The huge disturbance in the force was evident to Frakutsk, even though his training was not very extensive. The meeting, which was now of course completely pointless, was frakutsk only problem.

The first that came to Frakutsk's head is what he did. He stood up clumbsily and said, "Mesa must go, NOW."

And he left.

Not exactly the most diplomatic of exits, but effective nonetheless. No one objected to his leaving. How very odd!

He walked through the swirling corriders of the large diplomatic building, this time with out any droid as a guide, and made it back to his ship.

The figting up above troubled Frakutsk. He paused for more then a moment, weighing his actions, and decided that he could not stop this fight in any large way. Then decided to get out, but take something with him.

Frakutsk quickly flew his small shuttle out of the atmophere, and activated emergancy communication systems, to close-by coalition vessles he messaged urgently,

QUICKLY! FOLLOW MY STAR SHIP, WE ARE CAPTURING THE MC-90 AND EVACUATING THIS SPACE IMIDIATLY. DEFENDERS, TRACTOR BEAMS. VISCOUNT (sp... or whatever) USE ALL ION CANNONS IMIDIETLY ON THE MC-90

Obviously, the message was not voiced, the pilots probably would be unale to understand Frakutsk's thick gungan accent.

As frakutsk's shuttle docked on the viscount, the plan was carried through with disregard for otherwise occupied enemy vessles:

The 12 defender gunships encircled the damaged MC-90... then the viscount used all of its many, many Ion cannons.

Frakutsk's goal was to disable the ship without any loss of life. And, as far as he could tell, it worked successfully.

The ions had a devastating effet on the MC-90, allowing the defenders to use their tractor means successfully, and then to move quickly to the edge of the indridiction feild surrounding the area.


(Uh.... i hope? Me and dolash are having trouble making a decent post to post here. Mine might be even worse then his *snickers* knowing me...)

The combined might of the Imperial Navy's fire, and the newest Coalition assualt buckled the interloping mon calimari cruiser. Blue streaks of ionic energy shot through the MC-90's hull, as the massive Vicsount Star Defender and Defender Gunships pounded it, while gaping holes erupted across its hull from the Empire's tremendous fire.

The MC-90's valiant guns fell silent, and tremendous holes could be seen leaking oxygen and other gasses into the vaccum. The MC-90 was doomed. The Coalitions attack had rendered the vessel defenseless, opening it up to a continued and full broadside from the powerful wedges in the Imperial fleet.

As another round of fire smashed into the MC-90, it's keel broke, and the ship began to break up in an agonizingly slow death.

"Je'Sor'a."

Kal Shora nodded.

"Je'Sor'a, Borleas. Gu'ei'ter, Cree'Ar. Gu'ei'ter, Skey'g'aar. Je'Sor'a."

Their prayer complete, the priests left the Cree'Ar elder, and Zeratul fell back to his side.

"I've never understood why you do that."

Kal Shora shook his head.

"I have never understood why you don't."

***

Judicator Shran Badaar stood aboard the Eclipsing Liberty, still unnacustomed to the vessel. He examined the controls as around him, tek'a'tara began to remove components. He raised his hand.

"No."

The cyborgs stopped.

"No, keep it entact."

***

"I'm amazed you let him live, never mind rewarded him."

Kal Shora was amused.

"Unconvential thinking can be the dividing factor between catastrophe, and victory. If you do what the enemy expects you to do, he will always know how to counter as he will know more then you do. The key, then, is to never know yourself what you will do, until you do it. If then."

Zeratul shook his head.

"Action at the cost of planning?"

Kal Shora stepped up, looming another foot over Zeratul before he sat in his command chair.

"Not so much. More of... planned chaos."

***

Shran Badaar looked at the unusual symbol again. He didn't know what it meant to the Coalition, but he knew what it meant to the Cree'Ar.

It was victory.

The Coalition symbol for biohazardous material would soon be their downfall.

***

"Explain the plan to me, again."

Kal Shora shook his head.

"Plans change, Zeratul. So close to the moment of action, nothing now is certain except the best of intentions."

Zeratul made a gesture indicating his dissatisfaction.

"Then may we once again go over our intentions?"

Kal Shora nodded, slowly.

"Very well.

War never changes. The common aspects of war include a natural distrust..."

***

"...aspects of war include a natural distrust, and an atmosphere of imperativity. There is no time for things such as confirmation, with ambush always pending, and losses always mounting. One has to act fast, and this plays to the hand of the tactican."

Kal Shora nodded, impressed.

"What exactly, then, is your tactic?"

Shran would have smiled, could he.

"We have just captured a fleet of Galactic Coalition vessels...

I propose we use them."

***

Zeratul said nothing.

"How innovative."

Kal Shora nodded.

"Quite."

"Do you think it can work?"

Kal Shora considered for a moment.

"We will find out, when they arrive."

Zeratul checked his panel.

"2 minutes."

***

As the Coalition reinforcements travelled from Ga'jak'ta'Gee'd'ja to the battle at Vladet, the Dominion vessels continued to fan out inside the nebula. Spreading their line thin, they made sure that the Coalition vessels that had turned would be in the system when the reinforcements arrived. They did, however, leave exposed the Valhalla, folding a hole in their gravitic manipulation fields which would allow them an escape. This hole had been created in the past minute, and it did not appear that they had, as yet, noticed it.

It did not appear they would notice it in time.

*this post deleted*

*eats pie*

Vice Admiral Kraken paced the deck of his flagship, the Messiah ACSS Tormentor, currently evaluating the current situation. Right now an Interdiction field covered the entire planetery system, maybe more, and the whole diplomatic summit had basically fallen apart. Right now the GC fleet was in high retreat, trying to struggle out of the interdiction field. Kraken grimaced at this, remember accounts he had read in the Naval Academy about how it had taken weeks for a fleet of Bakuran warships to penetrate the Interdiction field created by the Centerpoint station, even after they had had help from the earlier example of the HIMS systems. Still, as long they were in this system, they were effictevley under his protection, or so his sense of consciousness allowed him to be.

"Drufeys, what is the fastest capital ship in our fleet that has hyperspace capability?" asked Kraken to his senior advisor.

"Both the Illustrious Fast Attack Cruisers, and the Intrepid Gunships have speeds in excess of twenty five MGLT sir." responded Drufeys.

Brothel, his junior advisor, cut in, "Sir, if you are thinking of sending an escort, it shouldn't be necessary, unless you send in starfighter support, because those Defender Gunships have an estimated speed rating of 40 MGLT sir." said Brothel.

"Hmmm. Very well then, we will let them take care of themselves. But just in case, have four fast attack cruisers, and ten gunships follow behind them at a pace. I do want us to be able to help them should they come under attack. Unless one of my superiors objects, of course." said Kraken glancing out at the other Imperial ships that were in system. Three series of flash signals were sent out, two to the commanders of the other ships, and one to the taskforce leader who promplty sent out another series of flash signals to each ship assigned to the mission. A small task force was formed out away from the main fleet, and promplty sped off into the darkness, heading after the Coalition force. Kraken glanced down at sensors, cursed, and then looked back up out the viewport. His ships were still within flash range should his superiors want to stop them. In the mean time, Kraken was securing the planet, commerical traffic, and preparing search teams to find this mysterious source of blanketing gravity.

Vladet Space


The path was deceptive.

"Ellipse course laid in, Sir. Engines at maximum."

Admiral Chandler nodded looking at the two focal points, the planet Vladet and the open wormhole. The result in distance then provided two options for the Victory, much of it depending on what the other ships were doing.

And as the Victory made it's burn along the ellipse, their sensors were beginning to note irregularities in whatever it was that was not letting them make the jump to hyperspace.

The Dragon Fleet was projected on his TAC noting that they were very intent on leaving, the wormhole of theirs opening despite the interdiction. The implications were preying on Chandler's mind.

"Sir...We are getting sporadic signals!"

"Can you?" he started but the Comm Officer shook his head. "No.. it's only static but it is something."

Ibren nodded at the information his hands gripping the rail as he stared at the maneuverings of the Coalition ships, screening his seemingly oblique approach.

Instead of a massive field.. .it seems to be a culmination of smaller fields..their exact nature as yet unknown.

"You will only get one shot at this people!" he warned.

The ships before him were maneuvering away and the destination the Victory was heading toward suddenly became very clear.


Admiral Chandler watched with interest as the ships were nearing the departure time.

"Look at this maneuver, here." he pointed to his Exec. "See the time differential between ships?"

"Sequence of Departure vectoring?"

"Match us here... " he called, and the Helm answered with another course adjustment.

"Prepare the fighters, tighten on our flanks. When we reach this locus here, just inside the event horizon... deploy the probes."


"There they go!" the Helm Leader said as the fleet before them began vanishing.

"Event horizon coordinates relaying!!"

The ship began to shudder as the Victory began to enter the departure site of the exiting warships.


"THERE GOES THE SECOND..... "


The Victory began to shudder violently.

"Ellipse course complete!"

"Rotate the axis! Clear up that racket!" Chandler shouted as vibration increased.


"LAST SHIP IS THROUGH!!"


"Increase flank speed!" and the vibration began to lessen with the rotation.


"3!"


"2!"


"1!"


"Event Horizon!"


"Launch Probes!"


And even as the probes seemed to hurl out of the hanger... the Victory became swallowed and vanished into a pinprick.

The captain of the Viscount, Commander Boris, was disappointed that the MC-90 had been destroyed, but he didn’t let that stop him.

“Make sure our envoys get up here immediately. I want all shields up immediately, and run diagnostics on all systems, start with weapons first. Give the same orders to the other ships. Those terrorists may have also planted a virus on us through the Defender Gunship. Also I want a team of troops to capture the terrorists. The Defender Gunship is to use its tractor beams to send the shuttle out of its docking bay, and then disable it. After that it will hold the shuttle 1km away from it and away from any other ships. Then a team of troops on a couple shuttles will take over the shuttle. We need to get all the information we can get out of this, understood?”

“Yes sir.”

The troops quickly moved in on the terrorists. Blast doors shut around the terrorists, trapping them in the weapons room. The troops outside quickly prepped stun grenades, concussion grenades and smoke grenades.

“On three I will open the doors half a meter apart. I want everyone to throw in the grenades, then I shut the doors. After that we get out rifles out, set them to stun, and get ready to charge in. Target them using our thermal scanners in our helmets to see through the smoke.”

The officer punched a code into the keypad mounted on the wall, and the doors opened half a meter. The troops threw the grenades inside, and then the doors slammed shut. The troops then quickly got out the weapons, and prepared to mount the last part of the attack.

Meanwhile terrorists’ shuttle had been sent out of the docking bay, and disabled. Troops were moving in on it in 2 Sentinel Shuttles.

The whole fleet moved away from the other delegations, to make sure that the terrorists couldn’t fire on the other factions’ vessels again.

Fleet Manifest:

Viscount Star Defender – Viscount
12 Defender Gunships
326 MC-10 Starfighters
72 SAB/SFFs
10 Sentinel Shuttles

Bhindi Drayson paced the room, her head bowed in concentration. Outside the viewports (which really were mere holoprojections from the bridge) the Imperial ships were waiting, spread in a pretty basic defensive formation over the planet.

But beyond that… the ships of the Black Dragon Empire had left the system, disappearing into the wormhole that had opened so unexpectedly in space nearby. And gone with them, her sensor officer had just reported, was the Invincible, and Admiral Chandler. A noble effort, maybe, but if came to a fight his absence would hurt the Empire.

Let us hope, then, that it does not come to a fight.

As it was, the situation stood something like this: the Mon Calamari Cruiser was crippled beyond hope, escape pods rocketing away from the ship, no longer a threat. The Coalition fleet was huddled outside Admiral Kraken’s defensive sphere, their largest vessel at its centre. The Black Dragon Empire was gone, and the instigators of the interdiction and jamming fields were nowhere to be seen.

Which means, Bhindi thought, stopping her pacing and going to the viewports, that whatever is coming must come soon.

It was waiting that had lost many a battle. Sooner or later, one side would grow tired of waiting and move, and from there it would all to hell in a handbasket. The Empire was waiting, yes. But that the other side had not yet made their move meant that they, too, must have been waiting for something.

And what might they have to wait for? The Tions were gone, and it was impossible now for the Empire or Coalition to leave. Which meant…

“They’re waiting for reinforcements.” Bhindi said aloud, turning from the viewports now and looking to the walls. Normally there were displayed pieces of art or images. Now, though, the gallery was lined with feeds from the Star Destroyer’s bridge, sensor displays and status charts.

The gravity field was moving, holes opening here and there as its position shifted. One, she now noticed, was directly where the Valhalla was. She might have ordered the ship to lightspeed, escaping the system and leaving Kraken to fight alone.

No… There were only two reasons that an enemy would allow a portion of the fleet to escape. Either they had not the firepower to engage the entire force, which meant that they may not attack if she remained. Or they were trying to lead her into a trap. In which case, she knew, as soon as the Valhalla jumped to hyperspace she would be in their hands – with their interdiction capabilities they could bring the ship out of hyperspace anywhere they chose.

The com chimed, and Captain Joda’s voice rang through the room.

“Admiral, we’ve detected a shift in the gravity fields. Navigation is plotting a course out of the system now.”

“Belay that, Captain. We’re staying. Stand by, I’ll be on the bridge momentarily.”



Were they in a real combat situation, the bridge would have been a hive of activity. But in the absence of Admiral Drayson, and the absence of a direct threat, there was little to be done. Weapons had been checked and rechecked, shields optimized, systems primed.

“Admiral on deck!” The door guard called formally as Bhindi stepped into the space. Joda, looking up from the console he was bent over, saluted earnestly.

“Admiral. The enemy has-”

“I know, Captain. We shall stay – the enemy will engage us here, nowhere else.” She said, moving to where the bridge holoprojector could detect her. “Connect me with the Captains.”

Within seconds the holograms of the other six Star Destroyer captains were standing in a tight semicircle around her.

“Admiral, my sensor officer has informed me that the Valhalla has an exit vector. Are you planning on leaving?” The Captain of one of the ships asked.

Bhindi shook her head.

“No. The enemy has opened a hole in their grid for us, yes, but the Black Fleet is hardly going to abandon Vladet to invasion. I want your opinions, however: this gives us opportunity to strike first. Take the vector and make the first move against whoever’s on the other end.”

There was a chorus of murmuring as the Captains thought between themselves. One of them spoke before long.

“I think we should take it, Ma’am. Make whoever the frell is out there fight us on both fronts. Admiral Kraken can hold his own here.”

Two or three of the Captains agreed with this assessment, adding their voices to the idea of taking the vector and fighting. Two more said nothing. But one dissenting voice spoke.

“If it is a trap, as you describe Admiral, then how are we to know what kind of force they may have? If they can invite the Valhalla to do battle, then they can destroy her. Or believe themselves able to, at any rate.”

“But if they can destroy her there they can destroy her here.” Another voice added.

“Aye, they might be able to. But here we have the support of Admiral Kraken, and the Coalition ships. And they don’t know yet of our reinforcements.”

“And the planetary defenses.” One of the previously undecided Captains put in.

That seemed to settle it. With a nod, Bhindi left Captain Joda to relay the orders, and strode down the command walkway to stand by the viewports. The situation had not changed in the quarter of an hour or so that had passed, save for some nervous movement on the part of the Coalition fleet.

“Admiral,” Joda said from behind her, “we’re moving.” Indeed, the great ship was, her bow swinging about to form up in a line with Admiral Kraken’s fleet.

“Thank you, Captain. I want you to contact the Coalition commander.”

After a few moments, the connection was established, and the right person was found aboard the Coalition flagship. Bhindi stepped into the holoprojector’s detection area.

“I am Admiral Bhindi Drayson, of the New Order.” She said. Standard Imperial Procedure. “For years the Empire and the Coalition have been enemies, fighting on opposite sides of the line. But today we have seen a common enemy – an enemy that has no love for the Coalition or the Empire. An enemy that truly only exists to cause pain and suffering to all life. To defeat this enemy, I believe we must give one another what aide we can. On behalf of the Empire, I invite you to join us here, and fight for the first time beside us, instead of against it. For the good of all.”

As they awaited the Coalition’s response, Bhindi looked out into the empty space ahead of the fleet. Somewhere out there was another force, led by someone who no doubt had the same sense of duty as she did, perhaps even waiting for the Empire to make their move.

The only difference, Bhindi thought with a thin smile, is that we aren’t attacking your home.

And that, as far as she was concerned, put the Empire in the right. Not that there was any doubt that whoever was out there had the same terroristic values as the other enemies of the New Order: the Rogue Empire, the GDI, the Iron Fist Empire… they were all the same.

And they all had one thing in common. In fighting the Empire, they had all lost.

And today not a one of them was still in existence. The last traces of the Rogue Empire and GDI had been swept away with the integration of the Holy Demosthesian Empire.

As it would be, no doubt, with this new threat to the Empire.

And so, the Imperial fleet waited, both for their enemy and for the response from the Coalition commander.

Vladet waited.

Judicator Shran Badaar strode across the bridge of the Coalition Cruiser Eclipsing Liberty, inspecting the work done by his cybernetic servants. They were efficient creatures, but as his vessel moved faster then light towards a potentially catastrophic mistake, he could not afford them to be merely efficient. With this little time, they would need to be extremely expedient indeed.

Fortunatly, they were.

"Nexus command structure modified. Parsing new commands."

Shran crossed his taloned hands behind his back.

"Excellent."

The nexus clicked and hummed out a sound Shran recognized as an acknowledgment.

"New commands integrated into system. New executable files are processing."

Shran would have been gleeful, is he wasn't such a somber man by his nature. As it was, he was merely satisfied.

"Output readings?"

The tek'a'tara took a moment to check the ships internal systems, and then the nexus beside him.

"Nominal."

"Gradience?"

The tek'a'tara answered him with no emotion whatsoever, and with no hesitation either.

"As programmed."

Shran nodded. For the second time, he sat down in the vessel's captain's chair.

"Charge our weapons."

***

On the bridge of the Sep'Ta'd'Aark, the situation was much less hurried but not lacking for intensity. Everyone was watching sensors, and waiting... engines were ready, and weapons were loaded. The vessels waited... their crews waited... and the Cree'Ar High Elder waited.

"Look!"

Zeratul pointed at the visage. A useless gesture; the only outranking Cree'Ar on the vessel was already observing it intently, and the remnants were priests, who would not understand what they were observing. Kal Shora did.

"They know."

Zeratul turned.

"We must abort! If they leave...!"

"Patience, Zeratul. If someone is to flinch today, it will not be us. Not with such an important mission."

Zeratul turned. When he did, he almost immediately turned again.

"They stopped!"

Kal Shora gestured his displeasure, which Zeratul did not react to.

"Yes, Zeratul, in your haste to flee, the Imperial vessel ceased its turn almost as soon as it began it."

Zeratul turned to the visage once more. He scrutinized the image carefully.

"But you said they know? Then why leave if they know that there is an opportunity?"

Kal Shora made clear his displeasure again, disappointed in Zeratul. Once again Zeratul did not reply, although his back being turned may have been the cause.

"Zeratul, have you been to Lin?"

Zeratul turned, his face a perfect picture of confusion.

"Lin? No… I hadn't left Arigaun until I was sent to Tatooine."

"But you know of the place?"

Zeratul looked even more uncertain, if that was possible.

"Yes... Elder... everyone knows of Lin. It is part of our infant history instruction."

"Then you remember the war?"

"Elder..."

"Remember, Zeratul, I never speak for my own benefit. I benefit far more from contemplation then explanation."

Zeratul accepted this. His face settled into a neutral state.

“Yes, Elder. I remember vividly instructions regarding the war with the Parrow Lin.”

“Then you remember the Lin walls.”

Zeratul’s face livened up.

“Yes… the Parrow Lin made a wall, a tall wall, around each of their cities. Every few hundred steps was a gateway, and through the gateway sat 6 Parrow Lin soldiers, always watching, and always waiting, for the enemies forces to walk through the gateway.”

“Do you remember our first engagements?”

“Of course. The Cree’Ar landed on the planets and sent the tek’a’tara inside the city, single file.”

“And when they crossed the gateway…”

“They were slaughtered.”

“Yes. They were slaughtered.”

Zeratul’s eyes flashed as he rationalized the metaphor.

“But Elder, the Cree’Ar did eventually make it into the city.”

Kal Shora gestured with his hands, in agreement and mildly impressed.

“Do you remember how?”

Zeratul struggled to remember…

“We used HTC…”

“Which failed, if you may remember. The walls had been specifically designed to withstand concussive impact.”

“We attempted to use plasma disruptors, both from the surface and orbit…”

“Which also failed. The unique ceramic mixture used for aesthetic purposes proved resistant to the corrosive abilities of the acid. What was the plan which did not fail?”

Zeratul struggled to remember, and once again his eyes flashed as he settled on the solution.

“The Cree’Ar ordered two Skey’g’Aar to climb over the wall, walk around the soldiers, and capture the leaders of the city.”

“And when the Parrow Lin became aware of this, the soldiers left their position at the gateway, and the tek’a’tara inside the city numbered in the hundreds within seconds. The ensuing battle was, much like the other one in which the Parrow Lin had the numerical and positional advantage, a slaughter.”

Zeratul’s eyes darkened.

“Those two Skey’g’Aar were ruthlessly murdered.”

Kal Shora waited for Zeratul to continue, but he did not.

“And?”

Zeratul’s eyes flashed, not with contemplation, but with anger.

“And? What do you mean and? They were sent in on a suicide mission!”

“And they performed admirably. They were successful in their mission. Their deaths… casualties of war.”

Zeratul looked on the verge of breakdown.

“You are all too casual about Skey’g’Aar casualties.”

Kal Shora stood.

“Are you implying something, Zeratul?”

Zeratul stepped back, bowing his head in a gesture of respect.

“Never, Elder.”

“Then answer me this: ordering a boarding party to a Lin ship, do you go yourself, or send tek’a’tara?”

Confusion returned to Zeratul’s face.

“Tek’a’tara, of course.”

“Why?”

“Because I might die.”

“Because you might die.”

“But Elder! They had the option of sending tek’a’tara!”

“Did they, Zeratul? Did they have that option?”

Zeratul considered. Kal Shora did not wait.

“Listen, Zeratul. What do you hear?”

Zeratul looked around.

“Nothing. Just the normal…”

And his eyes flashed again.

“Yes. Tek’a’tara make fine soldiers, but horrible assassins. They lumber. They grunt. They beep when their battery needs recharging. They communicate everything vocally, even though they do not have to.”

“But why send Skey’g’Aar?”

“Because, Zeratul, of people like you.”

Zeratul’s face was once again invaded by his complete uncertainty.

“People like me?”

“Zeratul, if I asked you to find Bastion, kill Simon Kaine, Daemon Hyfe, Theren Gevel, Telan Desaria, and Bhindi Drayson, would you do it?”

“Of course. But…”

“Exactly.”

“Exactly what, Elder? I don’t comprehend your meaning.”

“Even if you knew you might die, you would go on that mission? Because I asked you to?”

Zeratul was taken aback. It was obvious, in retrospect.

“Yes, now you see. The Cree’Ar had just witnessed hundreds of their warriors slaughtered. Had you asked them, none of them would have gone. But the ability and the dedication of the Skey’g’Aar made them the obvious candidate for such a dangerous and extremely difficult mission.

The choice was made out of respect, and fear.

Not out of prejudice.”

Zeratul accepted this, and gestured his thanks to Kal Shora for the patient explaination.

Kal Shora was amazed. He didn’t know it was still possible, but sometimes he even impressed himself.

***

The cybernetic nexus had been employed for years amongst the Cree’Ar. But never quite like this.

Many who see the impressive nexus assume it was a Cree’Ar invention. That is not so. The Cree’Ar liberated the technology in a war against an oppressive empire known as the Thylor Opiette. The nexus was primarily used, then, and now, as a communicative relay network, intercepting, decrypting, re-encoding, and transmitting data.

The network spanned the Cree’Ar galaxy… from the homeland to Se'T'ap'a'r'odar, to Rel'a'ralik'a'aar, to the fleet at Vladet, even to the assault ships even know covertly observing the activity above Coruscant. Every world had a nexus. But along the way, the network had… dead zones, zones where no two relays were in the system. The solution, then, was the shoot a signal through a c-velocity conduit in intervals. This method was not perfect, of course, but it did allow for the often times isolated vessels of the invading force in the galaxy to remain in contact with their home bases.

Despite this, no vessel in the Dominion had contact with the homeland. They had sent messages, but due to the distance, these messages were outdated and very short in nature. In other galaxies, the Cree’Ar had built what they called tetraspheres… planet-sized relays for their transmissions and gravitic manipulations. Once the first tetrasphere arrived in the Corusca galaxy, c-velocity communication would be unnecessary… as all Cree’Ar vessels would be routed through the tetrasphere, and subsequent relays delivered in the future.

For now, though, the nexus network was limited in its implementation. Used primarily for inter-system communication and control of the tek’a’tara aboard Cree’Ar vessels, some of the tertiary uses of the nexus had been explored and implemented, including particle acceleration, agitation, creation, transformation, and teleportation. Features that were normally performed on supplementary basis in the homeland were routine amongst invading vessels to a point; once a foothold was established, the priesthood domesticated a world and sanctified it suitable for Cree’Ar to sleep on. Then, all food would be grown, and not synthesized. Metals would be purified and not transformed. Materials would be transported, and not teleported. But now was not such a time.

Now was a time for innovation.

The nexus aboard the Eclipsing Liberty, and others aboard the Coalition vessels, were being used for their primary function… communication. And though the nexii on the Cree’Ar vessels were being used for the same function, the variance on that basic function was quite different. The Cree’Ar vessels were communicating what was referred to as blanket whispers… it was the Cree’Ar method of jamming. Instead of trying to cut the transmission or run electronic interference in it’s path, the Cree’Ar merely threw a blanket on the transmitters and receivers, consisting of their own communications across the nexus network. They ranged from the minutia of commands such as “install module 7” to tactical fleet arrangements and organizational hierarchy. By using targeted blanket jamming, the Cree’Ar could selectively disrupt communications, allowing their own vessels to communicate amongst each other, and to lift the jamming to accept terms of surrender from command vessels.

The nexus on each coalition vessel was performing a slightly different function. When Shran Badaar proposed attacking the New Order with Coalition vessels, it was instantly considered that the New Order sensor suites would detect the lack of Coalition personnel on board each vessel. Fortunately, Shran had a solution. He had discovered amongst the Coalition vessels medical suites. Standard to all medical suites were biohazardous waste containers, meant to keep potentially tainted genetic material, such as blood and other fluidic discharges, normally extracted in needles, from coming in contact with other, uninfected patients in an attempt to prevent epidemics. In that waste, left behind as garbage, was the essence of the Coalition.

It’s people.

Although the Dominion had captured several humans, the Coalition was a large group composed of many unique and differing races. It was decided to study, replicate, and then attempt to exterminate the people of the Coalition based on activating, stimulating, and then eradicating their ribonucleic acid. The creation of infectious agents had begun almost immediately when Badaar brought the Coalition fleet back to the occupied worlds. But Shran and Kal Shora both reached the same conclusion almost immediately.

What if they could broadcast the Coalition?

So, over several weeks, one nexus was modified to replace each tek’a’tara signature with one belonging to a Coalition species. At first, the project was unsuccessful. The nexus was not designed to simulate life signs. So instead of creating life signs, they created life… they created a vapor that entered the bloodstream of a tek’a’tara and altered its genetic makeup. The effect served to simulate the illusion of a living, breathing Rodian, or Haspatian, or Farquakian… the only life form not catalogued were the mysterious Azguard, as too few samples existed to make a gradient to simulate acceptable genetic drift. The project was still unsuccessful, however.

It was irreversible. And fatal.

The tek’a’tara conversion process had muted the genetic individuality of the subjects. This made their natural, biological structure extremely prone to biological infection, were it not for their advanced technological filtering and cardiovascular substitute system. When this system was muted, the body was converted in extremely short order. Depending on the first strand swallowed through the air, the tek’a’tara would take on one of a dozen species, with a differing specific genetic makeup to simulate the genetic diversity among one species of the Coalition. The problem was that once the change was made, the natural DNA was not strong enough to fight the process. After an hour, the new RNA had completely converted the body and began to consume the body’s protein structure, as the host body had no midichlorans as the cells were maintained by artificial energy, provided by the cybernetic systems. So the aggressive RNA consumed the body, like a virus… turning the biological component of the tek’a’tara to a melted puddle of genetic residue. The only way to prevent the process was to reengage the technological immune system, which attempted to stop the process. It was a losing battle, however, and could only achieve a stalemate, during which the technology fought the genetics, and the tek’a’tara was in complete moratorium. Frozen, and unable to move.

The useable time for the modified tek’a’tara was little under 150 Coruscant minutes. More then enough time for a simple ruse. By the time the Imperials had a chance to investigate any debris, and even if they could discern the truth, the battle would have ended.

And the war would have begun.

***

“You think they have an alternate means of escape?”

Kal Shora shook his head.

“There is nothing to indicate that. It is a possibility, but an unlikely one… did they not follow one of the Black Dragon’s vessels? No, my metaphor was merely to show the hole in the wall… they are not so stupid as to walk through it.”

Zeratul nodded. He understood. He turned back to the visage.

“They have the advantage, here. Here, they know they have backup, and they know we have jammed communications. Here, they know the system defenses, and the vessels ready to reinforce them.”

Zeratul turned.

“Unfortunately, they do not know… that we know.”

Kal Shora bowed his head.

He was learning.

***

“Eptar'a'kar'a, High Judicator. It is always a pleasure to speak with you.”

“And you, Judicator Badaar. How proceeds our operation?”

“The conversion process has begun on every vessel. The fighters are loaded and the vessels have weapons charged.”

Kal Shora was pleased.

“Excellent, Judicator. If this mission succeeds, you will be the most honored among my Judicaste.”

Badaar heard the unspoken words and almost cringed.

Assuming you survive.

“Have you prepared your boarding parties?”

Badaar bowed.

“Of course, High Judicator. They are the most experienced of the Kal Shora’s Armortera. They will serve Borleas to the best of their ability.”

“Remind them of their objective. The Vessel IDF-DCC-1448, Valhalla, is the exposed command of the newly arrived reinforcements. Several moments ago, a communication was analyzed indicating that Admiral Bhindi Drayson is still on board. Your vessels are in formation?”

“Of course.”

“Good. The earlier terrorist attack served to expose the planetary defense grid… weapons, and possibly shields, but that is not so much our concern. You are positive of your formation?”

Shran bowed.

“Yes, High Judicator. Calamars to the left of me, Calamars to the right. Tholatins above, and below. The rest drop front, angle out, splay. The Eclipsing Liberty shall be shadowed at all times from the surface.”

“And the Imperial forces in system?”

“With the Valhalla and her support between. An impossible shot.”

“The Valhalla and support… wait.”

Shran waited. He knew he couldn’t wait long, but he waited.

“She has turned. Not a complete turn, but it looks like they are lining up their forces.”

“They know that I am coming.”

“No, Judicator. They know that someone is coming.”

Badaar nodded.

“What of her support, then?”

“They’ll be in a position to revert. It is doubtful they will have time, if you execute flawlessly.”

“There is one issue of concern.”

“Reinforcements behind.”

“Reinforcements behind. Surely, as they have detected the hole in gravity, that is where reinforcements shall arrive?”

“Ah, Judicator, you forget we are also jamming their communications.”

Shran considered.

“We should consider the possibility. By chance, that may be the direction of them in any case.”

“If they are indeed waiting. Have half your support drop front, and slow the others to drop behind. Can you eliminate a shot?”

Badaar once again considered the tactic in his head.

“Not entirely, High Judicator. But it will not be a clean shot.”

Kal Shora nodded.

“15 seconds, Judicator. Se'T'ap'a'r'odar.”

“Tar'r'ara'dool, Kal Shora.”

The High Judicator’s face faded from the visage, and the starline that replaced it continued to whiz past his head. He nodded, and he watched 5 of his MC-90s and 5 Cruisers drop from formation. Say what one would about the ungodliness of the tek’a’tara, they were efficient. Shortly after the formation broke, the starlines began to ease into nothingness, and slowly, the Valhalla grew as his vessel closed on it. It stopped, filling his screen entirely.

“Pend'ar'a. Dan’zant, Mor’a’dool.”

He turned to the Armortera.

“Remember well, take the woman alive. Any losses incurred shall be considered negligible, on either side, if she is captured.”

The Armortera turned then, and charged away.

And Shran Badaar crossed his taloned hands again, eager to begin another intergalactic war.

***

OOC: Manifest of forces entering system and engaging:

1 Home One-class Command Cruiser
*24 MC-10 Starfighters
3 Imperial Star Destroyers Mark II
3 Tholatin-class Star Destroyers
1 Defender-class Star Destroyer
15 MC-90 Star Cruisers
2 Assault Frigates
2 Interdictor Cruisers
5 Nebulon-B2 Frigates

Note: Space filler. Feel free to delete.