Somewhere along the Imperial-Coalition Border


Captain Johann Ludwig von Hotzendorff looked nothing like his father. At least, that is what he told himself every moment of the day. Even now as his ship and four others moved through the void at break-neck speed he could not resist the chance to study his own reflection in an unused terminal-screen. He was tall, almost two meters, with a larger frame than most men but the muscles that prevented him from being called fat. His eyes were red to match the mane of closely-cropped hair on his head; his jaw was square as were his shoulders. Fives years of blitz at the Academy had given him a menacing demeanor which he despised, for even his wife said it was impossible for him to look happy. The Captain snarled and raged silently at the truth in the words of friends and passers-by: you look like your father.


“ Sir,” called the tactical officer from across the single-level bridge. Von Hotzendorff thanked the Gods for the reprieve from his self-inflicted recriminations and moved quickly to the shorter man’s location. “ Sir, we’ve received word from Commander Axmann that he and his two frigates are moving to an intercept course. They can’t be stupid enough not to know that we are driving them into a trap but we’ve left them little choice.”


“ Where will we catch between the trap’s claws?”


Lieutenant Uthor pointed at a two-dimensional map on his console. “ Outside the Aidiant Nebula. Even if the our other ship’s don’t arrive in time they will run out of fuel.”


Captain von Hotzendorff smiled, turning to the bow view ports from which he could make out the three ships fleeing before his tiny command. The engagement at Tynna fifteen months before had given the Empire much-needed statistics on Coalition craft - Hotzendorff and his men knew those ships barely had enough fuel for their failed surveillance of the Kaizann Shipyards and now, given their increased speed, they were burning up more than they could spare.


Trying to outrun Imperial ships in Imperial space. Quite a gamble. Gutsy, but ill-advised.


“ Sir, the lead ship is slowing. Sensors are reading a burn-out in its starboard engines.”


The Captain smiled larger. “ Excellent. They’ll have to heave-to and engage us soon. Time to the nebula?”


“ Five minutes, sir,” replied the navigator.


Hotzendorff looked elsewhere in the panorama of star-studded blackness and saw the blue-white whisps of the nebula towards which they hurtled. Random pockets of ionized gas exploded every few seconds creating a celestial display of fireworks for all of the gunners, sealed in turrets and sponsors next to their weapons.


It is as beautiful a place as any to die. Damned Coalition scum,

[font=Times New Roman]Commander Perquin, a Mon Calamari male, looked out over the bow of his Claymore Battleship, the Remembrance as he sat in his command chair and he felt his ship begin to slow down, something that was never good when you were trying to flee from the enemy but were still in their space. To compound the problem the nearest reinforcements were waiting at the pre-assigned rendezvous, still far away, in Coalition space with orders not to cross the border without a message from the fleet. A feeling of alarm spread across the bridge and he looked over to an ensign.[/font]
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[font=Times New Roman]“Helm, what’s wrong?”[/font]
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[font=Times New Roman]“We are running low on fuel and the starboard engines just began to burn out. We aren’t going to make it back to Coalition space without some serious reinforcements. Even then Remembrance won’t get back there without a tug or some major repairs.”[/font]
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[font=Times New Roman]In just moments the situation had gone from bad to worse and now Commander Perquin was faced with the issue of having thousands of crew on his ship that was for all intents and purposes crippled and a sitting duck. Claymore Battleships, and the entire Second Wave line, relied on speed and manoeuvrability in the battlefield to survive. Denied of that one advantage Perquin knew that his ship would soon be destroyed.[/font]
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[font=Times New Roman]“Communications, get me the other Captains.”[/font]
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[font=Times New Roman]“Yes sir.”[/font]
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[font=Times New Roman]First Captain Verna, a human female from Teth and captain of the Longsword Frigate Speed Demon, then Captain Wollo, an Aqualish male and captain of the Longsword Frigate Serenity, appeared on a split screen in front of him.[/font]
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[font=Times New Roman]“Captains, we have an issue here. I am running out of fuel and my starboard engines have burned out. We are still far from the rendezvous point and it will be impossible for Remembrance to make it home without reinforcements. How are you doing for fuel?”[/font]
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[font=Times New Roman]“Speed Demon is getting rather low on fuel, I doubt we could get too much farther.”[/font]
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[font=Times New Roman]“Same with Serenity.”[/font]
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[font=Times New Roman]“Then our only option is to send off a message to the reinforcements, followed by a shuttle and hope that they can get here. The information we managed to retrieve gets stored on the shuttle and sent on the message; we need it to get out. If they get that ship activated and we don’t expect it, then our Second Wave ships will lose their major advantage. We won’t be able to move as fast near the ship and the SHP Cannons won’t be nearly as effective. We have to stand and fight.”[/font]
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[font=Times New Roman]“That is how I read it as well,” replied Verna.[/font]
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[font=Times New Roman]“It’s a risk we have to take,” added Wollo.[/font]
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[font=Times New Roman]“It is risky, but you are right in saying we have to take it. That is our jobs. We are soldiers and commanders. We live to protect and serve the Coalition and what it stands for. Our mission is important and the survival of that data could be directly linked to the survival of the Coalition. No matter how you look at it, our lives and those of our crew are less important than the survival of the Coalition. We all volunteered to serve in the Coalition military and we volunteered to participate in this mission. We came knowing there would be risks and now we have to go face those risks, put on a brave face and give it our best. We might go down in the field of battle today, but by golly we will go down with honour, knowing that our data got back to the Coalition and knowing that we have helped secure some measure of safety for our families, friends and the citizens of the Coalition that we have sworn an oath to protect. We need to give it our all and devise a plan to give ourselves every advantage. Our people are relying on us to see them through this mission safely and we will do our best not to fail them, even if there are sets of obstacles that loom up large in our way. We have to defeat those obstacles! We are commanders of the Galactic Coalition and we will succeed. So our major advantage, speed, has been taken away from us. We still have our brains and we will use them. We need to set up a trap for the enemy and spring it on him when he least expects it. There main force is still away from us and we are relatively evenly matched against this vanguard. When we defeat it that will buy ourselves time and give the reinforcements the chance to arrive to help us.”[/font]
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[font=Times New Roman]“How are we going to spring a trap against them? They know the capabilities of our ships through previous fights, so they aren’t going to be surprised by those same capabilities. As well we don’t have any forces in reserve or anything like that to surprise them with. They have us on sensors and can therefore can see every move me make, we can’t surprise them with anything,” inquired Wollo.[/font]
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[font=Times New Roman]“Listen to what I have to say and learn…” With that Captain Perquin went on to explain his plan and the other commanders began to nod their agreement.[/font]
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[font=Times New Roman]The ships turned around to face their oncoming enemies and held position there. Crewmembers ran about the ship making last minute changes, fighter pilots prepped for launch and a single shuttle flew out from the bay of Remembrance to bring the information gathered back to the Coalition. As well a message was sent out to the reinforcements calling for help. Onboard the three ships the captains sat in their command chairs and waited, hoping for the best, but fully prepared to go to their deaths knowing that their mission was vital to the Coalition.[/font]

Far inside of the Aidiant Nebula, an unseen high powered electron telescope watched quietly. The figures observing the pursuit between the Imperial and Coalition vessels stood about in a gold and blood red throne room. The beings around the chamber all wore differing suits, uniforms, and armor of blood red, their featues somewhat reptillian, their scaled skin grey. Their eyes were blood red like their costumes. The only being dressed differently was the largest of the aliens sitting on the throne, his body covered in gold armor and cloth. He was the Shining Emperor of the Cho San Khan; Emperor Ro Da Tau.

But within the throne room was darkness as well. A number of human sized figures dwarfed by the large, muscular Cho San Khan, otherwise called Khans, stood before the Emperor, watching with them. All but one wore the black combat suits, their soulless eyes hidden by gas masks and helmets. The other man wore armor that only he wore, black and silver along with a distinctive face mask, one half orange, the other black and only one eye was visible. It was Omega Thrax, the Union's Voice.

"So, tell me, outlander, why should we believe you that these others are a threat to us?" Emperor Ro Da Tau demaned, leaning in as he eyed Omega Thrax, breathing in this man's scent. He smelled wrong. He smelled dead and so did his bodyguards. It was unsettling not only to the Emperor but his court, he could see them all shifting uneasily. The Khans were very superstitious, even with all their advanced technologies. One myth they were always afraid of was the army of the dead. These... creatures seemed far too much like the myth... They smelt of death, they moved unnaturally, and Omega Thrax spoke without passion or any other form of emotion. He was soulless.

"They represent two very large galaxy spanning governments. They will both try to force your people to enter into alliance with them if they find you here," Omega Thrax said calmly, his single eye shifting from the image of the ships to Emperor Ro Da Tau.

Ro Da Tau shivered as that happened but then remembered the myth of the army of the dead. They would come and open the eyes of the Khans to the universe, but in exchange, they would demand allegiance, blood oaths, loyalty. As the myth goes, the Khans would accept and recieve untold power, but only after suffering horribly at the hands of what was only called the Great Conqueror. It seemed odd but Khan myths often came true, their prophets having been the ones who wrote them.

Could one of these groups be the Great Conqueror? Is this Omega Thrax the representative of the dead?

"So, what do you suggest we do?" Ro Da Tau demanded sharply.

"Show them your power."

Ro Da Tau's heart jumped up into his throat at that. How did they know about the weapon? These Union types, these dead men, had only just come to them days ago. How long had they known about the Cho Sa Khan?

"What do you mean, outlander?" Ro Da Tau demaned, feigning ignorance.

"I mean the electron cannon your people have recently constructed and been test firing for the past month."

One of the closer nobles spat out his blood wine at that mention. Omega Thrax just continued to regard the Emperor with that single, passionless eye. Ro Da Tau didn't know what to say, but this... thing knew about the weapon, even more so, they knew they'd been test firing it, making sure it was ready for use. This Union, whatever it was, was very observant.

"We shall see, first let us watch these other outlanders. I will decide once I've seen more of their nature."

"As you wish, your highness." Thrax said with a small bow, turning his attention back to the image as the Imperials and Coalition were getting ready to confront eachother.

Lieutenant Edmunds listened intently from his station in the control room. The engines whined at a pitch unheard on vessels of cruiser class and above. On any Destroyer or heavy cruiser engines moved weapons platforms here and there with the regal presence only battleships could muster; frigates were platforms engines with a few guns attached. Frigates moved with the stately grace no large ship could know for they could twist, turn, and maneuver, literally running circles around other craft. Edmunds had served on a heavy cruiser as an Ensign and he knew what to expect in even the most intense battle - droning thrusters at station keeping or the slow acceleration in and out of salvo range. On the Prezius, the engines seemed alive.


Captain von Hotzendorff, from his vantage point at the bow, felt the decking vibrate under his feet. He had ordered one-hundred ten percent reactor power and he had gotten one hundred-twelve. The Fire-class Light Frigate was a resilient vessel and as it and its three cousins neared the Coalition ensemble the Captain thanked the designer with the very fibre of his being.


“ Sir, we are approaching weapons range. Shall we slow?”


“ Helm, slow to half-flank speed but do not slow beyond that.”


The tactical officer turned. “ Sir?”


“ Fire as we pass and bring whatever guns to bear as is possible. Continual fire, all batteries. But we will not slow. Speed is their greatest advantage and a lack of fuel has robbed them of it - I will not allow our thin-skinned ships to be drawn into a slug-fest.”


“ Understood, sir.”


Just behind the leading quartet of Fire-class Frigates was an oddity that seemed most un-Imperial in design. With maneuvering vanes at the bow and a boxy construct at the rear housing drive units and living quarters, it looked more old-GDI manufacture than any. The broad black Imperial Seal on her grey surface cast away all doubt but she was, sure enough, not an Imperial mainstay. The Hunter-class Frigate Onanian had simply been acquired by the Fleet as a spoil of war. As the Fire-class ships swooped in on the stalled Coalition vessels, the Onanian pumped shot after shot of its light-turbolaser cannon.


“ We’re taking counter-battery fire. Ventral shielding is down to forty-percent.”


Von Hotzendorff grinned at his tactical officer. “ This is why we aren’t going to slug it out. Helm: bring us around for another pass but put us below them this time - give them our dorsal shields some work.”


Neon fire passed amber and azure as each shot flew on towards its target. Both enemy formations stood united in their coating of fire and fizzling shields. What Coalition fighters had survived a harrowing engagement at the shipyard were quickly tracked and destroyed by the frigates’ quad-laser mounts.


“ Sir, we’ve registered the most hits on that Longsword-class on the enemy port-side. Her shields are failing.”


“ Good - all ships are to concentrate on her. We’ll bring them down one at a time.” Von Hotzendorff sat back down in his chair and thought quietly to himself. My father never spent a day on a frigate!

"They will try to flee into the nebula once the Empire finish slaughtering the damaged vessel," Omega Thrax said calmly. A calculated lie that could be a truth soon enough if things progressed in a certain matter. It was all manipulation though, to make the Cho Sa Khan act, make them strike out with their weapon.

"You lie, no one enters the nebula," Ro Da Tau said coldly as he looked at Thrax.

"I came here, didn't I?"

There was silence. It was an observation that struck home very hard to those there. The fact that the Union had some to them so easily meant other would find them and that they had to make an example of what they were capable of.

"And what if I do this? Turn two governments against me?"

"The Union will help how it can. We cannot challenge the Empire nor Coalition up front, just yet... But we have our ways. An alliance with us means survival no matter what happens. With the Empire, it will be enslavement. With the Coalition, they'll force feed you democracy and their ridiculous social system. With us, you get to continue as you were, with the exception we will demand some favors every now and then."

"Your promises sound empty."

"Your hopes are even more so. One of them will find you eventually and then you'll have to contend with them. We are the only true freedom for the Cho Sa Khan."

The Emperor sat back thoughtfully and regarded the battling groups of ships now, his lips pursed as he considered the situation, the consequences. He would not let his people become slaves or have their traditions shattered. Honor was one thing the Khans valued very heavily but these outsiders had none, from what Omega Thrax seemed to say.

"First General, is the weapon set to fire?" Ro Da Tau asked, looking to the second largest Khan in the room, one clad fully in deep blood red armor, a cape flowing down his back to his calves.

"Yes, sire, the weapon is prepared," the First General replied with a small respectful bow.

"Commence firing on the vessels that were being pursued."

"At once, sire."

The First General press a button on his armor and spoke into it in the hissing, gutteral language of the Cho Sa Khan. In orbit, a large dish shaped space station quickly sprung to life at those orders, firining manuevering thrusters, an array of targeting mirrors that orbited it, rotating around to face the direction of the fleet far off. The station then stopped, seemed to select a target and then fired. A surge of electrical enegery surged around the dish and then fired out in a stream of red lightning. It cut across the distance of space like it was nothing and smacked directly into the Longsword Frigate Serenity, blowing out its shields. The ship continued to fire, like nothing had happened and then it started. Blue lightning raced across the ship as if it had been ionized, smoke pooring out of the engines, transparasteel viewports blowing out and then the vessel suddenly exploded violently before a single escape pod had a chance to even fire off.

"Recharge the weapon and select new target," the First General barked into his comlink as he watched the chaos of the battle.

[font=Times New Roman]10 Minutes Earlier[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman]Captain Kit Galden paced across the deck of his Haven Light Cruiser, Justice II, waiting for the scout force to come into the battle. Where were they? Why hadn’t they appeared yet? It should have been a relatively simple mission. Fly through the Kaizann System and scout out what the Imperials were construction in their shipyard. News had reached the Coalition that something special was being built there, but just what that was they hadn’t managed to find out. As such High Command had authorized a quick scouting mission through the system and the only reason why the scout party would have been delayed would be if they had engaged in a battle, something that was strictly against their orders.[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman]“Sir, incoming communication from the scout force,” yelled out the ensign at the Communications station.[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman]“What is it?”[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman]“They need help at these co-ordinates,” the ensign said and then listed off a string of numbers.[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman]“Helm, put those co-ordinates and calculate jump. Communications, thanks and send the co-ordinates and jump course to the rest of the fleet with the warning that we are going into a hot zone.”[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman]Alarms began to ring out across the ship calling its personnel to battle stations as Kit felt the ship make the jump into hyperspace.[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman] ****[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman]A Minute Earlier[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]On the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Bridge</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Remembrance</st1:PlaceName></st1:place><o:p></o:p>[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman]“Sir, Speed Demon’s shields are getting low. They will drop soon.”[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman]“Thanks you, Sensors. Communications, get them to prepare to evacuate non-essential crewmembers and have the rest of the crew on standby for evacuation. Once the shields drop the non-essential crewmembers evacuate the ship, and following that the rest of the crewmembers evacuate at their discretion. Once the hull has multiple breaches, integrity is down to 20% and it looks like the ship will be destroyed I want that entire crew off that ship.”[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman]“Yes sir.”[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman]Communications began relaying the orders when the Lieutenant at the sensors station spoke out again.[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman]“Sir, something powerful just hit Serenity. Its shields just blew out.”[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman]Commander Perquin had a bad feeling about that. He looked out the viewport Serenity and couldn’t see any weapon fire that powerful aimed at it or firing against it. What had happened? Serenity hadn’t really been hit at all in the entire fight.[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman]“Communications, tell them to abandon the ship IMMEDIATELY. Sensors, figure out what that weapon was and where it came from.”[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman]Perquin continued to stare at the ship wondering what had hit Serenity and where it had come from. As he was wondering this, two things happened. The first one, and the more shocking, was the Serenity’s viewports suddenly exploding outward and then the ship going up in a large explosion. The second one, and the more comforting, was the arrival of the taskforce that had been waiting inside GC space for the scouting party to make it back from their mission. In the lead was Captain Kit Galden on the Justice II, and he was flanked on either side by a Dominator Heavy Battle Cruiser. Above and below the Dominators were a group of 3 Defender Gunships and behind these lines were two escort carriers, two fuel transports and 4 Heroic-class Support Vessels.[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman]“Thank god they are here,” said Perquin as he breathed a side of relief.[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman]“Sir, Captain Kit Galden is hailing.”[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman]“Open the channel,” said Perquin. “Ah, Captain Galden, its good to see you. As you have not doubt figured out, we are in a dire position here.”[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman]“Say no more Commander,” responded Kit, before he waved to someone off screen. “Just sit tight and we’ll get you out of here.”[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman]Justice II and the Dominators moved forward in an attempt to stop the Imperial forces from reaching Remembrance and Speed Demon, yet calculations showed that the Imperials would get multiple runs at the ships before the backup Coalition force would be able to get within firing range. The 6 Defenders moved to position themselves in a defensive pattern above and below Speed Demon and Remembrance. The Swift Space Superiority Fighters and Kriss Fighters would help the Defenders. Unfortunately they couldn’t be sent out ahead of the rest of the ships due to the excellent anti-starfighter capabilities of the Fire-class Light Frigates. The plan was for the Dominators and Justice II to arrive in firing range first and absorb most of the damage that the enemy could dish out, while the lighter and quicker ships herded the Heroic-class Support Vessels in to tow the ships out to meet up with the fuel transports. Then the whole fleet would leave the area.[/font]

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[font=Times New Roman]As the two captains discussed the situation, paying special attention to the destruction of the Serenity by the unknown weapons, the Imperials circled around for another pass. As they did this Perquin ordered the scout force to pull the last trick he had up his sleeve, the boarding torpedoes. However these had been modified and filled with extremely powerful explosives as they knew that the Imperials would expect a boarding attempt and this meant they didn’t have to bring down a ship’s shields before using them. As the Imperials made another pass they fired off the boarding torpedoes, which quickly cut across the distance between the ships. Unfortunately a couple of the torpedoes were caught in the crossfire, but since they were full of explosives, those two torpedoes exploded other torpedoes. Worst still for the success of the attack was that a specific target had not been specified, so the remaining torpedoes were spread between the three close Imperial ships and the damage to the shields, while considerable, wasn’t nearly enough to bring any of the shields down on any of the ships. Now the last hope for the scout force was the rendezvous group to chase away the Imperials…[/font]

If Omega Thrax had been capable of being amused, he would have been, but instead he merely saw the tactical advantage of such a weapon. He also saw that the Coalition had brought in more ships. An unexpected and very aggressive move that could trigger a war between the two great powers. The could not be allowed just yet. The Union had its own plans for the two bothersome galactic powers but it was the puppet master here, not them and war would not be permitted just yet.

"Your majesty, is it possible to target more than one ship at a time?"

"Yes, outlander, and it is obviously in need if this Coalition is obviously so very aggressive. First General," Ro Da Tau said, looking towards the Khan he'd spoken to before.

"It shall be done, your majesty," replied the First General with a bow of his head before he barked another set of orders into his comlink.

In orbit, the station's structure began to shift and adjust, the dish growing much more ovoid, spreading wide, preparaing its next shot.

"Weapon charged. Wide dispersal range set. Permission to fire?" chimed in a voice over the comlink.

"Granted. Wipe them out," the First General snarled.

The dish array sparked and surged with a powerful electrical impulse, sending out a long wave of sparkling red eletrical energy across the depths of the nebula and into open space. The wave shifted and whirled but never changed its path, heading directly for the two engaged fleets. As the battle went on between the Imperial and Coaliation ships, the red energy wave smacked into a number of vessels, ships shuddering as they were splattered with the odd but dangerous energy. Yet again, nothing happened for several moments but then it all started, viewports blowing out engines going dead, surges of electrical enegery across the hulls of the hit ships and then the explosions. Where the two fleets had been battling was now filled with flashes of bright light as the hit ships ignited into fireballs, shrapnel smacking into the few surviving vessels on either side who had been behind other ships as the energy wave had hit. The Empire was left with only two damaged ships out of all the pursuing ships. The Coalition with the same amount ships, only a damaged but still mobile Rememberance and a single Heroic-class support ship. Neither side was even capable of thinking of fighting anymore, their ships so badly damaged from the explosions.

Omega Thrax watched with an air of satisfaction as the two groups pulled apart, damaged and confused, oblivious to the fact that the damage had been caused by another source for the moment as retreat was the only thing on either side's mind.

Excellent.

The Coalition ships vanished into hyperspace, getting away with whatever knowledge they had gotten their hands on, the Imperials pulling away to lick their wounds, vanishing into hyperspace as well and likely to prepare a counter attack against whoever had struck out against them. That would be the Cho Sa Khan, if they were clever enough to figure out the source of the energy wave, whice they were. They would come in wrath and butcher the Cho Sa Khan, the few scant survivors left at the mercy of the Union with all that wonderful techonology to use.

All according to plan.

Omega Thrax would have chuckled evily if he was a human, but he wasn't, so he just went to the next phase of the operation; preparing to chose who to save once the Galactic Empire struck out with its might against the Cho Sa Khan.

Imperial High Command - Coruscant

Sixteen hours later...


It was unlike anything ever seen by Imperial eyes until that very moment. It was beautiful in the array of colours that composed it, indeed it seemed to calm those who gazed at the swirling mass of reds and oranges and yellows - but it was the very beauty of it that distracted those bewildered onlookers from the lethal purpose of that display of light. With every second that senses were lulled the distance of the gaseous mass decreased.


Then it was too late. From a Fire-class Frigate came a volley of quad laser fire that pierced the boundary of the mass but went through it as it was not there. Certainly it was no ship, no form of any kind. Sensors querried it and veteran officers damned it but onward it came, inexorably towards the Imperial and Coalition ships which did their utmost to eradicate each other.


The cloud type mass continued on until it almost upon the battling ships - then it disappeared. It seemed to shatter like a sheet of glass, pieces of its whirling luminescence touching several of the battling ships. Then….


….nothing happened.


Not for a moment, anyway. Then ships began shaking as if held torn from space by the vengeful hand of an angry god. They seemed to be tearing themselves apart as superstructures collapsed in on themselves and engines glowed white hot. One by one, the combatant vessels exploded violently from within, unlike anything ever looked upon before. Fighters cooked off without any effort or any circumstance - they popped like balloons until only sparks and shards of metal remained.


Grand Admiral Desaria shut off then screen. He could see no more. The holographic slate he carried had simply repeated the larger projection he had watched that morning . Since that briefing he had watched it twenty times as he paced the grand concourse in the Palace, a promenade ten storeys high and perhaps a hundred meters wide that ran the width of the complex.


Who? From where? Why? Those questions had wracked the Guardsman’s head. Answers were in short supply but speculation was in excess. The consensus was that it was a Dragon weapon, targeted at the Coalition ships and felling Imperials as collateral damage. That answer had brought relief to many inquirers, but it did not assuage the Grand Admiral. Nor the Chief of the General Staff. It did indeed have some resemblance to weapons used by the reclusive Black Dragon Empire but the location of the engagement was much too far from their borders.


Whatever the answer, the weapon’s design was a threat to the Empire, that fact Marshal Prem had made abundantly clear.


“ Something amiss, Your Excellency?”


The Baron of Raenoria raised his head to stare at the first person to defile his solitude. “ You might say that, Fieri.”


Desaria handed the holopad to the tall, green/blue-skinned commander of the Imperial Fighter Corps. The Falleen’s golden eyes looked in horror at the composite sensor-log account from the sole surviving Imperial ship of that engagement. When it was done, even the imperturbable playboy of High Command was aghast. “ Who?”


“ My concern is more the what than the who. Such a weapon poses a distinct threat. It was not targeted at something more important than a dozen battling ships, however, so we can assume someone is trying to keep it hidden. Perhaps it is not ready - or is unstable. I can only guess.”


Field Marshal von Laang looked at his friend, handing the pad back. “ What will you do?”


The Grand Admiral grew cold. “ Find it. Destroy it.”

Two weeks later...


It just sat there, drifting, rotating on all three axes. It was a burned, blackened lump of twisted durasteel and smooth sheets, rivers almost, of liquified metal that been flash-frozen by space. It was undistinguisheable from the nine other chunks but for her size, slightly larger than the rest. Bits of debris floated nearby, but not nearly as much as they should have for so many vessels lost.


" That's the Onanian?"


A rating spoke up in reply from the left crew pit. " Aye sir. What we're scanning of the wreckage matches the profile of a Hunter-class Frigate. The other debris is too far gone to identify at all. Most of what would be surface area is torn apart or covered with liquified durasteel."


Grand Admiral Desaria stood from his command chair, moving forward on the catwalk until he could look directly at all that remaining of an Imperial pursuit force and the Coalition raiders it had engaged. If he could have forgotten the lost ships and the thousands of souls that had once crewed them, he might have considered the Aidiant Nebula beautiful. The Grand Admiral could not and saw only beauty tainted by blood.


" All ships reporting battle-ready, Your Excellency. We have full shields and the Meridon has deployed its Defenders into escorts."


Desaria did not even glance at Captain Praang, a short stocky man that was considered by some to be competent, and far from it by others. In the four days since leaving Coruscant, the Grand Admiral had formulated an opnion that was not entirely negative but it would freeze his career at his current rank. With his normal command on maneuvers and combat deployments from Imperial Center frozen by the Emperor himself, there was only a smattering of ships to commandeer on short notice, the Armadon being one of them.


" Re-deploy us, Captain. The other Destroyers are to fall in behind us, line ahead. Cruiser Division One is to take up the left, Division Two the right, line ahead as well. Push out the TIE umbrella to two hundred kilometers."


Captain Praang nodded and turned, busying himself with relaying his orders with admirable zeal. Desaria noted as he watched the reflection in the viewport: the Captain was an able subordinate, but not fit for independent unit command. A good captain, but a poor admiral. The Grand Admiral turned his attention back to the nebula and squinted as if his eyes could pierce the swirling gas and ions.


Whatever destroyed those ships came from in there. It had to, there's nothing else around here. A cloaked ship? Not likely, but not impossible. Better to dispell the easier myth first.


" Captain, deploy two squadrons from our bays - break them into flights and have Flight Operations plan them reconnaissance patrols for the edge of that nebula. I want to find out just what is going on here."