Marcus smiled tightly as Hashona's message came through. "Very good. I look forward to our meeting. Hangar bay 12 will be opened for you." Marcus turned to Captain Freyous. "Captain, launch a spray of TIEs as soon as he leaves to escort him. If they deviate, blast them into scrap." Captain Cassius didn't wait for the Captain's aknowelegement, striding off the bridge, heading for the hangar bays, twelve Stormtroopers behind him.

Four TIE Interceptors screamed out of the hangar bays, orbiting the Imperial ship, waiting for Hashona's shuttle to emerge from the distant Destroyer.

"Commander, we have detected the launch of four TIE Interceptors. They appear to be headed in our direction." exclaimed the shuttle pilot as he proceeded torwards the Imperial flagship.

"Keep it steady, maintain our current course." replied Hashona, hoping the interceptors were out there merely as a honor escort of some kind.

It appears they were, as they formed up around the shuttle, mainly aft and behind the I-7 howlrunners as well. When they reached the star destroyer, the howlrunners pulled away and headed back towards the Vendetta, with the interceptors keeping pace.

The pilot, as directed by an Imperial controller, landed the modified Lambda shuttle in the space that had been provided for him.

When the shuttle came to a rest, Commander Hashona spotted a lone official waiting for him along with perhaps twelve stormtroopers standing in rank.

Blowing out a long breath, he turned to his bodyguards.

"Well, here we go boys. Get on my flanks, and be ready for anything." ordered Hashona as they exited down the shuttle's ramp and came face to face with the official and the twelve stormtroopers.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Commander Garik Hashona, and these men besides me are my bodyguards." introduced Hashona, waiting to see if the lowly subordinate standing before him would lead him to captain Cassius or not.

Marcus stood at ease as Commander Harik Hashona decended from the modified shuttle, his men right behind him. Marcus bowed his head slightly, his expression unreadable. "Commander Hashona. I am Captain Marcus Cassius. Welcome aboard the Dragon's Fang . I must apologize, but I must insist that my men search and relieve you of your weapons. No worries, they will be returned to you when you leave." Marcus's polite tone held the same steel underneath it that Hashona had heard over the comm. The Stormtroopers quickly and efficiently serched the men and confiscated their weapons. "Now," continued Marcus, indicating the hangar bay doors with a wide sweep of his arm, "shall we proceed?" He walked quickly off towards the door, the Stormtroopers falling in to formation around the "guests".

The Captain led Hashona and his men down the pristine white halls of the Star Destroyer, his Stormtroopers a menacing and intimidating escort. Hashona was unreadable, which annoyed Marcus greatly. He thought himself a good judge of character, but this man was unreadable. Captain Cassius didn't dwell too long on that particular question, however; he had learned a long time ago that you always had to focus on the important looming matters, not staying focused on the secondary intrests. Whether he could read the enemy commander or not was irrelevant. What was, however, was dealing with the problem at hand...namely, the subjugation of this planet, and, ultimately, Hashona.

The journey to the captain's quarter's didn't take long, but it did still take longer than usual, with Marcus looking to intimidate the enemy commander even more by taking a longer route, past the hangar bays filled with TIE Interceptors, Bombers, and the like. He even took Hashona's party past the gunnery commands. He wanted to make one thing absolutely crystal clear to the man; you attack us, you die.

Marcus's longer route brought them to the captain's quarters, vacated by Captain Freyous, who was on the bridge at that time and who slept in the XO's quarters while Marcus was aboard. The Stormtrooper palmed the acess button and the door slid smoothly open, revealing the dim room in front of him. He stepped in, waving the lights on. "Come in, come in." He ushered the enemy through and the white-armoured Stormtroopers followed in an orderly fashion, taking up positions to dissuade any attempt at violence... on Hashona's part, anyway. If the meeting didn't go well, then... Marcus could always have them shot.

"Commander, may I offer you a drink?" Marcus sipped on some mineral water as he said this. He had already taken his seat at a large black table, polished to a shine by droids and bearing the Imperial logo in the middle.

Hashona took in as many details as he could while walking down the corridors of the Imperial flagship. What he saw impressed him a great deal. It seems that technology and engineering has come a long way in the Galatic Empire. No wonder that they rule the universe with ships like these at their disposal.

As he walked any thoughts he had about being able to fight his way out of this situation began to evaporate within his mind. On the contrary, his thoughts began turning to the possibility of forming an alliance of sorts with the Empire. He took a deep shuddering breath as he knew what he would have to give up in order to make this happen, most likely. Well, at the present time, at least.

At last they arrived within a room, the captain's quarters, no doubt.

Hashona was offered a drink, but he declined for the time being. It wasn't so much a matter of distrust rather than one that he wasn't thirsty at the moment, which was quite a suprise to himself considering how nervous he was at the moment.

"Captain Cassius..." began Hashona, pausing for a moment as a prelude to his little introductory speech.

"The apperance of Imperial forces within this system, as remote as it is, indicates that you might want something from it. Depending on what it is that you want, our interests may or may not conflict. If there is any....friction....to be had, I would like to take this opportunity to smooth it over with words, rather than by other....less enjoyable means...." said Hashona, trying hard not to offend the Imperial officer while still getting his point across.

Even though Hashona had a good idea of what it was, he still wanted to hear exactly what the Imperials wanted from this system, before he went on to lay out exactly what his own mission was, and how they could co-exist peacefully side by side.

Marcus smiled inwardly as Hashona began his little speech. Marcus, in a way, respected his opponent He certanly had guts to come into the lion's den and broker a deal with him. Well, two could play at the diplomatic game. "Thank you, Commander, for your intellegent response to the situation. I know a great many men who would have tried to fight. However, I will be frank with you. The Empire wants Primoria; you seem to want to destroy it. So, Commander Hashona, allow me to make you a proposition. Should you accept, the New Order could have a favorable position for a man of your talents. However, should you choose to resist, the Empire would not be quite so forgiving." Marcus leaned back in his chair, taking a sip of water as he did so. "Would you be open to such a proposition?"

Captain Freyous jogged down the bridge to his command chair. Slumping into it, he tapped in a rapid command on his board. A bright holoscreen erupted and Freyous checked it rapidly. It was just an hourly status report, but Freyous took simple pleasure in keeping his ship in order. Suddenly, a low voice from the crewpit cut through the air. "Captain Freyous, sir. Unknown fighters, coming in from the planetary shadow." Freyous's eyebrows lifted a fraction in mild surprise. "What sort?" He asked, calling up a long distance scan. "Looks like some Z-95s and a few Skiprays." Freyous frowned. "Blue Group, break off and await orders." He nodded at the TIE pilot's response. "Sir. A corellian corvette." Came a calm voice. Freyous grinned. Maybe he could have a little sport after all. The 'vette was in a reglemented colour, so it could have been one of Primoria's govermental forces. Freyous sent a message to Captain Cassius's comms', situated in the arm of his chair as well as the portable one in his breast pocket.

It was as Commander Hashona feared. The Empire wanted the planet, as he suspected all along. That means that he and his men could not seek their revenge and destroy it, and even worse, were standing in the Empire's way as it was, and their odds of survival with a confrontation stood between extremley slim and none.

But all was not lost as of yet. The Imperial captain had offered him an out. Simply put, if he were to stop his rampage, and join the Empire, he could still retain a position of some power and authority, even though he wouldn't be able to carry out his revenge. On the other hand, the only other option was to die, and at best satisfy only part of his revenge in the bloody battle to surely follow.

In the end it came down to a matter of whether or not he wanted to still be alive after he gained his revenge. He hadn't given it much though, consumed as he was for what the people of Primoria had done against him. With a great sigh he suppposed that the terror he had inflicted upon them thus far would have to suffice, for the time being. Turning his gaze away from the viewport, he faced the Imperial captain once again. It took him a moment more to work up to what he had to say.

"Given the circumstances, I have come to a decision. It would be my honor to serve in the forces of the Empire. If you would allow me use of a communications station, I will call off all of my forces and have them assemble a safe distance from the planet." said Hashona in a heavy voice. The burden of a failure weighed upon his shoulders, even as another was lifted from them....

Marcus stood, graciously offering a hand to Commander Hashona to shake. "Feel free to use the comms' on the table in front of you," He said, pressing a button on the table, "it will reroute the message through the bridge and to your ship. She's a fine craft, by the way. Quite a rarity, and magnificently maintained." He smiled tightly and stooped to answer Freyous. A simple affirmative sent TIEs streaming out to deal with the threat.

It would be over in a matter of minutes.