[ All Red Dawn threads run concurrent to one another ]




Bakura

The K110 and K111 exited hyperspace on the edge of the Bakura system. Their cloaks were running at 100% effeciency, and their scanners were reaching out to the enemy worlds.

If a fleet remained, it would be found.


Endor

The K112 and K113 left the protection of hyperspace, appearing in the Endor system with cloaks active and sensors searching for any enemy vessels.

If a fleet was present, it would be found.


Ison

The K114 and K115 emerged from hyperspace over Ison, cloaks on and sensors scanning for an enemy fleet.

If it was there, they would find it.


Hoth

The K116 and K117 dropped into realspace near Hoth, their cloaking hardware running and sensors reaching out.

If a fleet were in orbit, it would be detected.


Varonat Prime

The K118 and K119 skirted the edge of the system, cloaks active and sensors on high. If an enemy fleet were present, it would not escape notice.


Varonat

The K119 and K120 were responsible for Varonat. They came out of hyperspace in full stealth mode, and set about their search in secret.

If an enemy fleet where there, it would be found.


Bespin

The K121 and K122 entered the Bespin system, their cloaks on and sensors alert for enemy vessels.

If they had placed a fleet here, they wouldn't miss it.


Tatooine

The K123 and K124 appeared over Tatooine, invisible under their stealth gear. Their sensors reached out, searching.

If the enemy held a fleet here, it would be seen.


Af'El

The K125 and K126 dropped in near Af'El, cloaks and sensors active.

If an enemy fleet were present, it would be noted.


Honoghr

The K126 and K127 reached Honoghr under cloak, sensors online.

If the enemy stationed ships here, they would see them.


Wayland

The K128 and K129 made it to Wayland under cloak, with sensors searching.


Taloraan

The K130 and K131 emerged over Taloraan, cloaked and running sensors. Any enemy ships would be found, and quickly.


Kal'shebbol

The K132 and K133 dropped into realspace over Kal' Shebbol, cloaks active and sensors searching.

Any enemy fleet would be detected.


Lorize

The K134 and K135 were cloaked, hovering in silence over Lorize. Sensors were alert for an enemy fleet.

If it was there, it would be known.

Midway along the journey of our life
I woke to find myself in a dark wood,
for I had wandered off from the straight path.

How hard it is to tell what it was like,
this wood of wilderness, savage and stubborn,
(the thought of it brings back all my old fears),

a bitter place! Death could scarce be bitterer.

-The Divine Comedy

War ever was a bitter folley, a macabre ritual of slaughter and manuever. And yet within the basis was found the very virtues that would be a necessity to the carving of any man.

The concept of it all is a grizzly thing and not to be taken lightly, and far away should it be kept from civilians and those unaccustomed to its sort of magnitude. It can have a lasting effect on them, tainting that which we consider to be our innocence.

No, war is no place for the weak-hearted such as it is no place for those not trained to withstand the tyranny of fate's hand. Built about society one is expected to believe that death is most often fair, coming only for those old or sick, or those uncaring for their own bodies. They feel death is bound by the same feelings of gulit and compassion that we are, raised to know that the taking of a life is the most arduous and unforgiving of sins.

While this is false, this does not bring about the desireable mindset in a state of war, which has been adopted of late by Imperial doctrine to be a political motion of soldiers and military personnel in order to achieve a political victory.

Ever beware the politician, for while he does control your fate in many ways and while he can be your best friend, never doubt that he as well can be your greatest enemy. While shaking your hand with their right it is not unheard of or unlikely for them to stab you in the back with their left. Many desire personal gratification over military victory, glory, duty, honor and elevation of principle. Morality ends at the point of a pen, and decisive action is no longer called by he with the most battle experience but with the greatest funds contributed to his campaign.

It was the politician who bore the weight of war onto the populace of civilians and introduced them to just how deep the stain of ugliness of bloodshed can go. Often they lose heart, seeing the torn wreckage of repulsor vehicles disheaveled and tossed on the side of the road, discarded by the ordinace of battle.

With that they must undergo the daunting feeling of the guilt of their nations ensuing assaults.

All civilians know what must be done, few civilians are willing to face what must be done.

And yet never should they be targetted as they hold no bearing in a military situation. They are an innocent father, or an innocent mother, or a child unfamiliar to the world of evil that this galaxy tips on.

Remember well there is no good and evil in all but some situations, there are only two opposing ideals. Remember to wield the sword, and wield it well.

Remember you are fighters for glory and honor, not fighters for political gain.

-Ralen Me'Vere, New Military Naval Handbook, Section B On War and Its Consequences

The war between the Outer Rim Sovereignty had reached a critical point. With victories won by both, the death toll was beginning to rise for both sides, paving the way for a potentially catatrophic conflict. Blood has been spilled by both sides, ships destroyed, men killed, and yet neither have shown a sign of letting up.

The strategic manueverings of Theren Gevel, young yet famous - and infamous - commander of Imperial forces and the Bastion Enclave, Simon Kaine the ever omnipresent and overbearing shadow of the Marshall of the Empire, and Vice Admiral Kraken's war machine at first hard-pressed the Outer Rim Sovereignty, who triggered the war with a spectacular show down at Corellia with the Galactic Coalition.

Battles were fought and what had been boiling down for weeks over the HoloNet had finally come to fruition with the two major bulks colliding like the two largest kids on the street, finally meeting to prove who indeed was the better fighter. Who had the right of the cul-de-sac.

With the fall of Abregado-rae and the capture of Joren Arden, the forces of the Galactic Coalition were at first scattered, strewn into chaos by the disappearance of one of their key figureheads. Without a leader it seemed they would collapse under the black boot of the New Order.

However certain disaster was quickly averted through the political and genious speeches of the commander Dolash, an alien of the Azgard people who inspired and led from the front. With renewed vigor the Galactic Coalition pressed on.

With the war drawing to a stand still, assaults on Imperial held worlds began to weaken their forces at various positions. The show down at Rachauk ended in brilliant favor to the Outer Rim Sovereignty, and by command of Ralen Me'Vere, new head of the Strategic Response Department (SRD) and commander of the Second Fleet, the forces withdrew, taking up defensive positions about the worlds of the Sovereignty, leaving the weakened forces back at the battlefield.

As Admiral Me'Vere outlined his batle plan, he explained how he would be leading from the front in a swift and deadly assault on Abregado-rae, catching the enemy off guard and hoping to draw Bhindi Drayson into a duel of tactics.

With Imperial forces engaged all throughout the galaxy, eager soldiers waited their chance to do battle, eagerly gripping their stations after talking with other veterans, hearing of the glory, honor, terror, and valor that could only come from war.

Bakura

The shrouds exitted hyperspace perfectly, their Imperial training evident. Their sensors detected the hints of an Outer Rim fleet, headed by what seemed to be a Mon Cal-Cruiser.

However they were too far out for confirmation.


Endor

Nearly bordering Bakura, Endor served as a powerful symbol as well as military installation. Sitting there a shroud commander was certain he saw a pair of Imperial Star Destroyers drifting through space on patrol.


Ison

The planet was considered nothing more than a backwater planet. Many traders favored the Corellian Trade Spine and simply skipped it in its entirety, prefering the swift and accurate trade routes to the volatile and dangerous path it took to get to the planet if one did not have the proper maps.

Through this disturbance, the shrouds found it difficult to ascertain exactly what was in the system. It could have been freighters, it could have been warships.


Hoth

Hoth, the sight of the show down between the Empire and the Rebellion that sent the Rebel leaders running like whipped dogs fleeing to escape their masters. However also the sight of the construction of another Death Star, detonated through unknown means, though it was highly speculated that it was destroyed by its own builders.

Hoth was a system of ambition, but also one of danger. The space was filled with obstacles from debris to asteroids, from pirates to even Outer Rim ships. Through all this debris it was hard to tell if there was anything off the ground.

One would need a closer look.


Varonat Prime

A sattelite of a jungle world, Varonat Prime was the source of a major military supply base, hidden somewhere in the deep caverns and canyons below. Pivotal to keeping the Ison Corridor well stocked, it was heavily guarded on the ground.

The space was relatively empty, making it impossible to conceal warships. The Sovereignty's fleet here was in plain daylight, both Mon Cal Cruisers and it's pair of Aegis Cruisers.

Varonat

The jungle world held a military installation used to defend the depot on Varonat prime. Heavily guarded it shared a defensive fleet with the moon, but also held its own contingent, though given the vector it had come in from, the shrouds could not tell if it was about today or out on further operations.

Bespin

Sight of the capture of Han Solo and the near escape of Princess Leia Organa, and not least of all the dramatic fight between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, where the hero of the Alliance was completely overpowered by the older Dark Lord of the Sith.

After the infamous Battle of Bespin not long ago, Cloud City was almost completely repaired and restored, and the mining of Tibanna Gas was going in full. The populace had come to accept their new government, and there were no complaints.

The wedge shaped Star Destroyer was completely unmistakeable.


Tatooine

Though an unimportant planet struggling to survive even with government help - not that it was any better under the Empire - this was the sight of some of the galaxy's most importat endeavours. The birthplace of Anakin Skywalker, the residence of Luke Skywalker, the location where R2-D2 and C-3PO brought the Death Star plans to the hands of the Alliance.

And most importantly where Anakin Skywalker, in a fit of rage, brought about the end of his years as a Jedi and, hatefully, killed an entire tribe of sand people.

Upon entering the system there were no immediate signs of a fleet.

Af'El

Where the precious meleenium for durasteel was refined, Af'El held much strategic importance. The Da'Fel who lived there would begrudge any who ruled the system, but they had come to accept the alien tolerating Outer Rim Sovereignty, and an alliance had struck between the mining guilds and the government offices.

An alliance the Da'Fel were not eager to break with the first persons in a long time to show them any degree of fairness or equality. A planet founded on capitalism, they were not required to sell their goods to the Sovereignty, but with eager to spend credits, they were more than willing.

What seemed to be another wedged Star Destroyer - or maybe not - waited in orbit with a pair of smaller ships.

Honoghr

The Noghri are naturally defensive against invaders. Unforgetting of the crimes the Empire wrought against them under Grand Admiral Thrawn, they are not eager to feel the icy grip of Imperial oppression again.

The Noghri, armed and trained by the Sovereignty, assisted in staffing the Bakura Star Destroyer who stood watch over the system with its three assisting units.


Wayland

The sight of the death of Joruus C'Baoth, the devastation of Grand Admiral Thrawn's secret war machine, and the hiding place for so long of the vorknyx cloaking device and Imperial Missile Boat - ferried away after the showdown with rogue Admiral Zaarin - Wayland held significant historical importance.

But little military importance save for a handful of outposts equipped with Sovereign infantry and ground units. Supplied by an orbital space station that relayed with a ground depot holding excess and surplus in case of emergencies, the planet was ready for a siege.

The three Aegis cruisers added to that point.


Taloraan

Cousin plante of Bespin and resembling her in so many ways, Taloraan was a famous hit and run spot for Rebel pilots, especially Rogue Squadron. So far out the Empire had a hard time reallocating military units to defend it, it was still important nonetheless due to the precious tibanna gas it exported for its military - and civilians for that matter.

There now research was under way to develop a more healthy tibanna gas that helped to clean up the ionic trails and radiation after hyperspace and sublight travels. The citizens, still recovering from the battle with the Empire, were finally beginning to accept the Sovereignty.

It was heavily defended by multiple warships, at least one being of the Mon Cal class.

Kal'shebbol

Another important military ou tpost, Kal'shebbol held a strategic defensive center. Able to coordinate attacks and defenses from deep down inside the crust of the planet, orbital bombardments would do little more than shake them. The planet had sparce few cities, if they could even be called that, and were made up more of the families who moved to be with the miners, farmers, and military men who called this planet home.

What may have been an Imperial Star Destroyer hovered over the orbit.


Lorize

Something was going on here. Thousands of freighters were travelling in and out, and an enormous, eight kilometer superstructure was seen dwarfing them all. Something was happening.