" Good morning, sir."

The voice was low and soft, an almost lofty air to it as it the speaker were trying to address space itself.

Upon a bed lined with a blue humming light lay a man of no more than thirty. His eyes were closed, but twitching visibly as REM sleep was only now beginning to be shuffled off. His face, while innocent, now bore the visible scars of battle. A series of crossing lines ran about the left side of the injured man's face.

" Sir?"

The man stirred slightly, the blanket covering his body up to his exposed pectoral muscles shifting with his movement.

A third call roused him, ever so slowly.

" Admiral?"

" Where." The injured man bit out the question and opened his eyes with what could only be pain.

A doctor in grey was seated next to him. A red labcoat was draped over his shoulders. " The Citadel. Despayre."

" When?"

The officer who had spoke first and initiated the long profcess of rousing his superior answered. " You have been in hospital for eighteen days. Your wounds on Varonat were severe. We treated you as best we could on the Intimidation, but it was not enough. You were rushed here."

" Battle," The Admiral demanded.

" A Victory, Admiral. For your actions, the Emperor has awarded you an Honour Clasp to your Valorous Service Citation."

" Orders."

" Recooperate, Admiral."

The man seemed to slump. He perked up when the officer spoke again. " When you are deemed fit for a return to duty, the Emperor will assign you.

The doctor motioned to the officer, who agreed and removed himself from the quarters assigned the Admiral, Number Four Tower, the Imperial Citadel.



Outside, the officer stopped to speak with another of his class which was waiting. " Will he be ready?"

" The Supreme Inquisitor will be back in command within the next weeks. He has suffered more than that and come back sooner."

" Good." The other saluted, and left. From the Citadel he would go to the Imperial Manor to brief the Emperor on his Grand Admiral's condition.

*Two weeks later*

" Admiral," said a young officer of junior rank, bowing low inthe soft light of the Supreme Inquisitor's Citadel office.

From behind a desk came the glow of a barely lit cigarra made from the best Balmorran tobacco. Holding the cigarra was a man of barely thirty, his red tunic adorned with the rank plaque of a Grand Admiral and three badges of office. His face was barely noticeable in the light.

More like the absance thereof, thought the junior officer, a First Lieutenant in the Imperial Jutraalian Army.

" Sir, I have been sent as your new aide de camp."

" Really?"

" Yessir."

The Grand Admiral said nothing, instead turning his chair about as to look out on the skyline of the Jutraalian capitol city. The setting suns' rays were sharply interdicted by armor plated blue transparisteel.

From behind his chair came a few short words. " Good. Begin preparations for my departure to the flagship."

" Yes sir." The Lieutenant left, and the Supreme Inquisitor took up the datapad he had been reading and re writing all morning and day.

Tactical Doctrine for the Successful Assault on a Temperate World

When that mammoth task of reading and repenning the work was complete, the Grand Admiral would be joining the Third Fleet in the commencement of Jutraalian war gams on Voloth Prime. Perfectly suited to Jutraalian needs.

The white funnel of hyperspace that blinded all from any extra-ship vision was an welcome change from the scene of space the Supreme Inquisitor had gotten used to, orbiting Despayre. The capital system had it all: a view of a beautiful nebula, several star clusters, and several constellations that shifted with the passage of stellar gases.

Such is life, thought the Grand Admiral as he perched himself on the command chair. He had other things to think about, however, than his own asthetic likes.

" Time to Voloth?"

" Five hours, Admiral," replied the flag captain.

" Excellent. Have all the landing divisions been secured and briefed?"

A khaki uniformed Army officer looked forward. His body came a attention and he near shouted as if on the parade ground. His actions made every Fleet officer realize this was his first positing inside a warship.

" Sir! All divisions are ready for battle!"

Many chuckled, the Grand Admiral among them.

The training exercise on Voloth had gone off rapidly and without a htich, the committed troops showing their zeal and vigor, but also their youth and inexperience. Actions they had taken against simulated targets and stun rounds would never be done on the field of battle. Casualties had been moderate, but objectives had been taken without delay and ahead of schedule.

The exercise was to be re done, the divisions enrolled moved back to their starting lines and prepped to give it another go. Every fresh unit would be trained and integrated into experienced ones. But defeat would not come from within the Armed Forces. The Surpeme Inquisitor and his fellow Admirals would see to that.

* * *

Above the planet of Taloraan



" So that is Taloraan."

" Yes sir."

" Very well. Bring all weapons to full. Raise shields. Deploy fighters, Omega Pattern."

The battle that was coming would be easily decided, but its purpose was not that for the expansion or the Empire or its acquisition of new territory: it was to remove an unwelcome presence, and train the new naval personnel scattered about the fleet.

The Vong would fight hard, but far from their supplies and without reinforcements, their fortress world would be laid to waste without much effort.

The Supreme Inquistor now awaited the arrival of the Lord Admiral Zen to commence his assault. Zen would divert the enemy so the Grand Admiral could hit them in the baffles. Not a plan he liked, but a good one nonetheless.

He waited.


OOC: Manifest

Vong: NPC-a dozen cruisers, a load of Coralskippers, and one badly damaged and barely operational worldship



Jutraalian Fleet:

Executor-Class Super Star Destroyer - Intimidation
Imperial II-class Star Destroyer - Sovereign
Imperial II-class Star Destroyer - Invincible
Imperial II-class Star Destroyer - Rampant
Imperial II-class Star Destroyer - Emerald

Typhoon Fleet, Second Battle Group
Squadron X

Squadron X
Mon Calamari MC-200 Star Cruiser-Sputnik
Mon Calamari MC-200 Star Cruiser-Titan
Mon Calamari Star Cruiser MC40a- Red Dog
Mon Calamari Star Cruiser MC40a- Red Dawn
Mon Calamari Star Cruiser MC40a- Hellfire
Mon Calamari Star Cruiser MC40a- Cold Fire
Aegis Star Cruiser MK.II-Hawk
Aegis Star Cruiser MK.II-Sea Hawk
Aegis Star Cruiser MK.II-Anik
Corellian-Class Corvette Runner
Corellian-Class Gunship Spectre Four
Corellian-Class Corvette Alpha 2
Corellian-Class Corvette Alpha 1