Planets being taken: Sneeve, Chalacta, Delaya



Onyx





"It's quiet."


Joren Logan nodded as he brushed aside a few branches impedeing his way as he carefully strode through the forest, "I know. It's how they like it." He replied.

Mahk hissed, which Logan took as a sign of the Noghri's annoyance. Mahk hated it when Logan placed himself into dangerous situations, but he hated it more when he had no idea where the enemy was.

It was snowing in the Domi Forest, where he and Mahk were currently making their way through. The forest was located at the base of the Victory mountains where winter was in it's second month. But Logan was unaccustomed to the cold. He could barely remember the last time when he had been in a place where it snowed this much. He currently lived in New Stonia, the main settlement of the Onyx colonists, which was located hundreds of miles to the south. It was alot warmer there.

Logan smiled down at Mahk, "Did you know that this forest was named after a New Alliance fighter pilot who was killed in combat with the Chiss when they attacked. That was way back when we first came here. You remember, I'm sure."

Mahk remained silent, instead deigning to adjust his heatsuit. The thing was designed for a species other than Noghri, and it didn't fit the bodyguard well. But Mahk had refused to wear a large coat, stating that he couldn't fight very well with such a thing "choking" him. He had offered one to Logan, who had refused, instead opting to go a with a much less technologicaly "advanced" parka.

"No." Mahk replied to his earlier question, "I did not."

Logan ignored the Noghri's obvious lack of interest and continued, "Yes. We named the Victory Mountains after we repelled the major Onyxian ground offensive on our earliest base. You remember them don't you?"

"Yes. They are fierce warriors." Mahk replied.

"That they are. In fact, it took us quite some time to completly expell them from our landing site when we first arrived."

Before the Noghri could indicate he didn't care about that either, an arrow, launched from somewhere hidden, struck a tree a few feet from Logan.

"Ahh... finally." Logan said, stopping.

Six Onyxians stepped out from different trees where they had been hiding, coming up to the Noghri and human.

They were a proud warrior race indegenous to Onyx. They were the only other intelligent race on the world, except for the humans and various aliens that now made up the population of New Stonia and a few surrounding towns.

They were tall. Sometimes reaching to eight feet in height. They had triple-jointed legs which could propell them at lightning speeds. Their torso resembled a small tree trunk. Their arms were similarly triple jointed, with sinewy muscles bulging. They were incredibly strong. Logan had once seen an Onyxian punch through a brick wall without so much as rubbing his fist. Their heads were large and triangular, with glowing red eyes.

The leader stepped up to Logan, stopping a few feet short. Mahk crouched, waiting for a fight. The leader glowered at Mahk before turning to Logan.

"I am Tralus." He indentifed himself in his own language. Logan recognized the name. Tralus was the name of the cheif warlord of the Dehensi tribe, which made up the largest population of Onyxians on the entire planet. Logan recalled that it had been estimated that over six-hundred thousand Onyxians were of the Dehensi.

"I am Logan." He replied in the same language, staring into those large red eyes. The Onyxian language was nothing but a series of gutteral grunts and growls, and was quite easy to master the basics.

"The Elders agree with your leader." Tralus said.

Logan nodded, "Good. Govenor Tekel will be relieved. He sends word that all attacks on any Dehensi will cease immediately. And trade can begin between our two peoples."

Tralus grunted, "I am in agreement. We greet you as brothers."

Logan nodded, reaching out. Tralus grasped his forearm, squeezing it in a crushing grip. After a moment, each released the other.

"Our scouts will approach in three cycles." Tralus said.

Logan nodded, smiling, "We await you with eagerness."




Onyx (New Stonia) - Three Days Later



"Joren!"

Logan tried to smile as he entered the spacious office, "Govenor Tekel."

"We just heard from our merchants. They have made contact with representatives of the Dehensi and our currently setting up a basic trade flow." Tekel said excitedly.


Adrus Tekel was a Coalition-appointed govenor in charge of the planet. A man of small stature, he was nevertheless a capable ruler. He was the one who originally approached Logan to ask for help with the Onyxians, who at the time were raiding the Coalition settlements at will.

Logan first had established alliances with the smaller tribes, gaining their trust. He used that trust to gain audience with the Dehensi, who had now signed a treaty, effectively ending the skirmishes and battles that both sides had been fighting ever since the New Alliance first settled the planet.

"I'm glad to hear it." Was Logan's reply.

"Now, I wanted to offer you a position as the New Stonia ambassador to the Dehensi. You speak to them rather well and have established a good-"

Logan held up his hand, "Govenor, I simply wanted peace. That is all I ever wanted. I have no interest in any governmental positions."

Tekel nodded, perhaps a little dissapointedly, "Very well then."

Logan stood, "With your permission, I would like to return home."

Tekel nodded. Logan bowed respectfully and left, heading toward his home on the edge of New Stonia, Mahk in tow.

[font=Verdana]Jan sighed as he read the information that was on his datapad. Recently accessed from the Galactic Coalition Military High Command it showed that the military was in sore shape. After the war funding for the military had been cut drastically. And because the war had cut down on the amount of personnel in the military, all the new personnel had to be fully trained. This cost a lot of money and it just hadn't happened for the military. Once the Outer Rim Sovereignty had joined the Galactic Coalition and brought it fleet and personnel with it funding had been increased, but not to the levels that it had been since the war. As well the Outer Rim Sovereignty had been forced to surrender large portions of its fleet to various governments, which had left it with too many military personnel. Then a Ruling Council decision further cut down the number of ships in the fleet. While this allowed all ships to be at their maximum crew levels, there were still a lot of excess personnel. For most this meant early retirement packages, or ERPs, but this had a couple unforeseen consequences. The older, more experienced commander and personnel were given ERPs and the military was left with what essentially was a force made up of new recruits. These recruits had been trained, but studies showed that they were not up to par compared to other governments’ militaries. As well a lot of the crewmen and officers who were given ERPs then went on welfare, as there were too many of them all at once for them to all go into civilian transport services, as many of them wanted to. Now the military wanted more money and had even written up a plan to show what the money would be sent on. There was an excess of one thousand to two thousand meter main line battleships in the military compared to command ships, large main line battleships and escort ships. Therefore the military wanted to place some of the one thousand to two thousand meter main line battleships in dry dock and then build some more escort ships, as well as a couple new large main line battleships which would end up serving as command ships for some sectors. As well they would then produce new training centers for the military on numerous worlds. To run these new training centers they would use a lot of the men would have been given ERPs, which would take them off welfare and help train the troops. They generally ignored the state of the army, which was terrible, but they felt that if they had a good enough fleet they would be able to stop the enemy from landing and wouldn’t have to worry about their army.<O:p</O:p[/font]

[font=Verdana]<O:p</O:p[/font]

[font=Verdana]Jan began preparing the arguments that he would bring to the Ruling Council in favor of this new plan. He had long been the spokesperson for the military in the Ruling Council and he knew of some of the arguments that would be brought against him. Some of the members would argue that a large military wasn’t need and that their military was strong enough as is. However he could point to various incidents where they military hadn’t been able to do anything against threats arrayed against them. At Honoghr the Black Dragon Empire had forced them Galactic Coalition to flee. This technically broke the peace treaty they had with the Galactic Coalition but the military had been too weak to do anything about it. Now the Black Dragon Empire had Mon Calamari, the capital, cut off from the rest of the Galactic Coalition. In another area of the galaxy, at Lorize, the Imperials blockaded the planet and had it completely surrounded by enemy forces and the military had been forced to sit back and do nothing. This was obviously not the act of a strong military. That would be able to convince most of the councilors of the necessity of having a strong military. With that one argument Jan should be able to convince the Ruling Council to vote for the bill and pass it, though it wouldn’t be passed unanimously.<O:p</O:p[/font]

OOC: More too come soon.

[font=Verdana]Later, in the Ruling Council Chambers on Mon Calamari the first Ruling Council meeting of the new month was starting. Jan was scheduled to take the floor right after the meeting officially began. After the official necessities were taken care of ad the floor was given to Jan, he stood up.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana]“My esteemed Councilors, I am here before you to present a bill for the military, as I so often do.” This comment drew laughter from some of the councilors because Jan was well known for fighting for the military. “Our military is in a very sorry state. We don’t have enough ships for our crews and the crews that are on our ships are barely trained. At the current time our military can barely stand up to a pirate fleet, let alone an attack from an actual government. Our crewmen are young men who don’t know what a battle is really like and whose training starts and ends with the training they receive in the military academy. This training is just a beginning point and is meant to be followed up by many more fleet exercises and more training. But because of the sorry state that our military is in and the lack of funds given to it, the crewmen have not received this extra training. Our fleet can not function like this. <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana]As well the equipment available to our troops is not really the best for the job. We have way too many main line battleships that range from around one thousand meters to two thousand meters and not enough of anything else other than fighters. Currently we have Imperator class Star Destroyers and Mon Calamari MC-90 Star Cruisers doing patrol runs. These ships are not meant to do patrols. They are not quick enough to effectively respond to any threat. These ships are meant to orbit a world and defend it from attack, not go roaming around deep space protecting our borders. For that we should be using escort craft, such as Haven Light Cruisers and Defender Gunships. That is why they were produced, so they could be used as escort ships for convoys and be used for patrols. As well we have very little in the way of command craft and large main line battle cruisers. Most other governments have numerous craft in these classes. The Imperials have their Venerators, their Corellian Star Defenders, their Archangel Star Destroyers and lots of them. Our Imperator Star Destroyers and Mon Calamari MC-90 Star Cruisers simply cannot stand up to the punishment those ships can put out. We need to change how our fleet is built. Right here before me I have a plan put out by the military on how much money it wants and what it will do with it.<o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana]First off they will create new advanced training centers on various planets which will be used to further train our troops. Running these training centers and teaching the troops will be a large amount of officers and crewmen which we were forced to give Early Retirement Packages after the military was downsized. Most of these ERPs receivers are on welfare anyway, since they could not find jobs in the civilian transportation industry because there was too many of them. By using these officers and crewmen to train our troops we will relieve the strain placed on the welfare program and train out current crewmen up to a higher level. Secondly they will place numerous mainline battleships in dry dock and produce a few more command cruisers and large main line battleships as well as numerous escort ships. Then later on as the Galactic Coalition expands the ships placed in dry dock will be brought back into service.”<o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana]With that Jan sat down and waited for the arguments to come flooding in. He wasn’t disappointed. Immediately councilors began talking amongst themselves. However the floor was soon given to Councilor Deorit, a Bimm, was the first to stand up. A staunch pacifist, he was frequently at odds with Jan over military issues.<o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana]“You say the military has made a plan that says how much money they need and how it is all going to be spent, but did they give you any ideas on how we are going to get this money? I didn’t think so. Where is this money going to come from Jan? Whose pockets is the money going to come out of? How high are we going to have to raise taxes for the military to get what they want? Who is going to have to pay for this new plan of yours?”<o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana]“As a matter of fact the military has given a few ideas on how we are going to get the money and it doesn’t involve raising taxes at all. As many of you know, the Ruling Council has been planning to cut taxes for a long time. What the military has suggested is that we still cut the taxes, but not by as much as previously planned. We simply cut taxes by less then previously planned and the extra money we gain from that, which won’t have been included in the budget for this year, will pay for the military’s plan. As well after this year we can cut taxes some more because most of the cost are start up cost for the training centers."<o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana]This argument created more discussion, but most of it seemed positive. However Councilor Deorit was not done yet.<o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana]"So they have offered a plan on how to pay for their plan. But what proof do they have that our fleet can't withstand an attack from another government? And why do we need a fleet, nobody would attack us unless we attack them first?"<o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana]"Your wrong there. I will tell you of two seperate incidences, since the war was declared over, where our fleet has been bullied by other governments. The first was at Honoghr. The Black Dragon Empire sent a fleet to take the planet and our military was forced to retreat and evacuate most of the planet. The second incident was at Lorize. The New Order sent a fleet to the planet, to take it over. While this fleet did end up withdrawing without a shot being fired, the New Order then began a blockade around the planet. As far as I know that blockade is still in place. With elections coming up on Lorize this could be enough to influence the planet to elect to join the New Order, just so they can get rid of the blockade. In both these areas our fleet was badly equiped and trained. It could not stand up against these governments. As well we never attacked either of these governments since war broke out and yet they still attacked us. Furthermore, I'm not even going to get into the numerous cases where our fleet failed miserably on the offense and defending our planets during the war. We need a bigger and better fleet our else other governments will continue to prey on us.<o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana]As well the fleet is needed to protect our trading ships. Currently Mon Calamari is surrounded by the Black Dragon Empire and our trade ships have to either go days our of their way to get to us or chance a flight through the Black Dragon Empire's space. Also our planets are spread across the planets, usually quite isolated from each other. This means it takes days even weeks for ships to travel from one area to another and at our current size the military can not defend our convoys."<o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana]This put a halt to most of the objections, but not all of them. Regardless of how hard Jan argued he knew that he would always face a lot of arguments when he tried to get the military more funds. However most of the arguments he was getting now weren't to serious and he knew that he had one this one. When they called the vote it ended up being a rather big majority but Councilor Deorit and a few other pacifists refused to make it unanimous, as usual.<o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana]"Thank you Councilors for your time and your acceptance of this proposal. I'm sure the military will be very happy."<o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana] <o:p></o:p>[/font]

[font=Verdana]The meeting continued for several more hours, but with a lot less arguments. Most of the problems with the bills were simply minor problems and most of them could be solved amongst the councilors. Jan didn't really worry too much about the rest of the meeting, he had accomplished his goal for that day.[/font]
[font=Verdana][/font]
[font=Verdana]OOC: I still have some more to add, but this is the first major chunk. We're at just over 3000 words so far.[/font]

<B>The Planet Teth.</b>

The Imperium's task force consisting of two <I>Kessel</I>-class Pickets, two <I>Cutter</i>-class Gunships, one <I>Shoto</I> battlecruiser, and one Tion Star Destroyer-- six vessels in all-- had gathered in orbit around the sixth planet of the Kessel Sector, where it would not so readily attract attention. A <a href="http://www.therebelfaction.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5572">Dragon Corvette</a> was the last to join them and was one of the smaller ships, save for the Pickets and the Gunships. The Corvette was dwarfed by Captain Pakpek's command ship, the Tion Star Destroyer <I>Gaheris</i>.

"Priest Alex Cross," said a young-sounding voice from a Falleen clad in black uniform. "This is Lieutanant Xixon, officer of the day. We've just got word from the Tethian Governor-- they have been expecting you, sir. Would you like us to relay the message you will be meeting with the Tethians on the surface?"

The Daemun priest stepped forward with staff in hand and nodded to the small holoprojection on the bridge. "Yes, Lieutanant. Inform your Captain that I will have my private shuttle escort me to the coordinates given. Tell them I am eager to discuss negotiations for the annexation of Teth into the Black Dragon Empire."

"Yes, sir." The hologram faded from view, followed by a subsequent silence.

"Commander, escort me to the hangar bay, and have the new Soldier MK I's accompany me to the surface."

<B>Surface of Teth</b>

The <a href="http://www.therebelfaction.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2004">MK I</a> bodyguards fell in beside the Daemun priest as he stepped down from the boarding ramp of the Tion shuttlecraft. There were four of them, and their appearances were all the same-- tall, broad shouldered, alert-eyed, and silent.

One of them was plugged into a backpack full of electrical and chemical sensors. It was his job to make sure no bomb, poison, pathogen, radiation, or microdroid harmed him. The MK I's preceded him around corners, through doors, and into closed spaces.

High Regent, Sully Anre, had gotten the chief of security to order the protection and had won a reluctant promise from the priest to accept it.

Alex Cross had learned to pretend they weren't there, even when they shared a liftcar, a transport, or a slidewalk with him. He didn't want to learn their real names or to become friendly with them-- his promise didn't extend that far. He wanted them to be furniture.

The only time he acknowledged their presence was when one of them silently signaled an alarm. Then he would let the others guide him to whatever sheltered spot they chose, and would wait there until the MK I satisfied itself that there was no threat. It happened often enough that it no longer startled him, but infrequently enough that it was only a minor annoyance.

Still, Alex never expected it to happen while he was walking along the royal corridor, just outside the walls of the governor's chamber.

One moment he was striding briskly past a holo statuary, robes flowing, his mind sorting through what he knew about the Tethians. Then, in an eyeblink, one of the MK I's sharply raised its hand and another pushed Alex sideways into one of the niches where the pillar between it and the next offered cover.

Then, just as suddenly, it was over. "Clear," the MK I said in its emotionless voice, moving aside to allow Alex to emerge from the niche. Frowning crossly, the priest hurried after the Daemun super-soldier and demanded to know what had prompted the alarm.

"I detected a new energy field at the entrance to the Governor's Hall," the MK I said, pointing its cybernetic hand. "It became active as we approached."

Still frowning, Cross strode a few dozen steps farther down the corridor, then stopped short when the double doors opened before him.

Governor Yar emerged from the shadow of a pillar to Alex's left and showed a toothy, self-satisfied smile. "Ah, Priest Alex Cross of the Black Dragon Empire."

He gestured him and his guards inside. "Welcome to Teth..."

<b>On approach to Fwillsving</B>

In deep space far from any star, the Tion Star Destroyer <I>Erebus</I> drifted in the darkness, silent and inert. Kessel's sun, the nearest of the cold lights woven into the eternal curtain of night, was too far away to raise more than the faintest gleam on the battlecruiser's black metal skin.

Trailing well behind was the much smaller black-hulled DragonClaw <I>Reticence</i>-- one ghost shadowing another. The DragonClaw was nearly as inert as its leader. It announced itself only with periodic position updates broadcast to the Tion Cluster by hypercomm, and by an encrypted optical-laser pulse aimed directly aft.

The laser pulse was the rendevous target for the Farfalen's approaching armada, which had come out of hyperspace on tiptoe, one ship at a time, hundreds of thousands of klicks behind the <I>Erebus</i>. Following the DragonClaw's beacon, the armada had taken days to close the gap, its slow, silent approach that of an infinitely patient predator.

For most of that approach, the armada was arrayed single file on a heading that allowed the hull of the smaller strike cruiser itself to hide the approaching ships from Fwillsving's sensors, which lay ahead of them.

Captain Ryn Adaala entered the <I>Erebus</i>'s strategic planning room unannounced and let the doors shut behind her. She noted with satisfaction that Commander Kal was indeed where her SubCommander had told her he would be; even better, the big, high-ceilinged room was packed with the Farfalen Commander's trusted subordinates, Colonels Ulan and Marz, as usual, as well as other high ranking officers of the Farfalen. The trivid holomap display filling the surface of the table in the center of the room confirmed her suspicion that she had walked in on their strategic planning, in which they had started without her. Based on the map, Fwillsving was the latest planet chosen to be the target of the Farfalens' incursion.

As soon as she had everyone's attention, she strode up to the table, to a spot opposite Commander Radik Kal. She gave herself a slow count of five to look at the holomap of Fwillsving, then deliberately raised one eyebrow and nodded as if to herself. Only then did she look across the table and say to Radik, "I am glad to see that we have decided to start without me. I take it since Fwillsving is within Kessel's sphere, that we Tion aren't relevent to the Fafalen's plan?"

To either side of her, in her peripheral vision, she could see Marz and Ulan shifting position slightly and looking at each other. Their uneasy reaction confirmed her guess that she had not even been supposed to be here for this stage of planning.

<I>He ignores me, he cuts me out. Me, Ryn Adaala, conquerer of Embaril and Axxila.</I>

The realization added fire to her resolve; she felt anger now, as well as justification. She channeled that anger into a wealth of dubious scorn as she spoke to Radik again, "Is it also because I am a <I>woman</i> and not fit to command a planetary force as well?"

Commander Kal regarded her with a look of dawning unease. He replied carefully, as befitted the circumstances, when he must know that she had some agenda of her own, but not yet what that agenda might be. "Captain Ryn Adaala, would you care to participate in our planning?"

"No."

She saw him relax a little at her answer, and under the relaxation noted a flicker of what had to be carefully suppressed contempt. He said, "Captain Adaala may remain and observe the planning if she chooses."

Ryn smiled a little at Radik, just to unnerve him further. "I am not interested in observing the Farfalen's planning."

That caused a whispered buzz of comment among the assembled officers. They looked from her to Radik and back again, aware like their commander that something was up, but not knowing what.

"Then what is your purpose in coming here?" Commander Kal asked.

"I wish to declare a seperate strategic plan at this time."

The blunt statement brought on another, louder buzz of comment. Adaala pushed on. "I am declaring myself, and myself only, to lead the entire incursion of Fwillsving under my sole command."

This time, there was dead silence in the room for the space of several breaths. Then the Farfalen Commander spoke. "For which of the Farfalen's forces do you intend to lead? Naval? Ground?"

"All of them on this campaign. I want the complete command of Farfalen's invading force."

"On what grounds?"

"On the grounds that they are yours and that I want them to be mine." She met his gaze across the holomap table, where the three-dimensional topography of Fwillsving lay spread out between them.

"We are Dragons, are we not-- what more is needed...?"

Undisclosed time, undisclosed location, undisclosed purpose.

Ferguson Mumphs went over the papers again. "You're sure about this?"

The Wing-Commander nodded vigorously "We've got the reports. I'd heard something about renewed interest in Fwillsving and Teth, although I'm not sure why or who. Anyways, we have a lot of agents stationed that way since its' right near the BDE/GC boarder and there's been tension there anyways.

"I've checked my sources, and they confirm - the Black Dragon Empire must've somehow found out about our interest beforehand and is already heading that way."

"You're sure its' not just a coincidence, or a social call?" asked Ferguson as he left the room. The Wing-Commander kept pace.

"No sir, they've definetly marshalled at least something in the way of military vessels to accompany them. They don't seem to make much effort to hide their movements, I don't think they even have a real Intelligence Agency."

"You better be right about this."

"I'm positive sir."

"No, I want you to be right."

Ferguson picked up his Comm-unit and carefully adjusted the frequency. "Put me through to Regrad's office."

There was a pause. "This is Ferguson. We've recieved news, its' about Teth and Fwillsving... Its' code Yellow... No, I don't know how they found out... It's definetly not a leak, sir, I know my-... Yes, I'll look into it. But what do we do now?... Should I call?... So we're not going to... All right, I'll have two teams ready."

He put the Comm down. "This is going to get worse before it gets better."

________________________________________________________________

Present, Place: Teth, Purpose: Emergancy delegation deployed.

It was a little later then the Black-Dragon group. Despite having gone directly to Regrad, and Regrad having pulled together the operation quickly and without rest, the Black Dragon Empire had simply had too much of a head-start.

Coming out of hyperspace near Teth, the Coalition fleet - carefully outfitted and marked as a diplomatic escort - appeared.

It was barely a moment before the Coalition force opened hailing frequencies as urgently as possible to both the Black Dragon force and the Teths.

"Is this thing on?" asked Yolem, commander of the force. "Good. Greeting Black Dragons and Tethians. I have been requested to appear here at the behest of the Coalition Government. We are here to send our own diplomatic delegation - one we were planning to send, and due to recent developments have decided to send sooner. Our forces here are merely to provide a counterbalance of equal protection to our diplomats - whatever it is that Teth has that has worried the Black Dragons to bring so many vessels we would probably need to be wary of as well."

The Coalition forces quickly prepared to deploy their own delegation.

________________________________________________________________

The force that appeared near Fwillsving was less diplomatic. As was its' commander.

"This is Regrad, current commander of the Coalition Expeditionary Force. We have recieved reports of large ship-movements in this area and as such I have ordered a deployment of vessels to ensure no foul play. We request negotiations to take place immeadietly."

Regrad sat back in his chair and turned to Ferguson. "Think it'll work?"

Ferguson shrugged. "It better."

OOC: Due to the new treaty with BDE, the planets now being taken in this thread are Sneeve and Chalacta. Therefore Teth and Fwillsving can be taken by any faction (though if you aren't BDE I wouldn't recommend it).

The Past – Chalacta




“Regent Logan!”

Darin Cassius smiled broadly as the middle-aged uniformed man, who happened to lead a powerful government based on Almania, walked down the ramp of the shuttle, flanked by six blue and white-clad soldiers.

Logan nodded politely, returning the smile, “Ambassador Cassius. It’s very nice to finally meet you in person.”

Cassius retained his smile, shaking hands with the New Alliance regent, “It is an honor, sir. Is there anything we can do to make your stay more comfortable?”

“All I require is a bed and a desk.” Logan said diplomatically as the two began walking toward an open-roofed speeder bearing the symbol of the Chalactan government.

“Of course, Regent. The speeder will take you to the embassy.” Cassius said as both men climbed into the back of the vehicle. The New Alliance ceremonial guard climbed into their own speeders, flanking the one carrying the regent.

“Will the Triumvirate be meeting today?” Logan asked the speeder pulled away from the landing platform and headed into Chalacta’s main city, Taloor.

“Yes. They are anxious to meet you, as well as discuss the alliance between the New Alliance and Chalactan Commonwealth.” Cassius said as the speeder and it’s escorts turned onto the main road of Taloor.

“Good. We have spent six months with these negotiations.” Logan said, “I hope to get it over with and move on. We have other matters we need to focus on.”

“I completely understand.” Cassius. Ever the diplomat, said, “We also wish to finish with the accord as soon as possible.”

Logan did not look at him, instead admiring the architecture of the city, “Good.”


The speeder made its way through a crowded marketplace, forcing it and the escorts to slow down to avoid hitting shoppers.

“Is it always this busy?” Logan asked.

“Yes. This is one of the few running markets we have in Taloor. With the war with Sneeve, our economy has suffered greatly.” Cassius replied sadly.

Logan didn’t reply, looking about the marketplace.


The scream was their only warning.






***





The marketplace was swarming with native Chalactans. Logan tried to recall if he had ever met one before the New Alliance entered into negotiations with the Chalactan Commonwealth. He realized that he hadn’t, and that these people were mostly alien to him. They were human, but they acted different. They were perhaps the most religious human civilization Logan had ever encountered.

Religion dominated their government, all the way to the top leaders, the shadowy group of two men and one woman called the “Triumvirate”.

Logan didn’t even know their names, as the Chalactans considered them too blessed and sacred to be spoken. He found it highly annoying, but he could do nothing but accept it.

He glanced about the area. Logan noticed that a lot of them wore nothing but rags, while a select few were dressed in richly colored clothing. He knew that the Chalactan social structure was steeped in a class system, like many thousands of other worlds. It was sad, and the New Alliance regent’s heart went out to the many millions of poor Chalactans.

Chalacta was devastated a year before, when the Chalactan Commonwealth, consisting of Chalacta and a few nearby colonies, went to war with nearby Sneeve.

It all started when the Chalactan Commonwealth attempted to colonize a world called Delaya which was located near Sneeve. The Sneevel Monarchy took offense and sent their own colonization force to Delaya, but armed with a military escort.

The Sneevel drove the Chalactans, who actually settled Delaya first, off the world, sparking a war.

A great battle took place over Delaya, but the Chalactans were defeated by the superior Sneevel forces, who then took their warships to Chalacta. When the New Alliance heard about the battle over Delaya, and the Chalactan’s plight, they began supplying the Chalactan Commonwealth with planetary defenses, weapons, and money. With that aid, the Chalactans were able to defeat the Sneeve warships.

With both sides devastated and the war at a standstill, the new Alliance offered to be a mediator and form a truce.

The Treaty of Almania (named after the TNA planet the treaty was signed on) brought both sides into an uneasy peace. But each side still distrusted each other, and a tense feeling had settled over the region.

Logan now looked out, in sadness as the victims of the war tried to pick themselves back up, and move on with their lives.


“Yes. This is one of the few running markets we have in Taloor. With the war with Sneeve, our economy has suffered greatly.”

Logan was about to reply when a blasterbolt sliced through the air, killing the Chalactan driver instantly. The speeder swerved wildly, crashing into an antiques booth.

Logan looked around, dazed but alert. The New Alliance and Chalactan escorts piled out of their speeders, forming a tight perimeter around the crashed vehicle. Logan looked over at Cassius, who had a bloody gash across his temple.

“Are you alright?” Logan asked, ripping a piece of his sleeve off, placing it over the ambassador’s wound, stopping the blood.

Cassius groaned, “I… I think so….”

A knock on the other side of the vehicle made Logan turn his head to see what was going on. As he did so, another blaster bolt slammed into the headrest where his head had been. Logan crouched as the guards aimed their weapons at a spot on the roof of a building a few hundred yards away. At once, twelve ceremonial blasters fired, striking something Logan could not see. After a moment, one of the guards took the place of the dead driver, speeding the vehicle away.



***


“Such a cowardly and ghastly attack. Regent Logan, please accept the deepest apologies of the Chalactan Commonwealth.”

Logan leaned against the podium slightly as he looked in the direction of the three seated members of the Chalactan Commonwealth Triumvirate, “Thank you for your kind words.” He said neutrally.

His aides, along with Captain Neychev onboard Logan’s orbiting flagship Keerow, had wanted him to return to the safety of the vessel and continue negotiations via Holonet. Logan had declined, “I do not want these assassins to think I am some sort of coward. We will stay until we are finished here.”


“Now let us get down to business.” The only woman in the Triumvirate, whom Logan had nicknamed “Maria”, said.

“As we have stated before, the New Alliance is willing to offer you economic aid, as well as military aid, in exchange for an alliance the Chalactan Commonwealth.” Logan said.

He had stated this hundreds of times before in the months of negotiations with the Triumvirate. They took an excruciatingly long time to make decisions, instead deferring to their religion before making them.

Logan had always believed that an effective government kept religion and government separate, as one could disrupt or corrupt the other.

He knew that is why the Chalactans were so devastated by the war. Their commanders were not allowed to make any decisions without consulting with the priests. The Sneevel knew this, and had exploited it.

“What does an “alliance” entail?” Maria asked.

Logan held back a sigh. They were going over the same issues that they had gone over weeks ago, “Free trade between our member worlds, and yours. Military support, as well as technology exchange, among other things.”

Maria sat back in her throne-like chair, conversing privately with the two Chalactan male Triumvirate members flanking her.

“We need time to refer to High Priest Damon.” Maria said.

Logan wanted to shout, yell, and slam his fists on the podium. But for the sake of preserving ties to a prospective ally, he held back. Instead he nodded, “Of course.”

[font=Times New Roman]Jan sat in his office chair, leaning back while looking over the military’s plans. They wanted to create training centers on a variety of worlds across the Galactic Coalition and then get senior military personnel or retired military personnel to run them. These personnel would instruct the new recruits and the current military personnel a variety of things, from basic training to advanced strategy and tactics. The problem was that there were very few Coalition military personnel who had shown extraordinary brilliance or tactics in any battle or simulation and fewer still who had ever seen victory in a battle. Throughout the Coalition’s history, even dating back to the earlier days of Mon Calamari Republic, there had been very few successful battles. Sure they had defeated an Imperial attack on Farquak, without suffering any major losses. And they had driven back the assault on Ando. And the MCR fleet had been winning on a few occasions against the Jutraalian Empire before Emperor Teebo had agreed to a variety of peace treaties. So it wouldn’t be fair to say that all the commanders were incompetent, just that they had lost many battles. So any of them would have been acceptable for the training centers.[/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]Unfortunately most of the commanders from the MCR era had left. Jesmin Ragabag had left to go to Naboo to be a Jedi but she had since disappeared. Elian Toritho had left MCR after the final peace treaty with TJE but before the outbreak of the Wrath virus. It was assumed he had returned to his home planet, though this could not be confirmed as no one knew where that was. Jore Arden, an old MCR commander who had actually joined GC after the merge and been made head of the military, had disappeared during the war with TNO. Some feared that he had been captured and possibly executed, although neither of these had been confirmed.[/font]

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

[font=Times New Roman]While Jan could begin searches for these people, he needed personnel immediately and it could take months or years before they were found. Fortunately the Azguardian Galactic Military had brought numerous successful commanders and excellent tacticians into the Coalition, though many of these had retired prior to the Coalition and Empire war. As well the Sovereignty had brought numerous successful commanders with them, some of which dated back to the days of the New Alliance. However he didn’t have one brilliant commander, one commander to be used as an example for all the other ones. The needed this one commander, but where could he find one?[/font]

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

[font=Times New Roman]Wait...The New Alliance...that was the key. The Sovereignty had worked with the old head of the New Alliance Joren Logan multiple times and had even brought the planet his house was based on, Onyx, into their government. When the Sovereignty had merged with the Coalition, they had brought Onyx with them. Since then Joren Logan had helped out the Coalition in some agreements with the natives, but he had never fully joined it or taken a largely active role. Now Jan had to go bring him back into the fold.[/font]

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

[font=Times New Roman]He quickly looked at his schedule. He had various meetings to attend to, but most of them were unessential. In a couple weeks there was another important House of Representatives meeting, one which he had to attend since it concerned more details about the military’s plan which he had brought before the House of Representatives. But he would have enough time to travel to Onyx, convince Logan to join GC and then get back to Azguard, though making a stop off at Mon Calamari on the way. Therefore he hurried to finish up the work he was doing so he could get going. But before that he had to call the spaceport, so they would have his ship ready to go. And he would be crossing a lot of territory, including some belonging to other governments, so a small military escort would be required. He quickly called up the commander in charge of the local military forces and asked for an escort of 2 Defender Gunships, and a Haven Light Cruiser. This would not just be a military escort for him, as a convoy was going to be leaving Ando soon, which this force was tasked to defend, and these forces were being moved to defend Onyx anyway. Then he called the spaceport so they could get his YT-1300 ready for him. Right before he left he left a message that any and all information concerning Joren Logan or anything to do with him should be sent to him immediately. And any new information that might come up should also n[/font]

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

[font=Times New Roman]Soon Jan was boarding his YT-1300, Rover, and finishing up the pre-flight checklist. He quickly asked for clearance and when he got it he began flying towards the waiting Haven Light Cruiser, Justice. On either side was DG-10 and DG-11.[/font]

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

[font=Times New Roman]“Justice Control, this is the YT-1300 Freighter Rover, requesting permission to land.”[/font]

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

[font=Times New Roman]“Rover, this is Justice Control. You have permission to land and are cleared for the main docking bay. The shield is dropped in Section 2.”[/font]

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

[font=Times New Roman]“Thank you Justice Control.”[/font]

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

[font=Times New Roman]Jan quickly flew up into the docking bay and set Rover down on the floor. Then he climbed out and saw the captain waiting for him.[/font]

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

[font=Times New Roman]“Captain Kit Galden, a pleasure to see you again.”[/font]

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

[font=Times New Roman]“And one to see you to sir.”[/font]

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

[font=Times New Roman]“So how until we can depart?”[/font]

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

[font=Times New Roman]“Momentarily sir. The last of the fighters are loading onto the Defender Gunships and then we will go. We have to make a detour to Ando, but the convoy should be ready to leave by the time we get there. As well I arranged it so we would meet them near the edge of the system, rather than at the planet, to save time.”[/font]

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

[font=Times New Roman]“Excellent. Oh, and don’t worry about assigning me quarters, I’ll just use the ones on Rover.”[/font]

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

[font=Times New Roman]“Are you sure sir? We do have spare quarters that you could use.”[/font]

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

[font=Times New Roman]“No, that is quite all right, I don’t want to be an inconvenience to you or your crew.”[/font]

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

[font=Times New Roman]“All right sir. If you don’t need me, I’ll be on the bridge.”[/font]

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

[font=Times New Roman]“Excellent Captain.”[/font]

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

[font='Times New Roman']Jan returned the Captain’s salute and then began wandering the ship. He wanted to gain an understanding of the moral on the ship and about what the personnel thought about the state of the military....[/font]
[font='Times New Roman'][/font]
[font='Times New Roman']OOC: Still have more to add but I thought I'd get this portion up.[/font]

Present - Onyx





"...High Lord Damon has assured the galactic community that no Sneevel were harmed in the recent agricultural projects."

Logan watched with interest as the holonews report continued, "Opponents of the projects contend that the so-called Operation Food Source is really a biowar on the Sneevel, and is allegedly killing hundreds of thousands of Sneeve's population. High lord Damon's office insists that Food Source is a huge effort to reduce ecological damage to Sneeve, which was incured by the Chalactan Military during the final battle of Sneeve."


Logan stroked his face as the news reports changed to a new topic, "Now, our Coalition correspondent, Drak Theo, reports on new developments."

"Thank you, Raine. I am on Azguard right now, where a high level meeting of the House of Representatives is taking place on the Chalactan-Sneeve conflict. Days ago, the Sneevel petitioned the Coalition for membership, and at the same time declaring Sneeve an independent and sovereign planet. The House is meeting on whether or not to admit the Sneevel.

"The leader of the Chalactan Commonwealth, High Lord Damon, contends that Sneeve is a member of the Chalactan Commonwealth and that under it's constitution, Sneeve cannot renounce membership. General Botosh, leader of the Sneevel Remnant, which governs what is left of Sneeve's population, insists that membership in the commonwealth was enforced on Sneeve, and not actually accepted..."


The holonews eventually dropped the story and moved on, leaving Logan deep in thought. The last time he had been on Chalacta, the triumvirate had informed him that it was rejecting the New Alliance pact, and had decided to remain independent.

Logan always suspected Damon was behind that.

A mysterious figure, and leader of the Chalactan faith, all Chalactans, including the Triumvirate, looked to him for guidance. This more or less gave him control of the entire planet. All major decisions went through him first, as was their custom.

But after Logan and the New Alliance had left, Damon abolished the Triumvirate and declared himself the head of the Chalactan Commonwealth. He then launched a heavy assault on Sneevel forces and forced them back to Sneeve. Chalactan forces then laid waste to the planet, obliterating entire cities and murdering thousands of innocents.

No one protested, and the galaxy sat back and watched the atrocities that had been committed per Damon’s orders. Logan had felt some guilt over it, and regretted his decision not to challenge Damon when the High Lord had first ordered him off Chalacta.




Those were perilous times . Logan thought.




Hell. Every day was perilous.



Some days he regretted his own retirement. Every day was spent in idle rest, not doing anything. Occasionally he would go out to the Great Forest and speak with the Onyxians, who were now thriving due to the trade agreement with the Coalition and citizens of New Stonia. Already the Onyxians had moved out of their primitive tents and were busy building prefabricated buildings, drastically growing their camps into villages. Logan would speak with them, and listen to their complaints, and then bring it to the attention of the Coalition garrison or the New Stonia governor.

It was an easy life.

Logan sighed. It was a restless life.

He remembered the old days, when each day brought something new. Some new world discovered, new civilization encountered. A new battle won or lost. New ships, old ships, new bases, new births.

When he had left his brief service to the Empire, and returned to his beloved Onyx, he had wanted those days to be over with. He had wanted to live out the rest of his life in peace, not in war.



Why did he feel restless, then?


Those thoughts were on his mind as he drifted off to a deep sleep.



***






“Sad… so sad…”

He was floating…weightless in space…

He opened his eyes… and saw a faint blue light in the distance…

He swam toward it as the blue light changed its shape… into that of a person…

It was a woman.


“Keira?” Logan asked, as the shock of seeing his long dead wife gave way to curiousness.

He was no longer floating. This time he was waist deep in some sort of brownish liquid, surrounded by flames. He began walking toward the ghostly apparition, but the liquid impeded his progress, forcing him to move slowly.

His wife inclined her head, and smiled, “Sorrow… so much pain and sorrow…” Her voice barely above a whisper. The crackling of the flames forced him to lean in to hear her words.

She smiled again. A smile lacking mirth.

The flames began to shimmer, and then they took shape. Each lick of the flames transformed itself into…


Faces.


In the flames, Logan could see hundreds of faces.


Thousands.


Hundreds of thousands.


He looked back to Keira.


“These are the ones who you have sent to their doom!” She shouted at him.

Logan continued on through the liquid, although he had no desire to do so. He tried to stop, to stand still, but his legs did not respond to his commands. Instead they continued their slow progress.

In the flames he could see familiar faces. He recognized soldiers in Rogue Empire uniforms. He recognized those in Sovereignty uniforms.

Imperial stormtroopers stared back at him. Their cold, bone white helmets stared at him.

The old soldier continued on, moving through toward the floating, glowing apparition, who stared at him mirthlessly, “Who are you?” She asked.

He made no response. He wanted to say something, but his body was not his own.

“WHO ARE YOU?!”

Muscles strained to speak, but he could not say a word.


“YOU WILL BE KILLED BY YOUR OWN SONS!”


And still he walked.







Chalacta



“Senator…”

Senator Brand looked up from the mountain of datapads on his desk. After identifying the speaker, he stood, “High Lord Damon. What a surprise.”

Clad in black and red robes of the Chalactan Enlightenment religion, Damon glared at Senator Brand, “Indeed. I have come to check on your progress dealing with the Coalition infidels. Along with this Sneevel Remnant.” He said, spitting the last word out contemptuously.

A tall man of just less than two meters, Damon had close-cropped black hair, and the facial adornments of an Enlightened one. He had risen from a mere priest to the leader of the faith in just two short years. After solidifying his power, he had ruthlessly disbanded the Triumvirate and had his enemies destroyed.

Except for Senator Brand.

“We have sent several transmissions to the Coalition, querying them on their deliberations…” Brand started to say when Damon cut him off.

“Nonsense. I am sure they will send one of their warfleets here to enforce their will on us. As they have to many others.” Damon said, as he began pacing the room.

Brand sighed to himself. He had been quietly opposing Damon on almost every issue that had come up. When Damon has seized absolute power, the Chalactan Senate had become more of a discussion group with extremely limited power. Where they used to control the entire Commonwealth, they now had subsided to a more advisory role to Damon.

Brand was the leader of the opposition to Damon. He was also a leading member of a quite resistance of Chalactan fighters determined to reclaim their world and government. Other notable members of the resistance included the former members of the Triumvirate. The resistance spread out over several dozen Chalactan cities and quietly waited for the time to strike against Damon and his religious fanatics.

Damon continued on and on about the Coalition “cowards” trying to steal Sneeve away from him. Brand tuned him out, as he had done a thousand times. In fact, no such transmissions had been made to Azguard, and Brand secretly hoped the Coalition was voting to move against Damon and accept Sneeve’s membership application.

While Damon was readying his forces for an all out “holy war” on the Coalition, the Chalactan resistance could make their move. Damon would be distracted and his forces would be busily preparing their warships.

As Damon’s economic policies affected the Chalactans negatively, the resistance had grown astronomically. They had troops onboard warships and in the shipyards, as well as on Sneeve. Brand had actually just finished negotiating with the Sneevel Remnant (survivors of Damon’s atrocities and orbital bombardment). The Chalactan Resistance and the Sneevel Remnant had just become secret allies in the coming battle against Damon. It was Brands’s task, when the time came, to coordinate the uprisings on both planets.

All Brand needed was for the Coalition to come to the Sneevel’s aid…

Damon finished his rants and left the office, threatening retribution on Brand if he failed in the negotiations with the Coalition.


We’ll see. Brand thought.