"Admiral, the enemy fleet has sent ahead their starfighters to seemingly engage us with missiles." said his aide.

"Very well, have the Fire class Light Frigates launch all of their TIE Devils to intercept." ordered Admiral Kraken. Ahead, thirty-six TIE Devils soared ahead of the Imperial formation, intent on blasting the approaching formation of Headhunters into rubble. When the range closed to two point five kilometers, the Headhunters opened fire at maximum range with their triple linked laser cannons that they had mounted on either wing. Two explosions were seen as their lasers impacted and destroyed some of the TIE Devils approaching. When they had good targeting solutions locked in, the TIE Devisl returned fire, then broke to port, and starboard as the Headhunters broke past. Six explosions were seen as the TIE Devils return fire, which was much more accurate, blew through the shields on some of the headhunters, and detonated vital systems, destroying them. The fighter engagement lasted for another seven minutes as both clouds of starfighters broke down into individual starfighter engagements, then three and two on one engagements as the number of Headhunters was steadily whittled down by the superior TIE Devils. In the end all of the Headhunters were destroyed, in exchange for eleven TIE Devils. The remaining TIE Devils returned to their respective frigates, with the Barham seeing nine return, the Malaya ten return, and the Valiant six return. The Imperial Fleet then spread into a line abreast formation, with the Torpedo Sphere Warpsite in the middle, two Fire class Light Frigates to the port side, and another Fire class Light Frigate to the port side. The Jompers pursuit ships in the Selonian formation broke ahead along with ten of the Corsairs to soften up the Imperial ships, or so the Selonians thought. Kraken decided to let the Fire class Light Frigates handle this one, so he gave permission for those ship's captians to detach from the main formation, and engage the enemy ships at their discretion. The Fire class Light Frigates let the enemy ships get within 5 kilometers before each ship opened fire on the approaching formation with their Turbolaser cannons. For the next 2.5 kilometers, eleven bright explosions were seen as some Jompers Pursuit ships were destroyed by the Turbolaser cannons. Then the Fire Light Frigates fired off a missile salvo, consisting of nine Proton Torpedoes. Six flashes were seen as the torpedoe's targets, the Corsairs at the head of the formation, detonated. Then the enemy ships returned fire. The Fire class Light Frigates unloaded with their real weaponry, and the engagement with the enemy Selonians ships lasted a full eight minutes, until finally the the remaining three Jompers Pursuit ships, the final ships left alive by the three Fire class Light Frigates, retreated. The Warspite suffered minor damage, as she was the ship at the head of the Imperial formation, and drew the fire of most of the enemy Selonian Picket ships. At this point, the Selonians charged on the scene with the Kruk Battlewagons. Kraken ordered his Fire class Light Frigates to withdraw to the rear of the formation, then ordered his own flagship, the Torpedo Sphere Warspite, to the head of the formation. When the Kruks reached the 5 kilometer mark, then opened massed fire with their Turbolaser cannons aimed at the Torpedo Sphere. The ship responded by firing 500!!! Proton Torpedoes at the Kruk Battlewagons, each ship being targeted by 250 torpedoes apiece. Minutes later, the Imperial formation passed through the mangled bits of debris that once was two mighty Selonian Warships, and headed forwards, now ready to launch a ground assault.

Admiral Kraken keyed the comm, "Jarek, Trachta, commence your ground assault."

As he said this, the landing bays empited, and pods along with drop shuttles were seen descending to the surface of the planet. Within another fifteen minutes, an Imperial Army had assembled, ready for combat, outside the largest Selonian City, Sell. Coming out of the city was a Selonian Army of 15 Repulsor Tanks, armed with Medium Laser Cannons, and Heat Seeking Missiles, and a contingent of 15,000 Selonian Regulars, armed with Blaster Cannons, and Force Pikes. Soon battle was to be joined.

The stormtroopers descended to the world of Selonia with a determination like no other, determined to rid the world of the ugly rat-like creatures that infested it, these Selonians. These vermin would soon be shipped offworld and sold to mines like the worthless animals they are. As soon as we broke their resistance, that is thought Stormtrooper number one one three zero nine. His name was Mark, and he had served in the Stormtrooper corps. since the days of Endor, for some two or three decades. He was getting old, he was slowing down, but with the experience he had, he was still a match for anything that came against him. Up ahead, through the lush green field his army had landed in, laid the Selonian city that was their objective. Soon it would be in the hands of the Empire. Peasents were seen running into the protective buildings, but more noticable than that were many more Selonians coming out of the city in rank formation, carrying blaster cannons, and vibroswords, wearing a small layer of proctective armour, and holding blastshields. Hovering along with rank with them were about fifty Hovertanks, hovervehicles that sported very little in the way of armour, but they had plenty of firepower in those medium sized pulse guns they carried along. The formation exited the city, then dissolved as the Selonians took up different positions, some looking for cover from which they could fire blaster cannons, others charing the Imperial formation. Right now the Selonians actually outnumbered the Imperials five to one, with a four to one vehicle advantage. But that would soon change. An Imperial in an AT-AT saw where the Selonians were one kilometer outside the city, and two kilometers before the Imperial formation. He spoke into a long range comm unit. After a brief order came over his comm, Mark shifted his goggles to blast reflective. Then in began to rain. In the form of long green energy. Almost at once multipule explosions racked the ground at his feet as turbolasers detonated the Hovertanks in their path. Selonians evaporated into red steams as their blood boiled, and vaporized. The bombardement continued for only five minutes, but in the Selonians case, it was five minutes too long. By the time the mists evaporated into thin air, the land before them was blackened, pockmared by craters, debris, and bodies of those who weren't hit directly. Of the Selonians only one hundred twenty were still alive by his count, whereas five thousand once stood. And of the vehicles, that had once numbered fifty, only two were still left operation. Oops, make that none after the AT-AT fired off a few bursts. After getting another order from the comlink, Mark marched forward with the 22nd Company of the third motorized infantry division, to finish off any stragglers. The first Imperial casualties of the day occured here, for when they rounded a hovertank carcass, a Selonian with a forcepike leapt out from behind it, and lobbed a stormtrooper's head off. Mark brought his cannon up, and with three shots basically tore out the vermin's chest cavity. It remains flumped to the ground in a squishy, popping noise. From there, an additional thirty-one Imperial soldiers gave their lives to rid of the last one hundred or so Selonian militia. Marching into the city now, the Imperials faced little or no resistance. Soon, they secured the Palace. After stunning the Overden leaders, instead of killing them for which they would serve a greater purpose later on, the Imperials had secured the city by the end of the day.

As the torpedo sphere Warspite orbited the planet above, Admiral Kraken recieved a communications from the leader of the ground assault. It read, City secured, casualties totalled thirty two killed, twenty wounded. Overden has been preserved for later use by orders. Waiting for reinforcements for next stage of campaign. Kraken allowed himself a smile, for the Imperials hadn't lost that many men, even after the turbolaser barrage performed by the Barham, Malaya, and Valiant decimated their army. Now it was the Dark Troopers turn to go into combat.............

Dark Trooper Number one zero one glanced out the viewport of the descending shuttle at the planet below. Very soon he would be slaughtering vermin mice. The brief briefing they were given stated that the rats would be hiding out in tunnels below the surface of the planet, and rather risk quality stormtroopers, they would be sending in the Dark Troopers, a fearsome brand of war droid that had excellent weapons, and self-repair systems. The Dark Troopers would use gas cans, and flamethrowers to "weed" out any Selonians hidden in their caverns. Then the shuttle landed on the surface of the planet. Taking a cue by the opening door, one zero one charged out into the sunlight. Ahead lay an open cavern entrance. Him, and fourteen other Dark Troopers steadily marched torwards the opening. Suddenly, a flurry of grenades came flying out of the entrance to the cave. Explosions lit up One Zero One's world as pieces of Dark Troopers flew all around the place. One Zero One was not harmed however, then the Selonian rat vermin came scurrying out the hole, some fifteen in number. One Zero One brought up his laser gattling cannon, as did two other Dark Troopers that hadn't been affected by the grenades, and losed a rapid flurry of bolts. The fifteen Selonians were cut to pieces as they charged their formation wielding blastpikes and vibroswords. By the time One Zero One had finsihed the other twelve Dark Troopers had repaired themselves, and together the fifteen Dark Troopers moved into the caverns to finish off the rats. Coming upon a large clearing, they spotted some one thousand rodents bunched up into nestings. The mothers held protectivley to their children, little ugly rats scurrying around, and more mothers were giving birth to other rats as the fathers watched over them proctectivley. A loose group of some thirty father rats charged the Imperial troopers. The Dark Troopers opened fire once again with their Gattling cannons, and the large rats were cut to pieces. Then the Dark Troopers unvieled their flamethrowers, and sprayed a long crimson fire around the cavern. One Zero One had to adjust his sound recorders to avoid them being broken by the loud screeches of pain and dying emitted by the rats as they were burned alive. The Dark Troopers finished the work in a mere minutes time. Stepping thorugh the various carcasses scattered around the room, One Zero One came upon a live Selonian baby, barely five months old by his calculations. It had been shielded by it's mother's body. Bringing his foot up, One Zero One lowered it on the baby with force. Then, after freeing his foot from the mass of oozing blood and bones, One Zero One turned about and marched with his other Dark Troopers down the cavern as Imperial Regulars came in behind them to take care of anything they missed.

Admiral Kraken was strolling along the bridge of the Warspite when a signal came onto his comm. Walking over to it and activating it, he recieved a short message from the Imperial Commander in charge of the Dark Trooper corps. It read: "Initial Caverns entrances secure. Selonian casualties estimated to be ten thousand. Dark Trooper casualties appears to be none. Regulars casualties appears to be two. Requesting more Dark Troopers to continue assault into caverns."

Kraken smiled at the good news, then gave the order to send down another batch of one hundred Dark Troopers..........

Another wave of the fearsome Dark Troopers descended to the world of Selonia. The Troopers debarked from the Sentinel class Assault Shuttles, and checked their equipment before heading into the caverns to continue the fight against the malicious, but ever so vulnerable Selonians. The Troopers looked themselves over; Mini-Cannon, check, Rockets, check, Flamethrower, check, multi-purpose vision, check, repiar systems, functional, check. All systems are go. The Troopers marched into the dark cavern, where they met up with One Zero One of the first Dark Trooper Company to enter the caverns. One Zero One checked over the new Troopers, then with a satisfied nod, turned and marched deeper into the caverns where the next Selonians awaited their doom. They entered a cramped tunnel with a high ceiling. Suddenly, something gave under One Zero One's foot. He looked down to see a trip wire tangled around his foot. Alert for combat danger, he wipped up his mini-cannon just in time to see several silver spheres descending from above. The Frag grenades landed around his feet and exploded with a deafening rumble, that is to a normal living Stormtrooper. But to a War Droid of the Dark Trooper nature needn't worry about the problem, as the sound recorders adjusted to this new and harsh sound. But that was the least of their worries, for the detonators ripped One Zero One apart and sent pieces of him flying across the hallway. The various components of him landed, and then started to crawl back torwards each other. Wires then extened out from them, and One Zero One pulled himself back together. Testing his various components, he decided that the grenades had damaged enough of his vital systems to reduce his combat efficency by thirty percent. Now One Zero One was angry, and he lead the Dark Troopers through the tunnel at a good pace. He came upon what appeared to be the rat's version of a guard post. Peering inside, he saw a large Selonian female asleep at the controls. With his free right hand he grabbed the head of the animal, and pulled her close to him. He began to squeeze the head of the rat so tightly that it came awake with a snarl, and managed to punch an alarm console with it's tail that started alarms blaring from somewhere up ahead. Again snarling, it tried to use it's tail to free it's self from One Zero One's grip. One Zero One began to squeeze tighter, drawing a pained squeak from the Selonian Army Official. She tried to bite off his hand, but it did no good. Finally, a loud crunch was heard as he squeezed so tight that her skull cracked. Her eyeballys popped out of her head followed by blood, and some of her displaced brains. Throwing the carcass to the floor, the Dark Trooper turned about, and prepared his mini-cannon for combat. He ran forward at a jog, followed by the other Dark Troopers, who were also prepared to fire their mini-cannons. They came upon a truly massive cavern, with many buildings occupying it. Selonians in military uniforms poured out of three of the largest buildings, toting blaster cannons, and vibroswords. Upon seeing the two dozen large troopers emerge from the long tunnel, an estimated three hundred twenty Selonians charged his position. He and his comrades opened up with their mini-cannons, and the cavern was lit up by blasterfire. Thirty Selonians were cut down in a matter of seconds, and many more were hit and wounded, or forced to duck out of the way. Some fired their blasters or threw their swords at the Dark Troopers. One Zero One suddenly ceasedfire. Puzzled, he looked down to see that his hand had been severed by a Selonian Vibrosword. Growling with anger, he opened his chest cavity to reveal a small rocket launcher hidden inside. He fired off all six rockets, then closed the cavity. Then, suddenly, he found himself staring up at the ceiling. He watched as his now headless body cumpled to the ground. Rolling to the left, he saw three other Dark Trooper bodies that were also headless falling to the ground. He watched as the other remaining Dark Troopers charged forward, firing their cannons, rockets, and flamethrowers. Then he saw something land beside his head. It was a class "A" Thermal Detonator, he saw from the detonator description that was built into his systems. Then a white flash enveloped his world, and he was no more.

"Admiral, another message sent from the surface, this time by Dark Trooper number Two One Five." sang out the communications officer.

"Very Well, let me hear it. And another thing, what happened to Dark Trooper One Zero One? Don't tell me the Selonians actually managed to destroy a few of our Dark Troopers?" asked Admiral Kraken.

"Well, yes sir. Here is the report. Next level of caverns have been conquered. Dark Troopers losses are moderate when they discovered a substantial underground military complex, a full fleged garrison according to their reports. One Zero One, and an additonal six Dark Troopers were destroyed by a series of gigantic explosions, most of which are analyzed to be class "A" Thermal Detonator explosions. Selonian casualties are high. An additional three hundred Selonian Civilians were killed, along with three thousand Selonian militaries. An Additional report states that so far five million Selonians have been rounded up for deporation offworld." said the Communications officer.

"Okay, send down an additonal three hundred Dark Troopers, and put a call into the Empire Proper requesting that the Lictor Dungeon Ships I was promised be delievered to start shipping the salves offworld. Now it is time for the assault on the lowest levels." Kraken said with a tight smile on his face.

The Dark Troopers descended into the lower caverns, to find them absolutely crowded with civilian, and military Selonians. After telling the situation to Admiral Kraken, he ordered that a army of one thousand stormtroopers, and one hundred Diplomatic translator droids to the site of the massive Selonian gathering. After several hours of intense negotiations with the Selonian Overden rules of the underground, the military resistance leaders, and the Diplomatic Droids, the Selonians agreed to surrender. The terms of surrender were that, wherever the Selonians went, the Overden would still be allowed to rule over them, and they would be protected by the remaining Selonian Military, along with the Imperial troops. Coming to the communications system, Admiral Kraken began a lengthy speech to his troops,

"For one month now, we have waged brutal war, in space, on land, and in the underground, with these aliens called the Selonians. These rats inhabited what we clamied to be ours, and defended it with a vengeance, that while was less aggressive than most, was still none the less difficult to defeat. But at last defeat has come for these vermin, for we have now secured the underground caverns in which they brooded, and have captured the entire remaining population alive, and seek to export them offworld. For your actions on the field of battle, all of you are to be commended, and awared leave and medals for those of you who fought hard in the name of Imperialism. Let us also remember those who gave their lives to the Imperial serivice, three hundred twenty nine Imperial Stormtroopers, fifty-five Naval personnel, twenty-one non-combat personnel, and some ten war droids. Now, go and enjoy the latest piece of soil to join the New Order. Gloria Imperium!"