<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> They say that darkness is the mind killer. They say that there can be no substitute for the natural human dependence on light as a source of life. No synthetic substitute. Many feared darkness, and rightfully so. Many had devoted their lives to studying it, holding on feebly to the notion that fear is brewed simply from misunderstanding, that they could control it, if it were to be understood. That they could then harness it, in all it's fearful power, and somehow manage to extend their own humble lives, by taking away their personal mind killer. These people, were the ones that had no comprehension for the world around them, for what was happening to the galaxy while they studied. These were the casualties of life. Devoting themselves wholeheartedly to the darkness, they were the ones who would perish young, instead of fulfilling their dreams and becoming what they wished to be, their studies would lead them to the opposite.

Many people had been lead into the darkness this way, unable to control the free-fall that became dominant in their everyday lives. The fall into oblivion. The fall into death. The fall that had a blurry beginning and an even more indistinct end. Many kinds of people had fallen this way. "Sith" was the one word that instantly came to mind, but those were only the prominent ones. There were many others, unseen, hiding from the fear that plagued them, yet knowing that it must be faced to rid themselves of it. These were the others, the ones who would fall slower, yet still to as an admirable doom as the sith. These were the ones, with a chance...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

----------

The quarters were dark for all but a single lamp in the corner. It glowed softly, not intending to light the room as such, but merely to <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> provide<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> light, which in turn lead to comfort for the sleeper. Even if, in this line of work, small comforts were a luxury. Any comfort at all was a blessing, and none was an understandable normality.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> No rest for the wicked<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

Without warning, and quite surprisingly, the lamp which rested it's metallic base on a bedside table dimmed further, if possible, and slipped out of existence. It was replaced, a few seconds later, by the main lights, horrifically bright and stinging to the eyes. The soft noises that were heard before as well vanished. Light snoring from the bed's surface abruptly stopped, and a grunt of disapproval could be heard, before being drowned out by a music chime emanating from a wall panel above the bed. After three short rings, the morning wakeup call switched itself off, seemingly satisfied that one of the days many tasks had been achieved.

In further silence, the figure on the bed rose into a sitting position and opened his eyes to the startling light that now filed the room. Mumbling for a brief second, he swung his legs swiftly over the side, and planted his feet firmly on the cold floor, only wincing slightly at the sudden temperature change to his body. Getting up fully, he started the routine morning exercise of getting dressed. Wearing only a pair of plain white boxer shorts, he moved towards the shower, which was fairly close to the bed. On his way, the man passed several datapads laid out neatly on a table, accompanied by a jacket common of the Imperial army hanging from the back of the single chair assigned to the table. Glancing down as he passed, the man saw various names leap out at him from the pads. His own caught his eye.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> General Ming, you have been assigned...General to take over...minimal casualties, General<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

Tearing his gaze away from the pads, the General returned to focusing on putting one foot steadily in front of the other in his almost drunken morning state. Nearing the shower, he took off what little clothes he was wearing, and began to get ready to face the day ahead.

Far away, in another system to where General Ming's quarters were located entirely, there was a man who held a completely different view on darkness. That it was not to be understood, or controlled, but yet not left alone. He believed, as his extensive training had taught, that the dark shadows of night were there to be manipulated to a person's will, to benefit them in any way that they could make it. But never to indulge, never to get lost in it's endless hallways.

This was Julius' belief, as he ran steadily through the dark ghost town that he had called home for the past two days. He turned a corner abruptly, and halted as he saw lying on the ground the remains of what was once a sentient creature, now reduced to a mismatched pile of bones, the flesh having been worn away by time and insects long ago.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Guess the cleanup guys missed this one...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

Julius decided to stop his morning perimeter patrol and examine this...<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> specimen<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> before continuing. He bent down, and quickly detached a datapad from the back clip on his belt. Powering it up, he again reached behind him and unclipped a datacard, sliding it silently into the datapad in his waiting hand. Instantly images and text began to flash on the screen before him, and Julius found himself scanning through various Imperial records, both historical and technical, that were pertaining to his current assignment. He continued scrolling until suddenly happening across the file that he seeked. <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Dantooine: Introduced sentient life forms<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->. Searching the file for a few more seconds, Julius found the specific bulk of data he was looking for. <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Eol Sha: Fifty of these creatures were introduced to the planet Dantooine years ago...shortly wiped out...Admiral Daala...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> Julius did not need to read the full document, however. There was a picture below the text, and he brought it up to look at. Glancing down at the mutilated remains once more, he confirmed what he was looking at, and where he was.

Getting to his feet once more, Julius re-fastened his datapad, still with the card inside it, back onto his belt. Turning his head slightly to the right, he saw the first rays of sunlight spread out from the direction he was now looking in. There was to be little time now, if everything was going to schedule. At least his part of the plan was. Julius only hoped that the General was keeping pace as well.

Dismissing the worry as a false based one, he resumed his steady jog through the village, checking the charred houses that had for a long time been uninhabited by sentient life.

Ming suddenly felt a lurch in his stomach. It was normal, by now, and he only had to brace himself momentarily against the side of the corridor before he began his walk again towards the awaiting bridge. The Division had obviously just entered hyperspace. Not that he cared much, but it was a good feeling to know that they were on schedule. After this jump the First Division should reach their destination. Dantooine.

Space travel used to bother the General, but now he accepted it simply as an everyday part of his military career. Not an enjoyable part, but a part nonetheless. It was now as average as taking a shower, but still, he hoped that the Empire would one day find a way to transport troops to their destinations without the use of naval craft.

Now quickening his pace, he almost strolled through the corridors, wanting to reach the bridge quickly so that he could get a report of the situation from his Captain. Masterfully dodging crewmembers in his path, as he had done in his own Lieutenant days, made it a lot quicker for him to reach the bridge. Especially since some of these people probably didn't even recognise him. The only distinguishing marks he held of his rank was the rank slides slipped neatly onto his shoulder appelets, and the pips fastened to his jacket, in line with his left breast. Many of these faces in the corridor would not know his own.

Rounding a final corner, the General arrived on the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Pandemonium's<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> bridge. From somewhere to his left, a crewman came to attention while yelling in a monotone voce, "General on deck!" Instantaneously, the entire bridge came to attention in a respectful greeting.

"As you were," Ming muttered, his words only audible to those close to him, but the rest of the bridge crew copying their actions and returning to their respective tasks. It was then that Ming noticed Captain Tulok striding towards him, expectation playing across his face. It had been a pity, Ming thought, that he could not have transferred his friend and companion Captain Paullman to the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Pandemonium<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> for this operation. But as almost always happened, there were complications that prevented this luxury from coming to be. Ming would have to instead deal with Tulok, who he had met only briefly before, and had little to no substantial information on from his sources. Of course, there was the usual information: well educated, good record, good background. It was just that the man didn't seem to make any mistakes. That was obviously a good thing, and would be an invaluable asset in the upcoming operation, but it still worried Ming.

"Good morning, General," Tulok addressed him, going straight to the rank courtesy cupboard. Squeaky clean.

"Captain," a brief greeting from Ming, "what is our current situation?"

"If you will come this way, sir," and Tulok lead Ming across the bridge to the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Pandemonium<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> tactical station. Pointing at the screen, Tulok launched into an explanation. "Sir, the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Pandemonium<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->, along with the rest of Division One of the Sentinel Fleet, has entered hyperspace. We are on the last leg of our journey, and will be arriving in the Torch Nebula in approximately four hours and twenty three minutes. When there, we will mobilise and use sub-light engines to reach Dantooine. We will be in Dantooine's orbit in approximately four hours and fifty one minutes. Our on-planet operatives will have disabled the planetary defence base by that time. All we will have to do is deal with what little naval resistance they can put up, and then land the troops. The planet will be ours."

Silence reigned supreme on the bridge of the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Pandemonium<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->, as outside countless planets, stars, asteroids and other space debris flashed by unseen. Ming was standing quietly in front of the main viewport at the front of the ship that had been designated to lead the mission. Looking out at the wormhole-like appearance of hyperspace, but not moving at all.

"Sir," Captain Tulok approached from behind the General, announcing himself when he was within a few feet of Ming's back.

"Yes?" The General turned his head to look at Tulok.

"Sir, the Division has reported in. We are ready."

"Good." Ming said, moving back around to face the hyperspace tunnel that the Division was travelling through.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> I hope you're ready, Julius...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

Dawn had now fully surfaced, and Julius was rapidly growing impatient of waiting. He had scoured the village, and had then returned to his temporary base of operations in one of the long-abandoned huts built by the Eol Sha immigrants. Once there, he had packed up as much of his equipment as was possible, sparing a few rations, sequencer charges and power packs. On his back he carried a lightweight pack, containing extra power packs, datacards, rations, money of many kinds and various other devices. On his person he carried a small blaster strapped to his right thigh, rations, macrobinoculars, comlink, power packs and explosives, all attached to his body in different places, and his datapad with card inserted, this time the blueprints for the Dantooine communications station had been inserted. On his shoulder was slung an Imperial sniper rifle, loaded.

Now that he was ready, he had reduced his place of sleeping to flames, both as a crude form of purification, and to serve as a beacon to his pickup, which was due to arrive in one and a half minutes. Julius checked his watch again. They had just under five hours until the First Division was due to arrive. He hoped they would make it in time.

Julius had started pacing slowly up and down a few meters away from the burning hut, when his highly tuned ears picked up the distant whine of a shuttle's engines. Moving his head slightly to the west, where the noise was coming from, Julius was able to see the distant speck of a shuttle heading in his direction. Taking the macrobinoculars from his belt, he held them up to his eyes to gain a better view of the incoming ship. Judging from it's vector, the shuttle was definitely heading in Julius' direction. Zooming in, he identified it as the shuttle that his partner, Valoosk, had left in that morning to do some general last minute recon before the two of them set out to achieve what they had so obviously come here to do.

As the shuttle drew closer, Julius spied charring on the underside with his macrobinoculars.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Dammit, Valoosk, you were meant to observe, not interfere. What have you done now?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

Agent Valoosk was four years junior to Julius, and thus Julius had been the two man team leader, due to extra experience with intelligence operations. Julius knew that Valoosk tended to be overly and sometimes dangerously cocky, as they had been working together for just over one and a half years now. Not all that long, but still enough time for Julius to get a good reading on the man he called "partner", and vice-versa.

Now the shuttle was only a thousand meters away, and closing fast. In fact, a bit too fast for Julius' liking.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Valoosk, you stupid bastard, slow down...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

But the shuttle retained it's horrifically fast airspeed as it swooped towards Julius. He brought his macrobinoculars up towards his face again, and found that the shuttle was actually <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> increasing<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> it's speed, approaching his position at a dangerous rate.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Put an end to these games now, you bastard.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

Julius dropped his macrobinoculars to the dusty ground and pulled from his belt a small black metal tube that fitted neatly into his palm. Thumbing it on and running swiftly through the various channels that were programmed into the device, he found the frequency for the shuttle cockpit. Pressing again with his thumb to activate the channel, Julius held the comlink close to his mouth and yelled into it at his partner.

"Valoosk, do you read, over?" Julius sounded a lot angrier than he actually was, but a point had to be made if Valoosk was going to act like an idiot when they were on a tight schedule, and needed to organise, not muck around. Julius paused for a few seconds, but heard no reply.
"Valoosk, you frag head, slow down or I'll blow your brain out the back of your head and spill your gut out onto the deck, over!" Julius' frustrated voice called out again across the airwaves. There was a brief pause again, but this time the comm in the shuttle's cockpit was activated.

"I, uh, already took care of that detail for you," a gruff voice answered, almost gleefully. Definitely not Valoosk.

"Fracas!" Julius immediately began to run, not away, but towards the shuttle. It was almost on top of him now, a defining whine emitting from the engines. Suddenly, but not unexpectedly, two green energy bolts lanced out from the front of the modified transport, heading straight towards him. They were accompanied with a cackle from the comlink. As a desperate plea for self-preservation, Julius dived forwards into the dirt, hoping beyond hope that he'd still be alive to feel the pain of his fall.

He could feel blood on his face. There was a rather sharp stone that had managed to slash his left hand open, and his eyes were full of dust.
But he was alive.

Training suddenly taking over, Julius rolled to his right onto his back to look up into the sky. It was it's normal light blue, not a cloud in the sky. looking in the direction of the constant whining, he managed to glimpse the shuttle as it began a turn to come back and finish the job it had started when it made the first attack run. Knowing that it would be near-impossible to dodge yet another attack from the small ship, Julius forced himself to his feet, and allowed anger to empower him. Anger at the death of his partner. Anger at the wounds, however minor, that he now suffered. But most of all, anger that because of this, the people who were relying on him may enter the system with an unfair disadvantage to the forces that they <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> thought<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> they had come to fight. Many lives were resting on him, and there was no way in hell that he was going to let them die.

The whining had died down after the shuttle's first shots had been fired, but now it was back, growing ever louder as Julius' tormentor approached once more. Moving without talking, Julius un-slung the sniper rifle that had somehow managed to stay loosely strapped to his back during the shuttle's minor onslaught. Running as best he could towards a nearby shell that used to be a house, Julius fumbled with the rifle before finding the auto-aim button. With his dust-soaked eyes, there was no way Julius would be able to get off a clean shot at the shuttle.

The whining grew louder again, and he could hear the shuttle circling, attempting to find it's elusive prey as quickly as possible. The pilot was obviously smart enough to know that allowing Julius time to dig himself in would be a big mistake. He was also smart enough to realise that simply destroying all of the buildings would be a futile attempt at finding Julius, as the bodily remains may be completely destroyed, and the pilot would have no confirmation of Julius' death.

Foolishly underestimating him, and saving Julius the trouble of blowing up his own ship, the pilot circled once more, and then put down a short distance away from the burning hut. Dust swirled around the landing struts, being moved forcefully by various thrusters positioned on the shuttle's underside. With a dull <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> thud<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->, the landing struts struck home on solid ground, and the thrusters switched off, stopping the insane dust flow.

Julius could not watch this, to his dismay, but was forced to listen, as he hastily unfastened a water ration from his inside-left calf, concealed underneath the black and green jump suit he wore. When he had it in his hand, Julius wasted no time in ripping the top off the liquid packet and scooping the clear water into his eyes, eventually guzzling it when the dust had cleared from them.

By this time, the engine noise from the nearby shuttle had ceased, and on the edge of his hearing, Julius could just pick up the sound of a hydraulic ramp beginning to open.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> This is it.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

After what seemed an age, the ramp finished it's near-silent slide earthwards, and the slow clanking of metal boots could be heard coming down the ramp. Julius brought the rifle up close to his chest, quickly giving it a once-over with his hands to make sure that it was properly set. He no-longer required the auto-aim function, so he switched it off. Feeling confidence in both himself and his equipment, Julius quickly rounded the corner of the house he was hiding behind.

Upon turning he had made no noise, which wouldn't have mattered if the unnamed adversary had been looking in his direction. But, as luck would have it, the shuttle hijacker was facing away from Julius. That was the last mistake he'd ever make. Julius allowed himself a smirk before pulling the trigger. He hardly had to aim, the man standing on the other side of the clearing from him was fairly large, and looked as if he had only accidentally stumbled upon Valoosk, killed him maybe when his back was turned, and somehow managed to extract Julius' co-ordinance from the computer onboard.

The man went down hard. Julius concentrated, and was able to actually <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> feel<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> the overweight being hit the ground. Obviously, he had been dead before even starting to topple, but now confirmation was his. There was a rather large hole in the back of his head. Normally, the rifle would penetrate with a small hole, and that would be enough to kill. But as Julius had been unsure of who or what he would be up against, he had set the damage to a medium setting. The rifle could do a lot worse...

Checking his watch, Julius realised that there was no time for him to dwindle on this man's identity, or even to go over and inspect him. He was running seriously behind schedule, and would now have to do the jobs of <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> two<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> men, in less time than was designated for the both of them to finish their tasks.

Rifle in one hand, the other free to hit buttons on the shuttle's inside panels as he passed, Julius sprinted over to the great hulk of metal and up the ramp, closing it behind him. As he ran through the interior, he noticed Valoosk's body slumped in a corner. He had just enough time to glance at the gaping hole in his ex-partner's head before he had to move on again, running full speed towards the cockpit.

When he got there, Julius wasted no time in powering up the engines, and lifting off. Moving at a speed far greater than the reckless hijacker had, he forced the shuttle to give it it's all, as he sped away in the morning light. His destination: the remote communications station that controlled traffic on Dantooine. He'd have to work fast, for he now had <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> two<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> places to visit.

Bridge activity had increased dramatically with Tulok's last statement. Now that everyone was assured that the other ships of the Division, quite a formidable armada at that, were prepared for the combat that was to ensue, the bridge had now become a hive of activity and gently buzzing voices whilst the crewers made last minute preparations to the assault troop designations, TIE squadron alignments, ship safety checks and many other variables that needed confirming before going into combat could even be considered.

All of this preparation and General Ming had simply stood in the middle of it, looking out of his viewport at the light display that reigned supreme outside. This had lead him to feel like a kind of fifth wheel, not having anything to do and simply getting in the way by being there. No use at all. He knew that because he was an Army General, these people in the Imperial Navy were not used to operating with or around him. The ship's crew had been designed to function without him, and that was exactly what it was doing.

Upon this realisation, Ming decided it would be best for both him and the crew, as well as the overall good of the mission, if he left them to their own devices until the Allegiance class Super Star Destroyer <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Pandemonium<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> arrived with the rest of the sizeable Division in the Torch Nebula.

Turning from his vantage point into the void and surveying the bridge quickly, Ming saw that he <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> definitely<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> was not needed, and began to make his leave. When he passed Captain Tulok, the man threw a salute Ming's way, which was graciously returned by the General. Moving slightly faster, Ming made for the bridge exit. Needless to say, no one really noticed his departure aside from Captain Tulok.

Julius was sweating now. Perhaps from pressure at the new-found time allowance, perhaps from his wounds, perhaps from something else that he could not yet discern. When Julius had entered the cockpit, he had immediately started up the shuttle and headed towards the communications station as fast as he could get the small ship to travel.
The course had been laid in, and the shuttle was now running on auto-pilot, which gave Julius time to think and decide what he would do. The original plan had dictated that Valoosk would fly the shuttle swiftly over the communications station, Julius would parachute out and blow it up whilst Valoosk moved on and took care of the planetary defence squadron hangar, which was located twenty minutes flight time away from the communications station. Valoosk would then dump the shuttle, blow it up to erase all evidence, and the pair of them would make their way, on foot or utilising anything they could manage to steal, back to the Eol Sha village, where they were due to be picked up by General Ming's men.

But now Valoosk was dead and Julius was severely behind schedule. The shuttle, also, was damaged and could not perform at peak efficiency. The mild charring that Julius had seen on the shuttle's underbelly through the macrobinoculars turned out to be a lot worse on the inside. He was leaking fuel and was having to decrease his speed every few moments to compensate. This would not, he concluded, be a stealth mission after all.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The power of a man is only equal to his desire to succeed.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

Well, Julius definitely wanted to succeed. For he knew that not doing so would spell certain death for him, and a lot more problems than he was willing to think about for the Division. He checked his watch once more. There were only four hours and fifteen minutes left until the arrival of the Division. It was 0815.

----------

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> 0842<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

"Shuttle Hodigan, please divert your course. You are flying into government owned airspace and are liable to be shot down, over," a cackle of static accompanied the controller's warning to Julius' ears, but he paid it no heed. If anything, it made him attempt a faster and more direct flight path towards the large communications dish that was now well within sight.
"Shuttle Hodigan, divert your course or be <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> shot down<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->, over," this time, the statement seemed important enough to get Julius' attention.

"I heard you the f-f-first time," he put on a fake accent coupled with a timid voice for effect "but these controls are so strange. I-I can't seem to f-figure out how to t-turn..." Julius had purposely been heading in a straight line, not deviating his vector but changing his speed and stalling (which was very dangerous in the shuttle's damaged condition) for the past five minutes, to make up a good cover story.

"I'm sorry, sir, but if you don't figure it out soon, we will be forced to fire upon your shuttle, over," the controller's reply came back, not sympathetic in the least.

"A-ahh!" Julius didn't have to fake most of the surprise, that line usually worked. No matter, it was too late for them now anyway. "W-wait a m-m-minute! I th-think I've got it n-now" And with those words, Julius began to turn the shuttle away from the communications tower that sat next to the dish. It was very big, and could only be minimally seen through the shuttle's front viewport. The tower was now behind Julius, but he did not pull out of the turn. Instead, he reached behind him and grabbed the parachute that had been intended for the original plan. Fastening it to himself as he jogged lightly down the passage to the back ramp, Julius prepared a sequencer charge and placed it on the ramp itself. He looked at his watch, and set the charge for remote detonation, activating the built-in shield generator that made the charge so expensive and valuable. With that done he opened the ramp, and jumped.

----------

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> 0844<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

Lieutenant Koroban sat at his console and looked at the turning shuttle through a large plexi-glass window in front of him. Sighing, he removed the headset that was used to address air traffic in the area, and moved his hand away from the "Fire" button.

"That was close," his assistant murmured from behind.

"Heh, you've just gotta know how to handle these types. Just show 'em whose boss and they'll eat from offa your floor," the Lieutenant took this opportunity to show off to his subordinate, turning around to face the assistant wit a smirk on his face.
"You see, when you've been doing this job for as long as I have, which is quite a considerable amount of time, compared to you new guys appearin all the time, you get to know a few things about what to do when certain situations arise, like that one."

"So what you're saying is that experience equals power?" The assistant asked.

"Yeah, that's what I said, ain't it?" The Lieutenant remarked.

"Uhh, yeah, ok...hey boss, what's that?" Koroban's assistant asked, pointing a finger at the console Korroban had his back turned to. Swinging around in his chair once more, Koroban looked at the screen.

"Frell! It's the proximity alarm!" Koroban's head shot up to look out the plexi-glass at the morning sky. In the middle of his vision was the shuttle that had just turned. Now it was heading straight for the control tower at high speed. Quickly, Korroban lifted his hand and brought it slamming down onto the scarlet "Fire" button.

Many stories below Koroban's vantage point of an office, a pair of ION cannons fired subsequent bolts of energy out in the direction of the shuttle, a collision course now evident to anyone who could be bothered looking. Blue lightning slashed it's way across the front of the shuttle, and in it's damaged state, it swiftly succumbed to the energy draining bolts. Unfortunately for the control tower staff, the shuttle still had sufficient momentum to propel it forward and a considerable way into the building, causing a rather spectacular explosion and toppling the once mighty structure, which fell with much fire onto the near by communications dish. In a torrent of fire and explosions, the whole structure erupted in flames.

On the ground, a barely safe distance away, Julius admired his handiwork.

----------

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> 0922<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

It was a comparatively long wait for Julius. From the time that he'd jumped out of the shuttle, he had watched it for a few seconds, just to make sure that it was heading in the right direction, and had then retreated to behind a large rock to shelter from the firestorm that was to come.

From then on, it was just a matter of being patient and waiting for the rescue party. Normally, his reports stated, they would have been there within twenty minutes, but because it was a communications station he had destroyed, it took a lot longer for the message to reach the planetary defence base, located a mere twenty minutes flight time from the communications tower.

When they did arrive, however, it was with great grandeur and praise. The survivors of the explosions, of which there were few, all wished to be either rescued or attended to at the same time. Originally, the mission outline had been minimal casualties, and this move could cost Julius his career. Fortunately, the mission parameters had allowed a loophole to this, if there were insufficient resources for quietly disabling the communications tower. Time, it is said, is the most precious resource of all.

But now the "rescuers" had arrived, and wasted no time in screwing up their operation. He waited until there were a sizeable amount of people in the crippled building, looking for rescuers, before he even considered taking the remote detonator out of his pocket. Julius had seen, from the size and intensity of the explosions, that the personal shielding of his charge had held fast during the crash and for the time thereafter.

Moving with sure hands, he flicked open the protective cover around a scarlet activation switch, braced himself, and pressed down. Almost instantaneously, the ground around him shook once more as it had done just less than an hour before with the might of the explosion. This one was not for show, but for purpose. Coming from the direction of the wreck, Julius could hear quite clearly amid the explosions and superheated metal that groaned under it's own weight, the audible cries and shouts of the rescue workers and those who had survived the initial blast. He covered his ears momentarily, so as not to hear them scream. He may have been Imperial, but he still had a heart.

Looking up when the explosions had died down once more, Julius saw the renewed carnage before him. The explosion had damaged several Sorosub Med Runners, and there was a squadron of Z-95 Headhunters, obviously designated to protect the Med Runners, both on the ground and in the air. These ships, few of them destroyed compared to the ones that had survived, were obviously from the local hangar, out of which many, many more would pour if given the chance. Julius knew that to further better his Empire, he would have to either disable, or in the worst case destroy this hangar.

But it wasn't going to be easy.

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> 0956<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

Onboard the Super Star Destroyer <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Pandemonium<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->, the same situation was being addressed, but from a considerably different stance. To the assembled "higher ups" it was a simple matter of getting into the system, destroying what little naval resistance was provided, and landing ground forces to storm the ciries and military installations. To them, it was simple.

The meeting had been call only moments before by Captain Osakawa, who had requested all high standing military personnel on board the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Pandemonium<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> to attend. That basically meant the General, Captain Tulok, Tulok's aid and Osakawa himself, who would be in direct control of the ground attack.

The meeting had started with the usual formalities, but had quickly progressed to business. Captain Tulok believed that it would be a good idea to enter the Torch Nebula and proceed directly towards Dantooine from their point of entry to the system. Captain Osakawa, on the other hand, held firm with the idea that it was best for the Division to split into two groups, and tackle the planet from both sides. They bickered on and off for five or so minutes, before Ming spoke up.

"We shall proceed with Captain Tulok's plan for now, as this was the one outlined in the mission briefing, which has already been handed to our on-planet operatives," Ming's decision finalised the conversation. "Now Captain, is there anything else you wish to discuss?"

"Yes, sir," Osakawa said, glaring for a moment at Tulok before continuing. "Sir, if I may ask, what kind of resistance would we expect to encounter if our on-planet operatives do <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> not<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> succeed in their mission?"

"Our people are down there right now attempting to knock out the primary communications dish and primary planetary defence hangar for Dantooine. If they do not succeed, we can expect that Dantooine will call for help, utilising the communications dish. We don't know who will answer, but if anyone does come knocking, we should treat them as a formidable threat. If the hangar fails to be destroyed or disabled in some way, then we will be faced with numerous starfighters, but nothing I don't think we couldn't handle." Ming's explanation was sketchy, but it seemed to satisfy Osakawa for the time being.

"Anything else, gentlemen?" The General asked. No-one had anything else to say. "Good, meeting adjourned. I believe the Division will be arriving at Dantooine in approximately two hours and thirty five minutes. Prepare your men for the battle."

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> 1030<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

By pure luck more so than anything else, Julius had managed to sneak aboard one of the few remaining Med Runners, and safely stow himself in the minimally spaced cargo compartment, located just behind the cockpit, but in front of where the passengers and injured persons were kept.

After waiting for a few minutes, Julius was pleased to hear the engines powering up, and feel the craft begin to move beneath him. Before long, they were moving at as quick a speed as possible, headed, Julius could only assume, to the planetary defence hangar, which was the closest installation with adequate medical facilities. Julius estimated the journey to take about thirty five minutes, due to the critical nature of the cargo.

Julius sat back, and decided to rest for the ride to the hangar. Fetching from his pocket a bandage he had snatched from outside, he began to slowly dress the wounds that had pained him since just after dawn.

----------

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> 1112<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

The ride on the Med Runner had taken only slightly longer than Julius had expected. Judging from the sounds coming from all around him, but on the outside of the hull, he expected that because of the communications tower disaster, the Dantooinians had stepped up their security. This was not going to be as easy as he had originally hoped when he sneaked aboard the Med Runner, but it would be entirely possible, if he could just put his mind to it.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Well what else is there to concentrate on?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

Knowing that there would be no more time to rest from hear on in, Julius gave himself a quick once-over before moving in. He still had his rifle, and two sequencer charges left over from the ones he had started out with. Julius took out a moisturised food ration from the pouch on the back of his belt, unwrapped and ate it before pushing himself up out of the compartment, detonator strapped to his arm just below his wrist. He had donned a civilian jacket, so the detonator was concealed underneath it, but strapped to the outside of his jump-suit.

Silently, he moved out into the corridor and made a left, heading for the cockpit. It was only a few feet, and the hatch had such a simple locking mechanism that Julius had to stifle a laugh, which could have betrayed his position to the pilot and co. He picked it in two seconds and forced his way through the door into the cockpit. A surprised pilot and another man who could only be his co-pilot looked up at Julius face, and then at the sniper rifle he held in both hands.

"Sorry about the intrusion," Julius addressed the pilot, before shooting him in the head with the silenced rifle. "You're next, if you do say anything." He was now pointing the rifle at the co-pilot.
"Just go about your business, don't mind me. Oh, and know that I would have no reservations about killing you if you let them" Julius pointed out the front of the ship with his rifle towards the approaching hangar "know that I'm here, ok?" It was a rhetorical question, and the newly promoted pilot realised this.

The nervous pilot nodded and turned back to his controls, inching slightly farther forward in his seat so as to get a little further away from this madman behind him with a gun. Julius stepped forward, and with one hand reached over and pulled the pilot out of his seat, dumping the carcass heavily near the back of the cockpit. He then sat down on the seat, placing the rifle between his legs, and stared out at the hangar.

It was a medium size, not overly big, but a decent size to house most of the government controlled ships on the planet. Although because of the fact that Dantooine was a small, out of the way planet, this fleet was considerably small, and made up entirely of starfighters.

The hangar was now almost on top of them, and Julius decided it was time to set his revised plan in operation. Carefully, he removed his pack. Reaching inside it, he retrieved the explosive innards of one of his sequencer charges, that he had meticulously removed earlier, whilst waiting for the Med Runner to arrive at the hangar. Julius stood up, and moved to the door. He opened it, stepped out, and began to fasten extraordinarily small amounts of explosive to the doorframe from the opposite side. when this task had been completed, he joined the together by a single fuse, and stepped back into the cockpit, closing the door.

"-are for inspection, over," Julius caught the last portion of the controller's message on the comm.

"Uhh, w-what should I do?" The pilot looked to Julius for support.

"Strap in," Julius followed his own instructions, ignoring the persistent comm. When Julius had strapped himself into the seat, he moved his hand to his wrist, and quickly tapped in a combination.

"Ahh!" The pilot screamed beside Julius as the explosives went off behind him, and the cockpit was forcibly removed from the rest of the Med Runner, and hurled into the air, first in front of the shuttle, and then underneath and behind it, free falling to the ground below.

Julius was just able to seethe shuttle heading on a collision course with the hangar.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> They arn't going to fall for the same trick twice in one day, are they?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

Julius was suddenly aware of turbolaser fire, coming from the hangar and shooting at the Med Runner. In a brilliant explosion, the doomed shuttle, along with it's crew and already injured passengers, was destroyed.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> They aren't out of the woods just yet...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

In a last effort, Julius flicked open the cover on his wrist, and pressed the switch one his detonator. He was barely aware of a torrent of explosions along the hangar's front and in the air around him, before the cockpit turned once more, the ground rushed up to meet him, and everything went black.

----------

The explosions Julius had heard were that of the other Med Runners and the Z95 Headhunters that had been unlucky enough to be on the ground after the second explosion at the communications tower. Before boarding his Med Runner, Julius had set most of his remaining charges on any and all ships he could safely get to undetected. The result was obviously in his favour.

Many of the Headhunters had returned to the hangar, and had landed on the outskirts, just near the entrance of the hangar. When they exploded the roof managed to come down on top of them, causing the fighters behind them to be blocked in, unable to escape. The Med Runners, however, had gone deep into the hangar, searching out the command section where the medical facilities were located. This caused the main control of the hangar to be knocked out, as well as the medical and repair facilities.

All in all, it was a job well done.