fleet knowing that it’s been boarded. When the 2nd Light Infantry Regiment has control of the Command Ship they
would be able to have suddenly appeared on board thus instilling more fear.

Operation Speed

Assets:
Elements of 2nd Army including 2nd Armoured Corps, 3rd Armoured Corps, 2nd Infantry Corps and 4th Infantry Corps. Also elements of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Transport Group 2nd Fleet.

Command and Control:
Task Force: Legion-General Khaln Vigilance
Army: General Month 2nd Army
Fleet: Commander Tunzick 2nd Fleet 1st Transport Group

Plan:
1. Once Operation Starry Might is complete Operation Speed begins.

2. 1st Transport Group is assigned to the 2nd Armoured Corps, 2nd Transport Group is assigned to the 2nd Infantry Corps, 3rd Transport Group is assigned to the 3rd Armoured Corps and 4th Transport Group is assigned to the 4th Infantry Corps.

3. The 2nd Armoured Corps and 3rd Armoured Corps are to be dropped simultaneously. Within 5 hours of the drop beginning each of the Armoured Corps should be on the ground.

4. 2nd Armoured Corps launches their attack. Their target is the Northern Continent. 3rd Armoured Corps launches their attack 30 minutes later on the Southern Continent.

5.Once 3rd Armoured Corps launches their attack the 4th and the 6th Mechanized Infantry Divisions from the 2nd Infantry Corps should begin landing on the smaller continents in the Eastern Ocean.

6. 2nd Armoured Corps should strike directly for Lorize City and Nethus. Once they control the cities the remainder of the 2nd Infantry Corps will begin to land in Lorize City and Nethus to secure them. 2nd Armoured Corps would then mop up resistance in the Northern Continent with support from elements of the 4th Infantry Corps.

7. 3rd Armoured Corps will strike at Benthan. When the city is secure the 11th Light Infantry Division from the 4th Infantry Corps will move in to secure the city. 3rd Armoured Corps will then mop up resistance on the southern continent along with elements of the 4th Infantry Corps

Estimated Time Elapsed: 7 days

Other Operational Notes: none

Kathol Combat Response Taskforce Headquarters-Kal'shebbol

“Sir, I see that I’m not going to be part of the attack. What shall I be doing?”

This question came from Force Marshall Hiran Shime commander of Starfighter Forces for the Kathol Combat Response Taskforce.

“You will be assigned all the assets that are remaining behind. Your job will be to defend Kal’shebbol as well as to patrol Sovereignty controlled space within the Kathol Province.”

Shime nodded then sat back in his chair.

“Can we distribute this information to our subordinate commanders?”

This question came from General Month.

“Yes you can. There’s an alternate plan that has been appropriately censored on all of your datapads as well. It is to be distributed to your subordinate commanders and they can decide what to do with it.”

“Will we have an Operational Briefing with the subordinate commanders present?”

“Yes. On your datapads I’ve included a list of subordinate commanders that I wish to be at the briefing. The briefing will take place exactly 15 hours before the first units leave for Lorize.” Khaln looked around the table to see if there was any other comments or concerns. None of the commanders voiced any so he continued. “I’ve left the structure of the plan fairly open so the subordinate commanders can decide what to do best. Distribute this plan to your subordinates. Dismissed.”

Kathol Protectorate Flagship Helios-Lorize

The Kathol Protectorate Flagship was an Imperial Star Destroyer. It had seen heavy service in many wars before being auctioned off to the Kathol Protectorate. Soon it would see more. In the deepest bowels of the ship a slim, petite female sat. She was Vice-Admiral Petra Donus, the commander-in-chief of the Kathol Protectorate Fleet. In front of her a holo-projector showed a face shrouded in shadow.

“Legion-General Khaln plans to attack Lorize and your fleet in 5 days. He’s decided to strike hard and fast and decimate your fleet as well as your ground forces. He believes that if he can take your planet in 7 days it will strike fear in your hearts.”

“Well I’ll just have to change that won’t I? Maybe Legion-General Khaln could do with a bit more fear in his heart.”

“I don’t care what happens in his heart. Just kill him and that annoying General Month of his to while you’re at it.”

Donus gave her informant a feral smile.

“Oh don’t worry, I will.”

SS Vigilance-Kal'shebbol Orbit

Legion-General Khaln was sitting in his office going over his daily report to Bakura. All around him was polished black metal and ceramic. At the end of the office behind him sat the Sovereignty Seal inlaid into the wall in genuine wood from Endor and Bakura. The wood gleamed it must have been polished just that day.

A knock sounded at his door and Khaln looked up to see who it was. A young man no older than 28 years old wearing the uniform of a Captain in Black Hand stood there.

"Yes Captain?"

The Captain entered the room and looked around distastefully.

"I have a private message for you sir. If you would come with me I know of a private place we can discuss things."

Khaln became wary at these words. The Kathol Protectorate was not exactly above assassination. His office was likely monitored by Black Hand but definitely not anybody else. Why would Black Hand need to hide from itself?

"My office is private. There is no need to go anywhere."

"Unfortunately sir, your office isn't quite private enough. You may believe it's not monitored but trust me, it is."

"How do I know that I can trust you?"

The captain frowned for a second. Why wouldn't he be trusted? Then it was as if somebody had light a lightbulb in his head. Reaching down to his holster he undid the snap that secured his blaster in place. He drew the blaster and offered it butt first to Khaln.

"Fine. You're armed, I'm not. Will you come know?"

Khaln nodded his head.

"Fine. Where are we going?"

"Outside."

"Outside? How is that private? This is Flag Country probably the busiest place on the Vigilance."

"Correct. Have you ever heard 'There's safety in numbers'?"

"Yes."

"Well it's the same thing in the intelligence business. Conversations in the far corner of a quiet room are easy to hear and very noticeable. A conversation in a busy noisy hallway is un-noticed because there are hundreds of other ones like it going on at the exact same time."

"Fine. Let's go."

Khaln stood up and followed the Captain out into the hallway. They turned left and merged into the traffic in the hallway heading deeper in the ship away from the bridge.

"So what do you have to tell me?"

The Captain paused for a second as if he was embarrassed.

"I believe that there is a high-ranking traitor in your task force. I think that this traitor has been passing information to the Kathol Protectorate Fleet about your plans."

"You say I believe. Do you speak for yourself or for Black Hand?"

The Captain hesitated.

"Myself."

"What does Black Hand think?"

"Black Hand thinks that there is no proof. One of our agents was able to intercept a portion of a message that was received by the Kathol Protectorate Fleet Commander, Vice-Admiral . What portions we received has made us suspect of a traitor. My superiors believe that there is a chance but that there needs to be a bit more proof."

"Why haven't I been notified about this?"

"My superiors believed that there was nothing you could do that was proportionate to the amount of evidence we had."

Khaln nodded accepting the truth of that statement.

“Sir? Are you going to do something?”

Khaln turned back towards the young captain. He’d risked demotion maybe even a court martial by telling Khaln this. Khaln owed it to the captain to at least try to do something.

“Yes.”

“What?”

“I don’t know Captain. I just don’t know.”

(This message was left blank)

SS Vigilance-Kal'shebbol Orbit

Khaln sat in his office contemplating his discussion with the captain. What could he do? He didn’t want to risk the lives of his crew. He was glad when his comlink beeped forcing him to take his mind off the problem at hand.

“Sir, we just detected an unknown ship. Long Rang sensors picked it up a few seconds ago. It must have reverted within the last minute but we didn’t detect it.”

“Can you get me a visual?”

“Not yet. A wing pair off the Unity will be in range within a minute.”

“Fine. Give me a live sensor feed.”

“Yes sir.”

Khaln turned away from his desk to press a button on the wall. Within a second his office had reformed into a command center. Smiling he took his seat in the replica bridge chair. He’d heard that Grand Admiral Thrawn had something like this on his flagship the . He’d never found anybody who could tell him for sure one way or another, but he wouldn’t have been surprised if Thrawn did have something like this.

A screen in the very middle of the far wall became active with the sensor feed from the wingpair. In the bottom right-hand corner of the screen it identified the wing pair as the x-wings, Red 3 and Red 4.

Slowly on the screen the image of the ship began to grow. At first it appeared to be a cylinder around 300 m long with various outcroppings at weird angles. As the X-wings came closer it became obvious that those outcroppings were weapons and engines. The ship appeared to be covered with some weird glyphs.

“What in the name of hades is that?!”

The exclamation disturbed Khaln from his study of the alien ship.

“Bridge! Transmit a message to that ship on all standard and non-standard channels. Use electro-magnetic radiation, light whatever.”

“What should the message say?”

Khaln took a deep breath.

“Tell them that the Outer-Rim Sovereignty greets the Aing-Tii monks.”

“The Aing-Tii monks? Who the hell are they?”

“Don’t worry about that. Transmit the message immeaditly. Withdraw the wingpair to the Unity.”

“Yes sir.”

Khaln concentrated on the screen. The Aing-Tii monks! He’d never actually believed all the stories he’d heard about them. It all went to show that the galaxy still held many secrets.

“Sir. There is no response from the ship. Wait a minute. Sir the ship just disappeared!”

“Where the hell did it go? You can’t just appear and disappear. Could it have engaged a cloaking device?”

“I don’t know sir. I don’t see any signs of it anywhere. There wasn’t a regular run up to hyperspace or anything. Holy @#%$!”

Khaln jumped out of his chair at this exclamation.

“Bridge? What the hell just happened?”

“Sir I’ve never seen anything like it. They just appeared out of nowhere.”

“Who’s they? The Aing-Tii?”

“Yes the Aing-Tii. Sir, Unity is moving to come between us and the Aing-Tii vessel.”

“No! Order Captain Delarn to hold her position! Do not respond.”

“Yes sir.”

“Lower shields.”

“Sir what if they have hostile intentions?”

“I’ll take that risk. Lower shields.”

“Yes sir.”

“And I’m coming to the bridge.”

“Yes sir.”

Khaln quickly got up and left his office. As the Commanding Officer of the fleet his office was only a few steps away from the bridge. As he stepped into the Security Foyer he nodded to the guard beside the blast-doors who opened the door for him. As he entered the bridge the young ensign standing just inside the doors announced his presence.

“Legion-General on bridge!”

He roared out for all to hear.

“As you were.”

Khaln walked up to the current captain of the Vigilance, Senior Lieutenant Wairthan.

“Have they done anything?”

“No sir.”

“Fine. Transmit an invitation for them to come onboard the Vigilance. Let’s see how they react. Use all the methods we tried before.”

“Yes sir.”
“And search our database. See if you can find anything about the Aing-Tii. And I don’t care if it’s an unsubstantiated rumour or a story or whatever.”

“Yes sir.”

“Sir the Aing-Tii ship is moving closer. They’re extending an umbilical to the airlock A-3.”

“Fine. I’m going down there to greet them. I’ll go with 4 guards.”

“Yes sir.”



Legion General Khaln stood on the inside of the hatchway that the Aing-Tii ship had connected their umbilical to. Patiently he waited for the Aing-Tii delegation to come on board. Slowly the improvised airlock opened to show the Aing-Tii delegation. It was composed of 5 short quadrupeds standing upright on their rear legs. They lacked a mouth though 4 tongues protruded from the top of their heads. Their whole bodies including their tales were covered with bony armoured plates. Their plates were covered with painted glyphs and symbols reminiscent to the glyphs on their ship. The tongues of one of the Aing-Tii who Khaln presumed to be their leader waved around in the air. Khaln took a step forward and extended his hand to the Aing-Tii. The tongues waved a bit more until one of the Aing-Tii appeared satisfied that Khaln and his companions presented no threat to them.

"Hello, I am Af'khas the leader of the Sanhedrim."

Khaln frowned. The Aing-Tii had not voiced any words. It seemed as if they communicated telepathically. Glancing around he could see by the expressions on their faces that they hadn't received any sort of telepathic message.

"The Sanhedrim? I thought you were Aing-Tii monks."

"We are Aing-Tii monks. The Sanhedrim is the warrior caste of the Aing-Tii."

Khlan looked around. His companions were regarding him as if he was crazy. He had to admit that if he was around a superior who started talking to himself he'd have serious doubts about their intelligence.

"I am Legion-General Khaln. Commanding officer of the Kathol Combat Response Taskforce. I also am empowered to represent the senate and the people of the Outer-Rim Sovereignty."

"The Aing-Tii know of this Outer-Rim Sovereignty and your presence here in the Kathol Sector. I have been delegated by the ruling conclave of the Aing-Tii to negotiate with you."

"Negotiate? You wish to form an alliance?"

"Hardly. The Aing-Tii were severely weakened by Xireon Jiren's quest to retrieve the Blade of Klain. We wish to be left alone. We will continue our fight against the slavers in the Kathol Outback. All we ask is that you leave our homeworld alone and that you restore order to the Kathol Sector. The slavers have grown exponentially during our period of weakness. We would appreciate you aid. There would be no long term alliance."

"What would we get in return?"

"You would receive technology of the like that you have never seen before. Our sanhedrim warships are unique in your galaxy."

"Have you ever done something of this kind before?"

"No. The only over governments that ever had a strong presence here was the New Republic and the Empire. The empire supports slavery. We would never stand by them. As for the New Republic we never needed an alliance."

Khlan nodded.

"What about the Kathol Protectorate? And the Kathol Republic?"

"The Kathol Protectorate is most of the reason that slavery is on the rise. They're promoting the slave trade all across the Kathol Sector. The Kathol Republic does a good job of keeping out slavers. They won't and can't however expand their role to encompass the whole sector. You can. Your Kathol Combat Response Taskforce has enough power to unite and control the whole sector."

"Fine. I agree to your deal. How many of your warships will you supply us with? And we'll need somebody to teach us how to use and maintain them."

"You won't be able to use our regular warships. We have a group of 20 new warships, to be given to you and your men. As for learning, the crews will find sufficient information onboard."

Khaln gaped.

"20 warships! How soon can I get them?"

"Once we return to our ship they will be brought in system."

"Fine. I believe our business is concluded. Good day."

"Good day to you Legion-General Khaln."

Af'khas and his delegation turned and left the Vigilance. Khaln turned and grinned at his companions.

One of his guards looked at him bewilderedly.

"Sir, what the hell was going on back there?"

"Those were the Aing-Tii monks. Their leader was an Aing-Tii called Af'khas. He is the leader of the Sanhedrim which is the warrior caste of the Aing-Tii. They have offered to give us 20 of their warships in return for uniting the Kathol Sector, getting rid of slavery and leaving them alone. I used my powers to agree to their deal. Know let's go to the bridge. Our new warships should arrive shortly."

Khaln was whistling as he turned and began to walk towards the bridge.

"But how do you know all this? All we saw was you talking to yourself."

"They communicate telephatecally. They're known to be force users so they probably use the force. Know let's go to the bridge."

"Yes sir."

SS Vigilance-Kal'shebbol Orbit

“Sir, long-range sensors indicate 20 capital ships, Aing-Tii Warship Class have just entered the system. All of them appear to be un-crewed.”

Legion-General Khaln turned to flight operations and began to give orders.

“Get a boarding team out to those ships. I want a complete tech crew as well as data-recording droids. Get a crew transferred up from the surface to one of those ships as well.”

“Aye sir!” said the Lieutenant currently in charge of flight-ops.

Suddenly the blast-door to the bridge swooshed open and Captain Rabelstan entered. The same Ensign who had announced Khaln’s presence earlier announced Rabelstan’s presence. Apparently some junior crewman had awakened him when all the commotion started.

“Senior Lieutenant Wairthan, I officially relieve of this duty.”

Wairthan saluted Captain Rabelstan but didn’t leave the bridge sensing that something important was about to happen.

“Sir, what the hell is going on?”

“We’ve just made contact with the Aing-Tii monks. They’ve agreed to supply us with a number of capital warships in exchange for leaving them alone.”

“What makes you think we can honour a deal with these beings? How do you know that they’re not just using those ships as flying bombs or spy tools?”

“An excellent question and one I’ve considered. However, from the way they managed to drop in un-announced on us I’d say that they could have killed our fleet without even trying.”

“Then why do they need our help? There’s no threat in the Kathol sector that can stand up to us.”

“They said they didn’t have enough numbers across the sector.”

“And we do?”

“Apparently. Remember if they only have one type of warship then they don’t have the option of sending smaller ships when they are needed.”

“What if…?”

“What if what?”

“What if there’s another threat out there? One they need our help for.”

“Then why not tell us about the threat?”

“To see if we really are as well-intentioned as we seem? There are hundreds of options. And when we’re dealing with a species as alien as the Aing-Tii there is no way to understand their logic.”
“Sir, the first of the teams is approaching the lead Aing-Tii ship. It appears to have an interesting form of IFF. If they’re sensors read correct it’s called Sanhedrim Pride."

Khaln quickly replied to the Communications Officer who had relayed the information. “Have them proceed with utmost caution. There may be unknown security devices.”

“Yes sir. They report reading no energy fluctuations.”

“Fine. How long before we have a team on each ship?”

“The last of the teams are scheduled to lift off in one minute. After that it’s a 15 minute trip to their assigned target.”

“Okay. Helm take us out of orbit. Have us take up position approximately 1,000 kilometers away from the middle of the Aing-Tii formation.”

“Yes sir. ETA 10 minutes.”

“Captain Rabelstan, when I have a preliminary report from one of the tech teams I’m going to withdraw to my quarters to study it. You will have control of this vessel and the operation.”

“Yes sir."

SS Vigilance-Kal'shebbol Orbit

“Sir we have a preliminary report from the first of the boarding teams. They say that they should be able to fly the ship. Also a scan of the weapons data turned up something.”

Legion-General Khaln looked up at Captain Rabelstan who stood in front of him a datapad in hand. “What is it?”

“They appear to have 6 weapons called null-burst projectors.”

“And what do these null-burst projectors do?”

“It appears to create a pocket of negative energy which does little physical damage to its target. However, the target's crew is incapacitated for several hours after the blast, during which time the Aing-Tii can board the ship without resistance.”

“And you think we should use it in Operational Series Vigilance?”

“Definitely.”

“Very well. I will study the data in my quarters.”

“Alright sir.”

****

Legion-General Khaln sat in his quarters contemplating everything that had happened today. To many new factors had been added, the spy and the Aing-Tii with their Null-Burst Projectors. From what Khaln could tell the weapons on just one of the ships could disable the crew of an ISD in one volley. This would be great in Operational Series Vigilance, but he couldn’t risk the spy finding out about his new secret weapon.

Hitting a key on his datapad Khaln brought up another file, the one about the last-known estimates of the fleet at Lorize.

25 capital warships, that’s most of their fleet, and it’s worth a gamble.

“Captain Rabelstan!”

“Yes sir?”

“I’m going to go on a shake-down cruise with all our new Aing-Tii warships in 30 minutes. The Vigilance, Unity and Intrepid will accompany us.”

“Yes sir. Where will we be going?”

“Lorize.”

“You’re willing to risk combat with un-tested ships?”

“Yes I am. Make sure our course heading is in the opposite direction of Lorize at the beginning.”

“Fine. We’ll depart in 3 minutes.”

“Oh yes, make sure we have the 2nd Infantry Corps on board.”
“What are you planning.”

“You’ll see.”

****

SS Vigilance-Lorize System

“Reversion in 5, 4, 3…”

Khaln sat in his chair on the Flag Bridge idly listening to the Jump Master as he contemplated what was ahead.

“…2, 1. Mark!”

The second the sudden deceleration ended, Khaln was out of his chair issuing orders.

“Tactical give me a complete update. Specifically scan for the Imperial Star Destroyer Helios.

“We have 20 Capital Warships in-system. None of their IFFs read as the Helios.”

Khaln grimaced. The Helios wasn’t here and that meant that Vice-Admiral Petra Donus, Commander of the Kathol Protectorate fleet wasn’t here either.

“Order the Aing-Tii ships to deploy. Tactical, select targets and transmit them to each ship.”

“Yes sir.”

Khaln watched as the cylindrical Sanhedrim ships began to split up each of them aiming for a close flyby of their target. As each ship passed their target Khaln couldn’t see any obvious weapon discharges from the ships.

“What happened? Did they fire?”

But before somebody could answer his question he could see the Kathol Protectorate ships begin to falter. Slowly but surely starting at the bow and working towards the aft the various weapons emplacements that had been firing at the Sovereignty ships began to cease their firing.

“Sensors report 120 Negative Energy Pockets created.”

“Excellent. Know order them to do the same to all of the military and para-military bases on the planet.”

“Yes sir.”

“Tell Colonel Bnen to begin to deploy his troops. Transmit a message to the Alliance. They are to come immediately to Lorize at full-speed with no fighters. The prisoners will be placed onboard her.”

“Yes sir.”

“Order the 6th Mechanized Infantry Division to land and take control of their targets in the Eastern Ocean. 2nd Light Infantry Division will land and take up control of Lorize City. 4th Mechanized will take up control of Nethus and 3rd Light will take up control of Benthan.”

“Yes sir.”

“Send a message to Lorize. Summon the 4th Infantry Corps at full-speed.”

“Why didn’t we just take them along sir?”

“Too many potential spies to warn Lorize. As it is it appears that somebody must have warned Donus otherwise she would have undoubtedly been here.”

“Yes sir.”

“I’m going to retire to my cabin to sleep. Wake me if anything un-expected happens. Otherwise wake me when the first of the reinforcements arrive. When I wake I want a list of our casualties, as well as an efficiency report for all of our new warships.”

“Yes sir.”

“Do you think we taught the Kathol Protectorate to fear us?”

“I believe so sir. It might be best that Donus escaped. If we had captured her than there would have been no one left to fear us.”

“That’s not exactly a bad t