OOC:Nkllon, Mestra Asteroid Belt, Tava Yagen Asteroid Belt, Karpor(made up planet, will NOT be hidden)

IC:
Ten Months before, on Tynna, same time period as the GC "takeovers" of Tynna, Kubindi and Tammar.

The problems with the false data placed on the computers were all finished. Everything was bakc on schedule. So far there was three major parties. The Tynnan Freedom Party, the Tynnan Empire Party, and the Tynnan Neutral Party. There were other parties, but they did not seem to have a chance at winning the planetary elections. They might win a seat, or even a state election, but nothing more.



Three months later.

The various parties had held their leader elections, so it was assumed everyone who wanted to join a party had. Gred had been elected leader of the Tynnan Freedom Party, a Tynnan named Quyre had been elected as leader of the Tynnan Empire Party and a Tynnan named Purit had been elected as the leader of the Tynnan Neutral Party. The Tynnan Freedom Party was by far the largest party, as most of the others had limited their options by declaring that their intentions once elected were to either join the New Order or another empire(in the case of TEP) or to remain neutral(in the case of TNP), and not include a vote on the decision.



One month later.

The Tynnan Freedom Party had been voted as a majority government for most of the municipal councils. Already they were forming laws, and things were going well. Some of the smaller parties had managed to get majority governments in a surprisingly large number of municipals. One of them was the Tynnan Commerce Party, a party whose goals were to further commerce, and get the economy to a very high level. They cared more about business then anything else. They managed to get a majority government in the more high tech towns, but also in lots of rural areas, since they promoted not only high tech industry, but also farming, fishing and mining. It looked as if they would defiantly secure a state government, perhaps more, and maybe even a country government. In fact, they had an excellent chance at being runner's up or the winner of the country elections, because those were the groups that controlled natural resources. Gred knew that to keep them happy, whoever won the planetary elections, or whoever was the government that beat them would also have to get a good economy going. He was fully prepared to do just that.



Four months later.

Both State and Country elections had been held. As Gred expected, the TCP had managed to control 7 of the ten states in one country, and had then managed to win the country elections, though just barely. They were now preparing for the Planetary Elections, and Gred realized he would need to calculate the TCP as a large threat. His own party had managed to control 2 countries, controlling 7 states in one, and 8 in the other. They also managed to hold two of the non-TCP held states in the TCP held country. The Tynnan Neutral Party managed to get control of one country, while the Tynnan Empire Party had made a good show of it, and controlled at least one state in each country.



Two months later, present time.

Gred sat waiting in his office, waiting for the news to come in. Around the world the votes were being tallied. The big day had come. Would the Tynnan Freedom Party, with Gred at their head, become the new planetary government? Or would one of the other parties win?

"Sir, the results are in."

"And..."

"The Tynnan Empire Party has 5% of the population's support, the Tynnan Commerce Party has 10% and the Tynnan Neutral Party has 13%. A variety of parties has a combined 2%, and we have 70% of the votes!"

Cheers shook the building. The people started to drink their wine, aged for one hundred years. Paper was thrown into the air, as well as pens and various other items. However, Gred wasn't one to party for long.

"All right people, settle down. We can party later. Now we have a job to do."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we have to get this planet organized as soon as possible. Someone wiped out all the information on the treasury, and we don't fully know where the government got all their money. We have to start budgeting."

"I agree."

"Unfortunately, by budgeting, we can't really spend much. We will have to delay our promises."

"But the voters will be outraged."

"That may be the case, but we need money to keep our campaign promises."

"Your right."

"We need support from an outside government."

"What about the Galactic Coalition?"

"We are currently only temporary members of the Galactic Coalition. I doubt we can get them to give us money."

"Try it."

"Fine."

"Also, make the news public."

"Get me a press conference in one hour."

"Yes sir."



One hour later, outside the Planetary Government’s office, the press conference was held.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I, your new Planetary President, am pleased to accept my new position. Before starting, I would like to thank everyone that voted for me. Now, back to business. No records can be found of the treasury, or the source where most of our money came from. While we know that it was related to mining, we don't know what mining planet, or resource, though we can be certain it was an off-world source. Unfortunately, with no money, we can't do a lot. I personally giving half the proceeds from my mine to the government. As well, we are planning to ask the Galactic Coalition from some credits, since we are temporary, emergency members. It may take some time before we can fulfill all our election promises, but we promise you, the people, that we will do our very best."

"Mr. President, what promise do you intend on fulfilling first?"

"I intend to fulfill the promise of free food to everyone first, and then free healthcare. As well, we won't place property taxes on residential areas, fulfilling the free housing promise."

"How much money does the government currently have?"

"To the best of our knowledge, we have nothing, other then some property, and some mines. Unfortunately, the planetary government has given control of the mines to the country governments."

"Are you suggesting that the planetary government is bankrupt, but that certain country governments have money?"

"Yes."

"What about municipal and state governments?"

"To the best of my knowledge, the municipal governments are likewise bankrupt. Some of the state governments may have some money, since some of the money made from natural resources are given to the states."

"How much money do you expect to be able to get from the Galactic Coalition?"

"I do not have any expectations at this point, other then that I'm sure they will render some sort of aid."

"Do you think that we will be in debt to the Galactic Coalition, if or when they send us some aid?"

"I think that we will be in debt to them."

"How will this debt effect the people of Tynna?"

"I do not know. Perhaps, if or when we decide to join a larger government, people may feel that it is best to join the Galactic Coalition, due to the debt that we owe them."

No one raised any more questions, and there was a lengthy pause.

"Any other questions?"

Another pause.

"In that case, I have work to do."

Gred left and went back to work.



Later, in the abandoned underground mine, Kirpor heard the news.

This Gred fellow certainly needs some more money, and he seems to be a nice enough guy. As well, he seems to have the best interest of our planet at heart. I'll take the information to him.

Kirpor had an old airspeeder in a special chamber of the mine. He quickly checked it over, and grabbed the data cards. He quickly flew out of the tunnel, and over his fields. Then he flew to the Planetary Government’s Office, flying over rocky ground, fields, oceans, lakes and seas. He flew a straight path, relatively unnoticed, due to the many other airspeeders being used that day. He was only noticed by collectors of older model airspeeders, and they only noticed it for what model it was.

Finally he reached the Planetary Government Office, he quickly entered. He quickly walked up to Gred's secretary.

"I need an appointment with President Gred as soon as possible."

"He is a very busy man, now that he is President. How is next week?"

"Not very good. Just give him this."

Kirpor pulled out a sealed envelope and handed it to the secretary. Inside was a letter from the last Planetary leader, telling the recipient that Kirpor was not a fraud, the information was real, and even gave numerous ways for Kirpor to identify himself.

"I'm sorry sir, but we can't give the President unopened packages."

"Then scan it, open it or do whatever you have to do to make sure that it is safe for the President to open."

"Don't worry, we will."

The envelope was immediately taken to secure room, and scanned. There was no metal in the envelope, and no traces of any explosives. They then opened it, wearing chemical suits, and scanned the documents. Nothing unusual, such as a chemical or biological weapon, showed up. The chief security officer deemed it safe, and then sent it to Gred.

Once it reached Gred, he immediately opened it, and read it.

To whoever this may concern,

I, Gloin, one of the Planetary Leaders, hereby declare that Kirpor, the delivered of this message, is not a fraud, and all information he gives you is completely true, and unchanged with. Here are several means of identifying him. The information concerns the planetary treasury.

What? Gloin left someone behind with information concerning the planetary treasury? This is too good to be true. That person may be able to tell us how to locate the treasury.

Gred called his secretary.

"Cancel all my appointments."

"But sir, you are scheduled to talk to the Galactic Coalition representatives in half and hour."

"Tell them that there may be a delay, and that I might not need to speak to them about borrowing any funds. Then send the Tynnan named Kirpor in."

"Sir?"

"Don't question my orders, just carry them out."

"Yes sir."

The secretary quickly ushered in Kirpor, and then left.

"Kirpor, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. Please, be seated."

"Thank you."

"This letter from Gloin says that you have information concerning the planetary treasury. Is that correct?"

"Yes, it is. These datacards contain all the information you need to know about the planetary treasury, including how much it is, how to retrieve some of the money, how we got it, and what natural resources we have stockpiled."

"Why did Gloin make this set of datacards?"

"Because he knew about the divisions in our planet's society, and he wanted to make sure that if, sometime in the future, some Planetary Leader was greedy, or that the information was somehow lost, a backup copy would be available."

"I see. Can I look at the datacards?"

"Yes."

Kirpor tossed over the datacards, and Gred quickly inserted the first one into his datapad. The key points on it was how the planet got it's credits. A large amount was acquired through the mining of natural resources on Tynna, but also, they had apparently had mining deal with the miners on Nkllon. Large amounts of credits and natural resources had been stockpiled from that deal.

Nkllon? Wasn't that originally settled by Lando Calrissian? And then wasn't the only settlement destroyed by Grand Admiral Thrawn? Oh, but wait. The Winger Mining Corporation resettled it with three Nomad Cities. As well, it looks like our government helped buy another Nomad City. They must have really been racking in the cash.

Gred then looked at the next datacard. This one should how much money and natural resources they had.

What? We have 23.04 TRILLION credits? We have a million tons of dolovite, kammris and hfredium? Combine those together, and I can fulfill all my elections promises, not to mention I will have enough money to build better spaceports and a bigger military, aimed at a defense, meaning planetary guns and shields, as well as a minefield. As well, I can send a proposal to the miners on Nkllon, of another Nomad City, and help from Tynna, in exchange for a portion of the profits. That will please the Tynnan Commerce Party, and get them to support us. By not proposing to join any government for a while, and showing that we don't need outside support, the Tynnan Neutral Party will hopefully support us. In short, I can make it so that even more of the citizens are happy.

"Thank you, this will help our planet greatly. Is there anything I can do for you? A job, perhaps in the finance ministry? Or you can be my advisor. I need all the help I can get. You were obviously well connected with the Gloin administration, so you can provide me lots of insights."

"No thanks, I don't need a job, and you don't need the help. You will succeed Gred, I have seen that. But there is one thing you can do."

"What is it?"

"Give me the proper equipement to mine, by myself, and get someone to come by once a week to take my ores and agricultural products to sell. All proceeds will go to charity. As well, give me ownership of the land."

"I think that can be arranged, but why can't you do it?"

"I'm a hermit. My family has always lived on that land, and worked on it. I can research my family back since before the Old Republic discovered Tynna, and we lived there. We originally owned it, but then we were forced to go in hidding, after we were hunted during the time while the Emperor was gaining power. Now I want it returned to my family. Once I die, since I have no relatives, they were all killed while we were beign hunted, the land will be given to charity."

"I completely understand. That can be arranged."

"Thank you."

Kirpor left, leaving Gred to think about what he had said.

Why was he and his relatives hunted? And how does he know I will succeed? How has he seen that? There is something strange about him. Wait. Could he be a Jedi? That must be it. The main people that the Emperor ordered to be hunted and killed were the Jedi. And they can see the future. Oh well, know I need to do something about our new money.

Gred once again called his secretary.

"Organise another press conference."

"So soon?"

"Yes. I have just recieved very important information."

"What about your meeting with the Galactic Coalition representative? He is here, waiting."

"Send him in. I want the press conference scheduled for one hour."

"Yes sir."

The Galactic Coalition representative was ushered in.

"Good day to you, Mr. Zogble. Thank you for waiting. I apologize for the delay, but I just received new information. Here, look at these datacards."

Mr. Zogble was a member of the Ruling Council, the council that led the Galactic Coalition. He had been sent to show just how much the Galactic Coalition wanted the Tynnans in the Coalition. He quickly sat down and scanned through the information.

"How can you be sure this isn't a prank?"

"I have a letter here from Gloin, the last trustworthy planetary leader."

"I see. In that case, it seems that Tynna does not really need our help."

"At the moment we still need your help. We are defenceless."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you still have the ships you bought from the Kubaz."

"Those were returned. Both Odumin and his cousin Humin caused much damage to them, I felt that we needed to help them."

"I see. So you still wish to be a temporary member of the Galactic Coalition?"

"Yes."

"You do realise that temporary memberships can only last for so long. I'm afraid your people will have to come to a decision, before the end of the standard year."

"But that is only five standard months! We still have a whole government to form!"

"I'm sorry, but regulations must be observed. You have already had ten standard months. I must admit you made many changes, but you could have had the issue resolved by now, if only you had sped up the elections."

"The elections could not have been sped up. I had to give everyone a fair chance. Plus, things went rather quickly as it was. On most worlds you have a lot longer between the announcement and the elections."

"Nobody would have known the difference between three months and four. You have never had an election before, it would have been ok either way. It's not like your people know any different."

"I must correct you. We have always paid attention to things that happen here on our planet, and in the rest of the galaxy. I had people complaining about the timing being too short. They said it gave me an unfair advantage. Imagine if I had decreased the time between the announcement and the elections by a month, I probably would have had twice the calls."

"You had complaints? You had complaints? Our citizens have been complaining for months about how long we have let you be a temporary member. Their taxes are going to paying for your defense."

"And once we have a working government with enough resources, you will be paid back. Once we have become full members, or the year is over, tell us how much you paid to free us and defend us. We will pay that back, with interest, as soon as possible. It may take a while, but we will pay you."

"I see. In that case, our business is concluded. You will have your temporary membership for another 5 months. After that, unless a decision is made, we will withdraw your membership and withdraw the defenses.”

“Fine.”

The representative left, leaving Gred to himself to prepare his speech.

Later, at the press conference.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Tynnans of all ages, I have some excellent news. Thanks to Gloin, we have managed to attain all the information we need about the Tynna Treasury. Therefore I will now be able to uphold all my election promises.”

“What about your quest to ask the Galactic Coalition for aid?”

“I have talked to their representative, and they have agreed to allow us to continue to be temporary members of the Galactic Coalition and will continue to help defend us.”

“What planet did we gain natural resources and credits from?”

“Nkllon.”

“Are there any plans to sends scouts to Nkllon?”

“That has yet to be decided. We need to have vote of the Planetary Government Council first.”

"You said earlier that some citizens may feel a debt to the Galactic Coalition because of them giving us money. Now that they won't be giving us money, how will the debt change?"

"As I said before, I can't tell how this will effect the citizens. Perhaps they will not even feel any debt, perhaps they will feel a large debt."

"Thank you for your time."

Gred left, and walked to his office.

"Organise an emergency Planetary Gouvernment Council meeting now."

"But sir, some of the representatives aren't here."

"Then get them here. I don't care if they have to be flown here in remote controlled fighters, or if they have to walke the whole way, just get them here fast."

"Yes sir."

Gred quickly walked to the Council Chamber…

Half an hour later, everyone had arrived, and the meeting started.

“I have called you all here for our first meeting. To begin with, each of you has been issued a copy of the datacards I received from a Tynnan today. They are the ones that hold the information on our planetary treasury. As you will soon find out, we have large amounts of natural resources and credits. We gained a lot of credits from Nkllon. I propose that we send some ships to Nkllon, in the Athega system. We will propose to the miners that we share the cost of running the Nomad Cities, will provide protection and will immediately start construction on two Nomad Cities. In exchange we will get half the profits."

"I think we should do it. But we should suggest that they join us in an Alliance of Miners, that way we can have the same government and still share the profits. As well it allows us to make expansions onto other planets." said one of the representatives from the Tynnan Commerce Party.

"I agree, this will give us more funds and will allows us to control more planets." That particular reply was from a representative of the Tynnan Empire Party. Recently their views had changed from joining the New Order to either joining the New Order or making their own Empire.

"Lets put this to a vote, using the improvements. All in favour?"

Green lights lit up around the room. Then more and more light followed. Soon everyone had voted, in favour of sending the ships.

A representative from the Tynnan Neutral Party, Takjorty spoke up.

"What is our current fleet status?"

"We have some transports, and some ground troops."

"I suggest that we immediately start to purchase some ships."

"But from where? The Kubaz will not sell us any."

"Loronar."

"Loronar?"

"Yes, Loronar Corporation, the makers of the Strike Cruiser and Torpedo Sphere."

"We neeed planetary defenses as well."

"Loronar can do that for us."

"An excellent idea. I vote we send an envoy immediately."

The vote as made and it was agreed. An envoy would be sent immediately to purchase ships from Loronar, and some planetary defenses, including mines, shields and planetary guns.

Finally the meeting was over. Gred then used his powers as Planetary Leader to pass four laws. These laws were his election promises. Now every Tynnan had free housing, food, healthcare and education. He then gave the land around Kirpor's mine to Kirpor, and hired the driver. Finally he released news that a new hospital and spaceport would be build soon. Anyone that wanted to build it and could submit a plan, location and a schedule within a month could submit their proposal at his office.


Nkllon, right before the Tynnan Ambassador and his escorts arrives.

Nkllon was in the distance while a space station with a shield and guns equal to those on a planet, sat farther out. Shieldships were based inside of the shield, and mines formed a perimeter around the station. Miners had learned the hard way that what the Empire wanted, it would try to get by force. Therefor they had heavily defended the station and the shieldships, the one way to get to Nkllon, short of building your own shieldship. A defensive fleet of 5 Victory Star Destroyers, 3 Dreadnaughts, 2 Escort Carriers and 6 Corellian Gunships was arrayed around the area. 8 squadrons of X-TIEs, and 2 squadrons of TIE-wings were stationed on the Victory Star Destroyers. 3 squadrons of modified Cloakshape fighters were positioned on the Dreadnaughts, and 12 Squadrons of Clutches were positioned on the Escort Carriers. 4 Squadrons of Skipray Blastboats, 10 Sentinel Shuttles and 4 ex-smuggler YT-1300s were positioned on the station itself.

Suddenly Tynnan and it's escorts arrived. Tynna was a Sentinel Shuttle converted into pleasure yatch, while it's escorts were four other Sentinel Shuttles.

"Newly arrived ships, this is Nkllon Control. Identify yourself immediately."

"This is Tynna. We are here on a diplomactic mission from the Tynnan Government. Our weapons and shields are not powered, as you can tell. We wish to speak to whoever runs the mining operation."

"Adminstrator Jarn is at Nomad I. A shieldship is going into the system momentarily. Do you have a slave circut?"

"Yes."

"Give us control and we will bring you in safely. If you don't want to give us control we can still bring you in, but it will take a lot longer."

"We are transfering you control now."

The ambassador nodded at the pilot.

"Thank you."

After the trip, they were brought to Administrator Jarn's office, and were told that he would be with them momentarily.

"Welcome Ambassador, I am Administrator Jarn. Please, be seated."

Once the Tynnan Ambassador was seated, Administrator Jarn continued.

What can I do for you on this fine day? Perhaps a drink before we start? The Whyren's Reserve is very good. It is pre-Imperial occupation vintage."

"Please."

An aide brought the wine bottle and some glasses. After pouring himself a glass, Adminstrator Jarn poured one of the Ambassador.

"Your right, this is quite good. By your last comment I take it you have no love for the Empire?"

"I don't dislike them if that is what you are asking. Its just that the Imperials have frequently invaded mining colonies, and I have learned to distrust them. As well, the batches of Whyren's Reserve produced after the Imperials came to Corellia aren't quite so good. Anyway, one to business."

"Yes, on to business. I have been instructed to come here and make you an offer."

"Really..."

"Yes. Not that long ago Tynna and Nkllon had an agreement where we helped you and provided more Nomad Cities, and in exchange we got part of the profits. We are here to try and bring back that agreement, or something like it. We propose and Alliance of Miners, formed between Nkllon and Tynna."

"What would this involve?"

"We would combine our treasuries and governments into one. Our Planetary government would handle the governmental aspect, while you can handle the mining and profits aspect. Tynna is ready to do that at any point. As well our defences would be combined into one, and Nkllon would join Tynna in becoming a temporary member of the Galactic Coalition. All the miners will receive the same thing as all Tynnan citizens; free healthcare, free food, free housing and free education."

"I see."

It's not a bad deal, we need more protection. We have been struck numerous times by those damn mercenaries, and our customers are getting angry. Our stockpiles have been getting quite low, and our defenses are obviously not very good, despite how they look. The workers will definately like the added bonuses of free food, free healthcare, free housing and free education. As well, we may be able to build extensions on the Nomad Cities, or build more and better Nomad Cities so more of the workers can bring their families here. As well, we will get protection, at least temporarily, from the Galactic Coalition, so they can help stop the mercenaries.

"We will do it."

"Excellent. Once I tell Planetary Leader Gred, he can get the papers written up and then he can come here to sign them."

"Sounds good, though I have a suggestion. When he comes he should bring some ships with him."

"Why?"

"Recently we have been hit numerous times by a mercenary group. They hit with jsut enough force to be able to defeat our ships, so we usually can't win the battles. Or if they hit with less at the start, they have at least one backup group, so they reinforce their initial group, and then send another group to hit the space station. We tried everything, including sending numerous convoys out at once, but nothing works. Even if we lie to our customers on when the shippment will be delivered, or don't lie and take a circular route, they still know when to hit us."

"Sounds like you have a rat in your group. How would more ships help you? The rat will just tell the mercenaries the information about the ships, and they will send in more ships."

"Not if we stage the new ships and the 6 Corellian Gunships out of the system, but close enough to easily micro-jump in."

"Excellent plan. You can fake a convoy going out with the Corellian Gunships, just make it a small one, and don't tell anyone the route, say it is for security reasons. Once they get out, the convoy can then fly to Tynna, and fake delivering the load. The gunships can stay outside the Nkllon system. Make sure you have a real convoy, preferably large, with less safety precautions going out just after the small one, so then the mercenaries will hit the real one."

"Excellent. That is how we will do it."

The ambassador left to go send Gred the message.

"Gred, we have successfully convinced the Nkllon miners to join us in the Alliance of Miners. Apparently they have recently been hit numerous times by a mercenary group, so when you come with the papers, they want you to bring a fleet."

"Did they say what size?"

"No, though I suggest a large ship and a few escorts. Something at least the size of an Victory Star Destroyer for the large ship, preferably larger, like an Imperial Star Destroyer."

"I understand. Tell the leader of the miners that we are writing up the papers now. By the way, who is he?"

"Administrator Jarn."

"Ok."

"Have we heard from the missions sent to Loronar and Talaan to buy ships?"

"Not yet. I'll notify you once the plans are ready and when we hear anything from Loronar."

"Ok, thank you."

The ambassador left to talk to Administrator Jarn.

"Planetary Leader Gred says that they papers are being drawn up now. We will notify us when they are ready."

"Thank you."

"Your welcome."

Meanwhile, in the Loronar System.

The Tynnan convoy came out of hyperspace. One of the Battle Horn Transports purchased by Gred had been changed into a pleasure yatch. The ambassador, Ambassador Smith, was human, something that was quite rare in the Tynnan diplomatic corps. Expensive wine and food were available for while the deal was made, and numerous accounts had ten thousand credits in it, as a little incentive to the ambassadors to complete the deal quickly. They wanted to make it look like they had lots of money to burn, and truth be told, they did.

"Loronar Control, this is the Tynnan diplomatic ship Galactic. We are here to talk to Loronar Corporation about some business."

"Galactic, this is Loronar Control, sector one of the shield has been lowered, and you are clear to dock in Docking Bay Five."

"Thank you Loronar Control."

Galactic flew down to the surface. Once there, Ambassador Smith called the Loronar office.

"Loronar Corporation, this is the Tynnan Ambassador Smith. I would like to talk to a representative, or a group of representatives about buying some ships. I think you would find in profitable to meet on my ship."

"Ambassador Smith, a delegate will be sent soon."

"Thank you."

Ambassador Smith signed off and then prepared for the delegate to arrive.

One hour later the delegate arrived.

"Welcome onboard my ship, Ambassador-."

"Karn."

"Ambassador Karn. Thank you for coming here. Allow me to give you a present."

Ambassador Smith handed over a datachip, with access to an account with ten thousand credits in it.

"Do you want any wine, or some food?"

A line of servers came out with various wines and food on them, including lots of expensive snacks like those served at a dinner party hosted by the rich.

After the two had gotten some food, Ambassador Smith decided to start business.

"Tynna would like to purchase large amounts of ships from you."

"So I gathered. What do you want?"

"Five Torpedo Spheres, fifteen Strike Cruisers and some fighters."

"The Torpedo Spheres and Strike Cruisers we can handle easily. Fighters might be harder depending on how much you want."

"What kind of fighter forces do you have currently for sale?"

"Five squadrons of Skipray Blastboats, 5 squadrons of TIE Interceptors, 5 Squadrons of TIE Bombers, 10 Squadrons of TIE fighters and 144 squadrons of TIE-wings."

"That should be enough. We will take everything except the TIE-wings. We are also looking for some planetary defenses."

"We can outfit you with a planetary shield, two planetary ion cannons and 20 000 turbolaser mines."

"We will take it all. How much?"

"120 Billion."

"120 Billion?"

"120 Billion."

"100 Billion."

"115 Billion and we will throw in two escort carriers and the 144 TIE-wings."

"Deal."

They shook hands.

"We will get the crews here shortly, as well as transports to take the planetary defenses off your hands."

"No problem."

One week later on Tynna, the transports and new ships were arriving, and the terms of agreement between Nkllon and Tynna for the making Alliance of Miners were just done.

“Ambassador, this is Gred. The papers are written up, and the ships bought from Loronar have just arrived.”

“Excellent. Everything will be arranged here for when you arrive. Be sure to leave your escorts outside the system, in the system labeled MAZ-185.”

“But why?”

“Everything will be explained to you when you arrive.”

“All right.”

Moments later, on Nkllon, the ambassador went to talk to Administrator Jarn.

“Administrator Jarn, Gred will be leaving Tynna soon. He is bringing one Torpedo Sphere and three Strike Cruisers, accompanied by 36 Skipray Blastboats, to MAZ-185.”

“Excellent news. I’ll have the trap ready for then.”

The next day the convoy was sent off.

When the convoy reached MAZ-185, the accompanying 6 Corellian Gunships stayed there, while the empty transports went onward with their journey.

Later, at Nkllon, Gred was seated across the table from Administrator Jarn.

“This agreement is suitable with me.” Said Administrator Jarn.

“And it is fine with me.” Replied Planetary Leader Gred.

The two signed the agreement, and with that, the Alliance of Miners was made. Immediately thereafter an envoy was sent to the Galactic Coalition, wishing to change the temporary membership of Tynna to the temporary membership of the Alliance of Miners. After agreeing to hold a vote on if the Alliance of Miners would Galactic Coalition as a full-fledged member by the end of the standard year, they were accepted.

Two hours after the treaty was signed the second convoy began to head out from Nkllon. It consisted of ten Battle Horn Transports. Unfortunately, it only had a small military escort consisting of only three aging Dreadnaughts and their Cloakshape fighters. The second it was out of range of the defenses in the Athega System, five Strike Cruisers, five Nebulon-B2 Frigates and 10 Marauder Corvettes popped out of hyperspace. Reinforcements were then sent from Nkllon and some ships from a nearby system. The ships from the nearby system included the Tynnan Torpedo Sphere Jus and it's three Strike Cruise EscortsPeace, Defender and Guardian. The guns on the Marauder Corvettes and Nebulon-B2 Frigates had been replaced with ion cannons. They immediately began disabling five of the Battle Horns Transports. 20 squadrons of TIE-wings, equipped with ion cannons, launched and immediately started firing on the other five Battle Horn Transports. The Strike Cruisers moved out and positioned themselves between the escorts and the other ships. They immediately started firing and pounded the escort ships. The Dreadnaughts launched their fighters, which then moved in and fired on a Nebulon-B2 Frigate. Immediately the frigate's shields began to fall in places. The Dreadnaughts ignored the Strike Cruisers and fired on three Marauder Corvettes. The Strike Cruisers teamed up on one of the Dreadnaughts, and it's shields were also beginning to fall rapidly. The Battle Horns saw that the Dreadnaughts were doing, and ignoring the fighters, fired on five Marauder Corvettes. Soon the 3 Marauder Corvettes were destroyed and the Dreadnaughts moved on a Nebulon-B2 Frigate. They managed to bring down it's shields right before one of their number was destroyed. The weapons systems on the Battle Horn Transports fell silent, and the engines cut off. It was obvious all power had failed. They had managed to destroy their five targets before being disabled. The Dreadnaughts destroyed the Nebulon-B2 Frigate, and teamed up on a Strike Cruiser. They brought down it's shields before being destroyed. Immediately assault shuttles launched, and headed for the enemy Battle Horns. The Cloakshape fighters, after destroy their Nebulon-B2 Frigate, moved and managed to destroy one assault shuttle before being disabled. Once the assault shuttles had cut through the hull the troops ran to the bridge and gained control there. Then life support was put back on and engineers raced around trying to get everything back online. Reinforcements from Nkllon began to reach the perimeter and fired on the enemy ships. Five Victory Star Destroyers along with two escort carriers had come from the space station. One Torpedo Sphere and three Strike Cruisers, along with 6 Corellian Gunships, came from a nearby system. 12 squadrons of Clutches flew from the two Escort carriers, the Victory Star Destroyers launched 8 squadrons of X-TIEs and 2 of TIE-wings. The Strike Cruisers launched 3 squadrons of Skipray Blastboats, which were joined by the 4 squadrons of Skipray Blastboats from the space station. Suddenly the TIE-wings, Clutches and X-TIEs were fighting with the enemy TIE-wings. The ten Battle Horn Transports activated their engines and started to flee the battle zone. The torpedo Sphere rocked as it launched 500 torpedoes, 400 at four enemy Strike Cruisers, so 100 per Strike Cruiser and 100 at a Nebulon-B2 Frigate. The five Victory Star Destroyers each launched 80 Ion Torpedos at the Battle Horn Transports, so each one was hit with 40. The Skipray Blastboats moved in and started to disable the rearmost Strike Cruiser, the unshielded one. Two Strike Cruisers fired at the two unhurt Nebulon-B2 Frigates, the other one fired on the one with 100 proton torpedoes incoming, while the 6 Corellian Gunships fired on the two remaining Marauder Corvettes. The enemy ships had obviously not counted on the Tynnan Torpedo Sphere and 3 Strike Cruisers. They might have even been expecting to get away without Nkllon reinforcements arriving. Regardless of what the mercenaries had expected, they were still losing. Already the shields had dropped on the 4 Strike Cruisers targeted by the Torpedo Sphere, and the Nebulon-B2 Frigate had been destroyed. The proton torpedoes were quickly reloaded. Meanwhile the Skipray Blastboats had disabled the engines on the Strike Cruiser. The 6 Corellian Gunships rocked as they each launched 4 Concussion Missiles, 12 hitting each Marauder Corvette, finishing the job of bringing down the shields. The Tynnan Strike Cruisers had brought down the shields on the two remaining Nebulon-B2 Frigates, and had begun pounding on their fragile 'necks'. The Torpedo Sphere rocked, launching 125 Proton Torpedos at each enemy Strike Cruiser that they had already launch missiles at, destroying them. The Skiprays had their target 75% disabled, when the 5 VSDs launched 35 Ion Torpedoes at each of the enemy Battle Horns, 30 Ion Torpedoes at the Skipray's Strike Cruiser, and 10 at each of the remaining Marauder Corvettes. This disabled all the remaining enemy ships, except the two unshielded Nebulon-B2 Frigates, which were quickly finished off by the turbolasers on the various Alliance of Miners (AM) ships. The fighters had destroyed the weak enemy fighter forces, and the Skipray Blastboats helped finish off the remaining assault shuttles. The ships quickly linked up to the disabled enemy ships, and troops moved in quickly, taking back control of the Battle Horns. Other troops moved in on Marauder Corvettes. The Strike Cruiser was dragged back towards the space station, where more AM troops waited to board it, and where interrogation chambers and jails were set up. The Nkllon miners had suffered severally because of these mercenaries, who most people thought were hired by the Mestra Asteroid Belt Miners. Now the mercenaries would have a choice. Did they want to stand trial for murder charges, or did they want to give information to the Alliance of Miners, saving them from worrying about a murder charge, and possible lifetime imprisonment, which on Nkllon, was actually for the rest of your life, not just ten or twenty years, such as on other planets. The vast majority of the mercenaries were expected to accept a deal, and get off lightly. There was no option of them being traded for other prisoners, as what would happen in a real war. This was not a war, just an attack by outlaws, and the outlaws had not taken many prisoners, and those that they had taken were soon spaced by the mercenaries after being captured. Now the mercenaries would pay for those murders.

Administrator Jarn was sitting in his office waiting for news on the mission when an aide came in.

"Sir, all the Battle Horns have been retaken, and the Marauder Corvettes are secure. The Strike Cruiser is on route to the space station, and more assault shuttles are on their way, followed by larger troop transports."

"Excellent. Proceed as you see fit. Once you have captured all the mercenaries, question them all together to see if any of them wants to talk. If a few look like they will talk in a private setting, put them in isolation. All officers, or people similar to officers are to go in isolation, and regular crewers are to be put in the mass detention cells. We will do a better questioning period later."

"Excuse me for asking, but do we have the resources for a proper interrogation?"

"We aren't interrogating them, we are questioning them!"

"And what's the difference?"

"When you interrogate someone, you are causing them discomfort or harm, we are simply questioning them, which means that we are asking questions, and writing down the answers, without causing them harm."

"I see."

"Call me when you’re done."

Administrator Jarn's aide left, and Jarn looked at projected profits, now that the mercenaries had been taken care of, and the Tynnan and Nkllon resources had been combined. The projected profits should that the Alliance of Miners would be able to provide everyone with education, housing and food, and still not have any taxes, because all the major companies were owned by the government, so the profits went to the government. The government would be able to buy out of the rest of the companies, if they wanted to sell, and control both world's economies, meaning that they could keep prices affordable compared to workers wages. Administrator Jarn did not care about being rich, he cared about the people under he prayed having enough credits to buy what they wanted and needed.

[font=Times New Roman] <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]General Gran, commander of the AM soldiers sat in the control room set up on one of the Battle Horns.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]"Sir, the first wave Sentinel Shuttles have docked, and the troops have begun to secure a perimeter in the docking bay."[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]"And the assault shuttles?"[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]"They are attached to the hull, and prepared to cut in."[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]"Excellent. Tell me when the troops in the docking bay have fully set up their perimeter."[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]"Yes sir."[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]"And get more Sentinel Shuttles and transports to land in the docking bay. I want more troops there. Make sure that they have the modified E-webs."[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]"Yes sir."[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]The modified E-webs were standard E-web Heavy Repeating Blasters, modified so that the bolts only stunned you. The troops used lots of them in setting up a perimeter, because they could stun numerous opponents, with few losses.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]"Sir, the perimeter is set up. All entrances to the docking bay have been shut, with a few extra surprises for any one who tries to get past."[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] [/font]
[font='Times New Roman']"Excellent. Now we wait. The next move is not ours to make..."[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]Just outside every entrance to the docking bay, a hundred mercenary troops waited for the signal. More mercenaries were moving in behind them. To do this the rest of the ship was left virtually unoccupied. At the exact same time, officers on the bridge pressed the required buttons, and the doors tried to open. They did open, but only moved thirty centimeters apart before being stopped. This activated some of the 'surprises' left by the AM troops. At each door, a pair off shrapnel grenades that were attached to the roof, and set to explode if the doors moved, exploded, killing twenty mercenaries, and wounding several more. A pair of smoke grenades were set off, this time from the walls, covering the area in a thick cloud of smoke. A couple gravity traps, set at the highest setting, activated, pulling five mercenaries to the ground. Two troops, kneeling on the floor, tossed concussion grenades through the gap in the doors. Two more troops, shot stun bolts over the kneeling troops head. These troops quickly moved out of the way as another two moved a large durasteel sheet over the gap in the door, and then more troops, with welders, quickly welded the plate on, while the mercenaries were still recovering. All these troops then moved behind the barricades, large durasteel sheets set up with holes in them to fire through, and a few large holes in the center for the Heavy Repeating Blasters to fire through. They waited for the mercenaries to launch their next attack. They would not wait long. The mercenaries set up charges on the durasteel plate and doors, and blew the ones on the durasteel plate. Through this small hole they lobbed in numerous smoke grenades. Then they backed up and blew apart the doors. The smoke was still covering the area, as the mercenaries moved in, and spread out along the walls. When they smoke cleared they were quite surprised at what was infront of them. They had not expected the AM troops to have such an elaborate set-up of defences, not after they had done so much outside of the defences outside the docking bay. The AM troops opened fire, spraying fire at the mercenaries. The mercenaries fired back, but their shots did little to the durasteel plates the AM troops were hidding behind. The mercenaries called for reinforcements, and more mercenaries came. The AM troop commander, a Colonel, pulled out his comlink.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]"General Garn, Black 1 is underfire, we are engaged in a heavy battle with the mercenaries and they are calling in reinforcements. I think the distraction is working."[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]"Excellent. Red 1, Green 1 and Gold 1, cut into the ship. Orange 1, Blue 1 and Silver 1, prepare to move in and help Red 1, Green 1 and Gold 1. White 1, Grey 1, prepare to help Black 1 in the docking bay."[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]"Yes sir."[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]The troops aboard the assault shuttles, Red, Green and Gold groups, cut into the ship, Red group going for the engines, Green group going for the bridge, and Gold group going for the auxiliary bridge. When they had cut into the ship, the troops rushed out, and secured a perimeter, while the assault shuttles left. Then the larger bulk transports, carrying Orange Group, Blue Group and Silver Group attached to the airlocks left behind by the assault shuttles, and the troops moved into the ship, moving to their objectives.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]In the docking bay, Black Group was doing pretty well, until the mercenaries brought in explosives.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]"Target those mercenaries with explosives, they are the ones that can cause significant damage to our defenses. I want troops to toss all their stun grenades at large groups of enemy soldiers. Why isn't the plan working? Where is the real attack? Where are our reinforcements?"[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]"This is White 1, we are inbound. Just keep them busy for a few minutes."[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]"Sir, the mercenaries have begun to withdraw."[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]"Finally. Keep them busy, and then prepare to move this forward, we have to make room for the reinforcements."[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]"Yes sir."[/font]

[font=Times New Roman] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]After the last of the mercenaries had retreated, the AM troops moved the durasteel sheets they had been hiding behind up to the entrances, making room for the reinforcements from White Group and Grey Group…[/font]

Meanwhile the team heading for the bridge was just outside.
<O:p</O:p


"Jesaf, plant the proper explosives on the door. Make sure to use shaped charges so the blast goes straight into the door, not back at us. I want everyone except Porter and Smith to be kneeling, spraying stun fire into the bridge. You two will lob stun and concussion grenades in over our heads. After you’ve each thrown ten grenades, everyone goes in. Our reinforcements are docking soon, but I want this mission over before they get here. We take control of the bridge, lock off all entrances, and prepare for their assault."



<O:p
"Who will hold the entrance way for the reinforcements?”

<O:p</O:p


“There are the two modified E-webs we put there. I had Turner and Black stay behind manning them. That will be enough initial cover for the reinforcements. Our other teams will report when they have their objectives. Once that happens we use the communications system to demand the surrender of the mercenaries. Jesaf, are you ready?”
<O:p



“Yep.”<O:p


“All right, trigger the explosives on my mark. Three, two, one mark."
<O:p



The door blew inward, into the bridge, and the AM troops began to fire stun bolts in through the doorway. After the 20 grenades had been lobbed in, the troops rushed in, using thermal sensors in their helmets to target enemy troops through the smoke. The bridge fell quickly.



“This is Green Group, we have the bridge.”
<O:p



“Excellent. Black Group has secured the docking bay and just reported that the mercenaries are retreating, no doubt some are heading towards your position.”
<O:p



“This is Red Group, the engines are secure.”<O:p


“Gold Group has secured the auxiliary bridge.”<O:p


“White Group and Gray Group have landed in the docking bay. Gray Group is moving our to secure port weapons, while White Group is moving to secure starboard weapons.”<O:p


“Orange Group here, we have landed and beginning to move in and reinforce Red Group.”<O:p


“Blue Group has landed safely. Forward elements have almost reached Green Group.”<O:p


“Silver Group is fine. Half of us our moving forward to help Gold Group.”<O:p


“Excellent work everyone. Green Group, broadcast a message that we have captured their ship, and demand their surrender.”<O:p


“Yes sir.”<O:p


“All troops that surrender will be given transport out of here, after we question them. Same with the ones we captured.”<O:p


“Yes sir.”<O:p


The mercenaries surrendered, and the ship was towed back to the space station, where the prisoners would be questioned. The Alliance of Miners had their first victory, and hoped that the information they gained from the prisoners would help them get more victories.

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]Meanwhile the team heading for the bridge was just outside.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“Jesaf, plant the proper explosives on the door. Make sure to use shaped charges so the blast goes straight into the door, not back at us. I want everyone except Porter and Smith to be kneeling, spraying stun fire into the bridge. You two will lob stun and concussion grenades in over our heads. After you’ve each thrown ten grenades, everyone goes in. Our reinforcements are docking soon, but I want this mission over before they get here. We take control of the bridge, lock off all entrances, and prepare for their assault.”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“Who will hold the entrance way for the reinforcements?”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“There are the two modified E-webs we put there. I had Turner and Black stay behind manning them. That will be enough initial cover for the reinforcements. Our other teams will report when they have their objectives. Once that happens we use the communications system to demand the surrender of the mercenaries. Jesaf, are you ready?”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“Yep.”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“All right, trigger the explosives on my mark. Three, two, one MARK.”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]The door blew inward, into the bridge, and the AM troops began to fire stun bolts in through the doorway. After the 20 grenades had been lobbed in, the troops rushed in, using thermal sensors in their helmets to target enemy troops through the smoke. The bridge fell quickly.<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“This is Green Group, we have the bridge.”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“Excellent. Black Group has secured the docking bay and just reported that the mercenaries are retreating, no doubt some are heading towards your position.”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“This is Red Group, the engines are secure.”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“Gold Group has secured the auxiliary bridge.”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“White Group and Gray Group have landed in the docking bay. Gray Group is moving our to secure port weapons, while White Group is moving to secure starboard weapons.”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“Orange Group here, we have landed and beginning to move in and reinforce Red Group.”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“Blue Group has landed safely. Forward elements have almost reached Green Group.”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“Silver Group is fine. Half of us our moving forward to help Gold Group.”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“Excellent work everyone. Green Group, broadcast a message that we have captured their ship, and demand their surrender.”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“Yes sir.”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“All troops that surrender will be given transport out of here, after we question them. Same with the ones we captured.”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“Yes sir.”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]The mercenaries surrendered, and the ship was towed back to the space station, where the prisoners would be questioned. The Alliance of Miners had their first victory, and hoped that the information they gained from the prisoners would help them get more victories…<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]Later that day, some of the interviews had been finished, and most of the interviews were pretty standard. The mercenaries did not know who hired them. What was surprising about this was that not even the captain knew who had hried them. Usually the captain would know. A person would only do this if they wanted to be sure that they would not be identified. While this was not uncommon amongst people who fired mercenaries, generally the mercenaries demanded to know who their boss was, or at least had a good idea. In this case the captain had no idea. He had only accepted the offer because he had been jobless for some time and the person was offering higher then standard wages. The mercenaries had been contacted over a hypercomm. While they had managed to triangulate the position of the message, it was a spot in deep space, and by the time they got there the ship that had broadcasted the message was gone. All other messages had been set up the same way. They were being payed out of an account set up on Bovo Yagen. While this might lead some people to think that it was miners in the Tava Yagen Asteriod Belt that had hired the mercenaries, this was probably not true. The Tava Yagen miners were on friendly terms with the miners on Nkllon, and they had recently offered to set up a joint organization of Nkllon, Tava Yagen and Mestra miners, but the Mestra miners had immediately refused, and the Nkllon miners had promised to think about it, and get back to the Tava Yagen miners by the end of the year, which hadn't happened yet. One clue was available for the Alliance of Miners workers. The account was one set up by a large corporation on Bovo Yagen, one that owned an insurance company, a few spaceports, and a few shipping firms. There were also rumors that they owned some other companies, and owned large amounts of stocks in other companies.<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]A meeting was quickly set up between Gred and Jarn, in Administator Jarn's office. When Gred entered Jarn immediately walked over and shook his hand.<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]"I'm please to meet you again Gred. We have uncovered very important information concerning the mercenaries."<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]"What is it?"<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]"They don't know who hired them. They were also contacted by a hypercomm call coming from deep space. As well they were paid through an account set up on Bovo Yagen. The account was set up by a corporation named Inator which owns various companies and owns stock in many more countries.<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]"We have to investigate this firm."<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]"True, but how?"<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]"Where are their headquarters?"<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]"On Bovo Yagen."<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]"We have to insert an intelligence team into the headquarters."<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“How could we do that?”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“There are a few ways it could be done. We could set up some sort of legitimate business with them, or we could just send in an intelligence team after hours. The intelligence team method is the easiest and quickest. We could get into the headquarters, pull off all information located there, in every important office, and then get out. We would have to deal with their security forces, but if they are a legit corporation, this shouldn’t be too hard, we just stun the few guards we run into, maybe have an ionization blaster to disable their droids. If they are somehow an illegitimate corporation, or have some illegal business, it will be slightly harder on our team, but they should be able to succeed none the less.”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“I guess we should choose the intelligence team option.”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“Yes. I’ll get a team set up and send it into the planet. In the meantime I suggest we do some more exploring. We need to know what the miners in the Mestra and Tava Yagen Asteroid Belts are doing. If one gets hit by a mercenary strike similar to those that hit us, we know they didn’t send the mercenaries, and we can then ally with them. If both get hit, well, it would appear that we have an unknown enemy, and we will deal with that possibility later. However hopefully it doesn’t come to that.”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“What forces do you think we should send?”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]“We should send the Victory Star Destroyer, Freedom, 2 Strike Cruisers, Defender and Guardian, 24 Clutches and 48 X-TIEs to the Mestra Asteroid Belt. We send the Victory Star Destroyer Liberty, the Strike Cruiser Peace, and 3 Corellian Gunships, along with 48 Clutches to the Tava Yagen Asteroid Belt. Each group also gets an escort carrier, with 3 squadrons of Skipray Blastboats. They remain just outside the system, with regular scouting runs done by pairs of Blastboats. Crew levels are cut in half to just the pilot and co-pilot. If any ships come near them, they retreat, so we won’t need gunners, and more supplies can be placed in the ships, giving the ships longer scouting times. A fleet jumps in and starts to attack the miners, our fleet goes in after them. Hopefully our ships will be enough to turn the tide of the battle.”<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]"Sounds good. I'll send out the ships immediately."<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]"And I'll get the team ready for their mission."<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]Gred left to go get an intelligence team and make it ready for their mission to Bovo Yagen. This team could not be a standard team, it would need to be made up of intelligence officials, as well as a commando team. Since the possibility for the security guards to be armed, prepared and quite effective was high, the team would need an experienced commander, capable of leading a combination of intelligence personnel and commandos. The choice of commander was an important one, because without a good commander the plan and team would fall to pieces. A commander had to be willing to utilize commandos and intelligence personnel together, using everyones special abilities to the advantage of the team.<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]While Gred was searching for a team commander Administrator Jarn was busy giving orders to the ships designated to go to the Mestra and Tava Yagen Asteroid Belts. They knew their orders, and were fully prepared to carry them out. If the force had to stay there for too long, or need more supplies for some reason, such as repairing damage to their ships, supply convoys would be sent out to help them on that task. It was decided that a pair of Skipray Blastboats would be sent on 3 day scouting rotations. Since there were 13 pairs, each crew would have long rest periods between each scouting mission. Once the briefing was done the ships quickly flew off to their designated targets...<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]On the outskirts of the Mestra Asteroid Belt, four days later, a pair of scouts was starting their first rotation. In the first blastboat a heated argument was going on.<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]"So you telling me we sit here on the edge of the system for 3 days, doing nothing, and then return to the escort carrier, and sit around there doing nothing for 36 days before returning here again for another 3 days, starting the cycle all over again."<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]"That's pretty much it. But your forgetting the fun part of the mission. A mercenary fleet jumps in here and we go in and blast it to pieces."<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]"That's hilarious. You seriously think we are going to see a mercenary fleet attack here? The miners here are the ones who sent the mercenary fleet here against us! We won't find a mercenary fleet here. All we're doing here is allowing them to send another mercenary fleet at Nkllon, but win easier."<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]"Go to sleep, you'll feel better. I'll walk you up later for your shift."<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]"Fine."<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]The co-pilot left the cockpit, and the pilot shook his head. Turning back to his sensor screens he kept watch for anything out of the ordinary. If anything happened, he would be ready. He quickly scanned the system, and checked out the miners' fleet. It was surprisingly small, and consisted of older models, such as a Victory Mark I Star Destroyers, halfway between the main distribution center and a seconday one. 4 Marauder Corvettes were teamed up in two pairs, at two secondary distribution centers. However their fighter corps was not as bad. They had 4 squadrons of Z-95 Headhunters and a squadron of fighters that took that took a B-wing, cut it in half, put the cockpit in the center, and then attach TIE Fighter wings to the ends of the wing. But the squadron of fighters that was most surprising a squadron of 4 TIE Interceptors and 8 TIE Fighters. It was unusual for those fighters to be in the hands of a private corporation. Also evident were 4 squadrons of X-ceptors.<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]Setting the computer to give him an alarm if any ships reverted from hyperspace or any weapons were fired, he began to play a game on his datapad, pausing every few minutes to check if anything had happened. Also, if any warships were detected coming out of hyperspace the computer would give him an even louder alarm.<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]Five hours later the pilot was jerked out his came by ships reverting from hyperspace. When he looked that them, they appeared to be stock transports, along with an escort of five Marauder Corvettes. This was not odd, yet he watched them none the less. The ships moved forwards into the asteroid belt. He plotted their current course, but it didn't take them to any of the distribution points, it took them towards the Victory Star Destroyer. When they were within firing range the transports exploded, spewing out a total of 4 squadrons of TIE-wings. From the Marauder Corvettes 2 squadrons of clutches flew out, and 3 squadrons of X-ceptors.<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]"Freedom, this is Skipray 4, we have a problem. Mercenary fleet just jumped in, camoflaged, are currently in the asteroid belt on an attack run against the main capital ship, a Victory Star Destroyer. Requesting backup immediately."<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]Then he quickly rushed back to where the co-pilot was sleeping. Waking him up, they quickly rushed back to the cockpit as the pilot briefed the co-pilot.<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]When they got back they saw that a Strike Cruiser had jumped in to attack the first pair of Marauder Corvettes and a Nebulon-B Frigate and 2 Corellian Gunships were attacking the second pair. The escort carrier dropped out of hyperspace just in front of the 2 Skipray Blastboats that were scouting the system. After the other 34 Skipray Blastboats had launched from the escort carrier the two scouts landed, and picked up their gunners.<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]Meanwhile Freedom and 24 Clutches, along with 2 of the Skipray Blastboat squadrons, moved in to attack the 5 Marauder Corvettes and their escorting fighters. The Mestra forces at that fight included the Victory Star Destroyer, the 4 squadrons of Z-95 Headhunters, the squadron of B-wing Uglies, and squadron of TIE Interceptors and Fighters. These ships were fighting 5 Marauder Corvettes, 4 TIE-wings, 2 squadrons of Clutches and 3 squadrons of X-ceptors. The Freedom quickly loaded its concussion missile launchers.<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font=Courier New] [font='MS Mincho']<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]At the other site, with the mercenary Strike Cruiser, the AM Strike Cruiser Guardian moved in with its 24 X-TIEs, against the mercenary Strike Cruiser and it's 24 Clutches. From the Mestra Marauder Corvettes 2 squadrons of TIE-wings were launched. They quickly attacked the mercenaries.<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]At the third site, the Strike Cruiser Defender, along with its 24 X-TIEs , and the 3rd squadron of Skipray Blastboats started to attack the mercenary Nebulon-B Frigate and its 2 squadrons of Clutches. The Mestra Marauder Corvettes launched 2 squadrons of TIE-wings and atatcked the 2 Corellian Corvettes.<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]The escort carrier stayed out of the battle, as it did not have enough weapons or armour.<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New] <o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]

[font='MS Mincho'][font=Courier New]The battle was soon finished, and the Mestra Asteroid miners felt indebted to the Alliance of Miners. When Gred offered them the chance to join the Alliance of Miners, they quickly agreed. Mestra Asteroid Belt was the newest addition to the Alliance of Miners, and a new temporary member of the Galactic Coalition.<o:p></o:p>[/font][/font]