The small armada of a lone Imperial Star Destroyer and a small compliment of Carrack-class cruisers, glided over the orbit of Argai after making their jump from hyperspace. A patrol of TIE fighters were quickly dispatched from the hangar bays to scan the area for any possible witnesses to their arrival. The cruisers began to send down their load of cargo toward the surface of the planet to establish the first signs of colonization.

Aboard Sleeping Death, the command bridge was in constant motion. Bridge officers and personnel were getting updates on the new sector they had entered. Captain Anre faced the planet from the clear viewports of the main bridge, studying the area as he watched the burning streaks of the cargo ships entering its atmosphere. One of his bridge officers approached him quickly and briefed him as he saluted.

"Sir, the colonial fleet is secured in orbit around Argai and we have commenced jamming all transmissions to and from the planet. The Tion Hegemony will be in no condition to advise anyone of our upcoming expansion. The crew await your orders when the BDE operatives commence their intelligence on the sector for us."

Anre nodded to his officer. "Good. I'm pleased to hear that our presence is noted by the BDE. Keep up with the reports from their sources." He peered to the tactical display of the planet. "Heir Raktus will be expecting progress soon. We must not delay any further."

"Lieutanant, summon Lt. Cmdr. Davin to my quarters. I will meet him there." The bridge officer saluted and darted toward the crew pit. Captain Sully Anre nodded to one of his bridge crew to take watch and made his exit.



The black gloves felt a bit tight as he pulled them over his hands as he dressed. It was early in the morning when orders were dispatched to his quarters to meet with the Captain himself. Lieutenant Commander Kix Davin wanted to be in his best attire, complete with gloves to impress his superior. His hands neatly pulled the black cap over his head and straightened it; his fingers tucking the brown locks under it. Davin pulled away from the mirror and posed. Whatever his superiors called for, he would accomplish it for the glory of the BDE.

He felt the capital ship establish orbit around Argai. Rumour from among his men were heard that Captain Anre was going to establish a foothold among the Tion Hegemony; the planet to begin the expansion was Argai. Of course, it would explain the orders to report immediately to the Captain's quarters. It was indeed a pleasure to serve aboard Sleeping Death, Anre's flagship given by the Black Dragon Empire.

Davin was ready to follow any orders. If the rumour was true, as first officer, he would have to inform the rest of the crew of the oncoming expansion. If only he knew of the details of this mission, he wouldn't feel as nervous as he walked through the busy corridors. He buried his excitement as his fingers tapped the console, opening the door to the turbolift. Davin entered and made his way toward the command bridge.

Minutes seemed like hours as Davin waited. The doors pulled open, releasing him into the corridor of a new level. Anre's quarters was ahead, guarded by a pair of BDE stormtroopers at his doorway. Davin's footfalls were heard quietly as he approached the doorway and entered.

Sully peered over the datapads as he studied the amount of forces he had available to accomplish the BDE's mission of expansion. The sound of doors hissing open was heard as he glanced at the pad's display. Approaching footfalls came closer until they stopped in front of his desk. Sully placed down his datapad and glared at his first officer. Davin was dressed in his black tunic and cap. The Lt. Commander sharply saluted his superior.

"You sent for me Captain?"

Lt. Commander Davin noticed a dark shape lurking in the background. The figure moved in closer, allowing the light to reflect on him. He stood a short distance away from the Captain as he kept his hands folded behind his back. The BDE officer raised an eyebrow at him and glanced over to his superior. Sully looked up to him from his datapad and pulled out a cigarra to light it.

"His name is Sij Olith, Kix. I summoned him here while taking my leave from the bridge. He is an agent of the BDE who will be working for us. He is also skilled in many other fields," Sully briefed, taking a quick drag from his smoke and exhaling. "Sij will serve a major part on this mission and you, Commander, will be leading our air support as our forces head down to the surface to sabotage Saheelindeel's planetary shield generators. From there, our fleet can bombard any defenses on the surface. It will then make way for our ground assault to commence." The Captain smirked as the smoke trailed around him. "Understood?"

"Yes, sir," Davin replied. His eyes darted back to Sij.

"He will be accompanying us to the conference room with the rest of our officers, which we will meet in one hour. You are dismissed until then," Sully concluded.

An hour later...

Lt. Commander Davin took his cup of Naris bud tea and sipped. He looked passed Captain Anre and noticed the BDE agent among the officers. He looked back at his superior with curiousity as he rambled on.

"...but first, let me explain our new guest to our table," Sully said, gesturing toward the agent nestled in the back. "His name is Sij Olith, and he was once in service to Heir Raktus. Now, he is in service to our cause by his order. He has volunteered his services to aide us in taking the Tion Hegemony and bringing the Black Dragon Empire to higher glory."

"Do we really need another BDE agent in our ranks watching over us?" Leiutanant Polum questioned with suspicion. "After all, the BDE lust for power only for their benefit, not as a cause."

"Not true. Raktus has promised us total control of this sector, once it is ours. Sij is loyal to us and the BDE, nothing more. He is with us to make sure this is carried out," the captain countered, throwing a casual glance around the room before taking another drag of his cigarra. "He will aide us in our plans."

"And what is this plan?" Commander Pegent asked, continuing the line of questioning. "We are just one Star Destroyer with a small compliment of Carrack cruisers and a small cargo of colonists."

A slight grimace, quickly suppressed, touched Sully's lips. "It's quite simple, actually." He looked up at the holoprojector in the middle of the table, reaching a finger over to gently switch it on. A display of the Tion Hegemony appeared in the middle of the room, with his small fleet stationed near Argai, indicated by a series of green dots.

"Before the BDE decided to take the Tion Sector, Raktus had informed me about the Dameun's developments in their technologies. The mindrives and so forth..." He paused. "Anyway, the BDE has promised us these technologies to us when we advance more into the sector. For now, we will take a few planets as a sign of our determination to please the BDE and in time, we will be rewarded with some of their technology. So the beginning will be tasking, but in the end with their technology assisting us, it will be most easy."

"I've never heard of such things," Polum said, staring at the hologram of the Tion sector with an almost childlike intensity. "Why haven't the BDE provided us with this in the beginning?"

"Loyalty," the captain conceded. "We have to give them something in order to recieve something." He put out his cigarra on the table. "But I assume the BDE are using their technologies to their standards for their own covert plans against their enemies at this moment." He cocked a pierced eyebrow. "Not that it matters. For according to BDE's sources, the Tion Hegemony are a weak sector with not much resistance. This operation should be easy."

The captain's face darkened. "Our mission will be to seize this sector for ourselves. With several planets in our possession, we will modify them to accomodate our fleet and use it for our ultimate goal."

"Which is?" Lt. Commander Davin asked smugly.

"The building of our shipyards. We need ships. We need a formidible fleet. What better way than to sneak in, destroy their defenses, then build shipyards in order to have several capital ships of our own?"

"Impossible!" one of the officers exclaimed. "It can't be done."

Captain Anre studied him for a moment. "It can and will be done, Lieutanant Uer."

Davin cleared his throat and spoke up. "What do we hope to find when we capture these planets?"

Sully turned to him and smiled. "I expect to find either working factories or at least a complete set of processing plants. We will then use them to build our shipyards, planetary defenses, and weapons to standards. We will then be invunerable to attack."

There were quiet mumbles among the officers. The captain settled back into his seat, the smile still showing through. "With the help of Sij Olith and the leadership of the BDE, I am sure we will be victorious in our plans." Sully's pierced eyebrow went up, just slightly, as he lifted the tea kettle in the center of the room and offered it to his comrades.

"Tea, anyone?"

The room was silent.

"Very well, then. In two days, our convoy should be ready with men, supplies, and weapons from Argai's surface." He nodded toward the hologram in the middle of the table. "Our fleet will travel at lightspeed to Saheelindeel. When we exit hyperspace, we will attack swiftly. Our fleet will destroy any kind of ship defenses they have, while a strike team of storm commandos led by Lt. Cmdr. Davin and Sij Olith will head to the surface and disable their planetary shields and defenses before we are in range."

Captain Sully Anre looked around the room, one last time. "Are there any questions?"

Silence.

"Then you are dismissed. Lt. Commander Davin, prepare your men. Sij Olith, assemble your strike team..."

The captain read the display on the datapad twice before turning his eyes on his officer. "You vouch for the reliability of this report, Lt. Polum?"

"As much as I can vouch for any report that doesn't originate with a BDE agent," Polum told him. "On the other hand, agents within the BDE have fed us several reports over the last few days here on Argai, only one of which proved not accurate. I'd say they are worth believing."

Captain Anre looked back at the display. "Especially, when Heir Raktus wants this to be successful," he murmured, half to himself. "So the strike team and Sleeping Death are ready?"

"Navicomputers have plotted a course for Saheelindeel," Polum said. "The strike team have organized themselves and are awaiting to jump to hyperspace. They are ready, captain."

"As if they need me to give the word," Sully snorted derisively. "They know what needs to be done. Give the order."

"Yes, Captain," Polum nodded, keying in the order. "Shall I have Lt. Commander Davin brought up to the bridge for mission briefing?"

"Not necessary for Davin," Sully said the name thoughtfully. "He's an esteemed officer who knows his duty. He knows his mission. He will report in when he has completed it."

Polum frowned. "What of the activity above Saheelindeel? There is still a good amount of traffic coming to and from the planet. Any one of them will pick up on Sij's signature as part of the BDE and report it."

Sully smiled thinly. "I highly doubt that, Lieutanant. Saheelindeel is full of smugglers and cutthroats. They don't want to give their whereabouts freely, and if I know about backward planets, we don't have to worry about any transmissions to any of BDE's oppressors. Sij's strike team will eliminate all communications, shield generators, and weapons. We need not worry especially after this happens. Power will then shift from the Hegemony to the Black Dragon Empire." The captain snorted again. "We control Argai, now. A small victory for the BDE, despite what lays ahead for us."

"Yes, sir," Polum hesitated. "May I point out, though, that we should hide Sleeping Death in the dark side of Saheelindeel to avoid detection, or behind its moons at least when we arrive?"

"I agree," Sully said grimly. "We don't want to give away our location too easily, especially after our leaving from Argai. Have the Sleeping Death take position behind the two moons when we jump from hyperspace. The Carrack cruisers can hide in Saheelindeel's dark side. Kix Davin and Sij Olith can monitor any activity on the surface and report it to us." The captain frowned, trying to think of what might be on Saheelindeel that could be of some value. "Possibly, they may even point out some targets for the BDE's TIE fighters to engage, to test out the validity of their defenses? We will then see if their scopes can detect them after the strike teams disable the majority of their network."

Lt. Polum nodded. "That would be worth this much effort on their part. At any rate, it's a risk we can afford to take."

"Agreed," replied Sully.

Commander Pegent's board pinged from the crew pit below: navigation and engineering signaling ready. "Course set to take position behind the moons of Saheelindeel."

"At your convenience, Commander."

Sully nodded at the helm. "Take us on course, as set by navigation. Engage hyperdrive once we have cleared out of orbit from Argai."

Through the viewports the planet below began to fall away; and as it did so there was the short trill of a priority message coming through. Polum pulled it up, read the heading. "Captain, the strike team has jumped to hyperspace ahead of us, lead by Sij Olith. They've acknowledged your orders and are proceeding to Saheelindeel." He glanced down to the end. "According to their schedule, the mission should be completed by the time we arrive."

"Excellent," the captain said with quiet satisfaction as he pulled up the report to his own station. "Report to Lt. Cmdr. Kix Davin that we will soon be arriving to the surface, once we have exited hyperspace."

"Yes, sir."

And with that, Sleeping Death made its jump to the second planet of the Tion Hegemony to be taken by the Black Dragon Empire...

The starlines flared again through the mottled sky and shrank back into stars, and the Black Dragon Empire fleet had arrived.

<img src="http://home.earthlink.net/~zolanhunter/images/TIEs.jpg" align=left>
"All fighters and assault transports: launch," Captain Anre called, throwing a quick look at the tactical holo floating over his display bank. They had come out of hyperspace exactly as planned, within easy striking range of Saheelindeel and its defense traffic. "Response?" he called to the tactical officer.

"Defending Z-95 Headhunters engaging BDE forces," the other reported. "Our fighters are destroying them one by one."

"Get a lock on the closest gunship formation," Sully ordered, "and pummel it with our ion cannons before they shield themselves."

"Yes, sir."

Commander Pegent could see the Tion gunships now, coming at them like swarm of angry mynocks. Off on the Sleeping Death's starboard flank, a Carrack cruiser was moving toward their base, its TIE fighter wedge sweeping ahead of it to engage the gunships. "Change course toward Saheelindeel," he ordered the helmsman. "Carrack cruisers are to set up an advance screen. They will take the gunships and cripple them." He looked to his superior. "Any special orders, Captain?"

Sully was gazing at a mid-distance scan of the planet. "Stay with the program for now, Commander," he said."Our preliminary data appear to have been adequate; you may choose surface targets at will. Remind your gunners once again that the plan is to hurt and frighten, not obliterate. We need those cities intact to colonize and produce. The gunships will be eliminated. The Saheelindeel government must be crippled at all costs. Have Lt. Cmdr. Davin and his commandos ready to disembark."

"Relay that," Pegent nodded toward the communications station. "Have Sij Olith and his team so reminded, as well."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the captain engage a small holoprojector, and an image of Sij Olith appeared. "Olith?" he said. "What's the status of your team?"

"We are here. We were sucessful with our infiltration and have destroyed several shield generators within two day's time. You may commence disembarking your strike forces."

A Carrack cruiser flared into oblivion on the display. Pegent frowned at the captain. "Sir--?"

Sully turned to him, a warning gleam in his eyes. "Attend to your duties, Commander," he said. "Give the order to Davin to begin landing his troops and dispatch his wings."

And with a sudden flash of insight, Pegent realized that this attack on the Tion Hegemony was more than simply part of the setup for the new administration of the Black Dragon Empire. It was, in addition, a test. A test of his captain's ablilities, yes; but also a test of his willingness to accept orders and carry them out. "Yes, Captain," Pegent murmured, and turned back to his displays.

Sully turned back to the image. "Excellent, Sij. Continue your infiltration and elimate all planetary defenses as you see fit."

"Yes, sir." The hologram vanished.

The Sleeping Death was in complete engagement now, and tiny sparks started to appear on the tactical holo as the Star Destroyer's huge turbolaser batteries began firing. A pair of Tion gunships swept in from starboard, the Sleeping Death's TIE fighter screen breaking formation to engage them. Off in the distance, the other BDE TIE's were blazing against the Headhunters; and even as Sully watched, one of the gunship's engines flared into vapor, crippling it. The battle seemed to be going well.

Remarkably well, in fact...

On the surface of Saheelindeel, the shriek of overstressed metal filled the air, and the far end of the passageway was lit by a blinding actinic flash. Somewhere down there the little cluster of armed crew who had passed by minutes before had encountered the shield generator's attackers. The new arrivals were storm commandos armed with blaster rifles. The invading troops entered and began firing up the corridor. In seconds, the passageway was filled with smoke and crisscrossing beams of energy.

Green and red blaster bolts ricocheted off polished sections of wall and floor or rippled long gashes in metal surfaces. Screams of injured and dying Saheelindeelians echoed piercingly above the inorganic destruction.

"To the engineering section!" Sij Olith shouted, "the reports state the ion generators are there!"

The knot of invading troops held their ground, and began to make their way toward the lower levels...



Lieutanant Commander Kix Davin was in the best shape of his life when he joined Captain Anre's crew a month ago by consent of the BDE. But getting used to the ravages of the resistance on Argai the past days had been pure hell from rigorous patrolling, and the constant barrage of battle that engulfed it.

Kix did not have the time to be homesick or lonely, although his thoughts sometimes drifted to his homeworld of Naboo. He wondered about his family nowadays, especially being stationed this far in the Tion Hegemony.

Minutes after the announcement from Captain Anre, Kix marched up to the quartermaster and collected his commando gear: heat-reflective armor, comlink, filtermask, blaster rifle, temperature-control body glove, utility belt, energy source, and concussion grenade launcher. He staggared to his cabin under the load of equipment.

Kix donned his helmet with automatic polarized lenses. Fully outfitted in storm commando gear, he clunked to the mirror in his small cabin and looked himself over. Like it or not, he was finally chosen to be assigned to escort the captain on Saheelindeel, once the planet is theirs. There was no higher honor than that, although the rumours of Anre's past of being a smuggler did disturb him. He wondered if the captain would address this, once he became more personal with him.

He used his chin to click on his chinmike, activating the comlink. He tapped into the garrison's radio traffic for his detachment. A series of voices checked in. Kix recognized the trooper's voices under his command.

There was a long pause of silence. Sounding irritated, Commander Pegent's voice came over the comlink. "Lt. Cmdr Davin? Are you up and ready?"

It took Kix a full two heartbeats to realize that Commander Pegent was speaking to him.

"Davin online, sir. Detachment is ready."

"Report to the landing area. Your team will soon be disembarking from Sleeping Death. Move it!"

Although Kix was the last to board the assault shuttle, he was set into his station before all the other storm commandos in his detachment. The very thought of going to battle again sent a chill through him. He never participated in the final takeover of Argai, but at least he spent a good deal patrolling the prison camps and on occassion quashing its resistance before being reassigned here. It sounded too surreal to start over again.

The storm commandos sat mute as they left Sleeping Death, their home for the past few weeks. Visual images of Saheelindeel flashed inside their helmets, transmitted from the intelligence network aboard the bridge of the BDE Star Destroyer orbiting the planet. Computer-generated graphics pinpointed the most tactical points to siege on Saheelindeel and its spaceports.

Kix was tasked with spearheading into the city after the AT-AT's and AT-ST's laid cover fire and cripple any possible defenses the spaceports would offer. He hoped the commando team led by BDE agent Sij Olith would take care of any ion cannon defenses, as well as the shield generators. With the generators destroyed, the assault wouldn't take long and Saheelindeel's defenders were sure to surrender.

He gripped his blaster rifle and stole a glance at the rest of the storm commandos waiting patiently in two rows beside him under his command. Everyone studied the data dump from Captain Anre's Star Destroyer high above. He wondered how the others could remain so calm when they were about to embark on an invasion into the Tion Hegemony, which had quite a resistance for a small sector.

The assault craft landed with a bump. The side yawned open, spilling in warm air and brilliant sunshine. Kix pushed out and joined the other storm commandos, who quickly lined up in front of him. No one spoke over the comlink until Kix heard Commander Pegent's voice.

"Sleeping Death is mapping Saheelindeel with a sensor scan, trying to locate each and every defense point. The AT-AT's will provide barrages of cover fire from their heavy guns, while Davin's TIE squadrons will bombard and destroy any craft leaving its spaceports and as well destroy any shield generators not destroyed by Olith. The mission is to enter the nearest city and quash any resistance fire from the port's defenders. The AT-ST's will assist in this as well. The ultimate objective is to subjugate Saheelindeel to BDE authority. From there, we'll spread out and take the other towns nearby. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!" came the shouts over his comlink.

"Very well. Listen up. 131st and 153rd squads, cover the next quadrant. 181st squad, head toward your assigned quadrant. Start a circular attack pattern. Dropships should be at your mark. Now move!"

Saheelindeel's terrain was featureless, ever-shifting. Lt. Cmdr. Davin crunched his way through the ground, not sure where to begin his attack, but knowing that some kind of defense would soon present itself against them. He climbed a small hill. The landscape was spread out in every direction. They might as well been the only ones on the planet. He then spotted one of Saheelindeel's spaceports in the distance.

"Okay, men! Spread out and take cover behind the AT-ST's. They will spearhead themselves into the city."

Seeing the spaceport ahead of him, he scooted down a ridge and leveled his blaster. He noticed in the distance the dropships unclamping their cargo of AT-AT's and AT-ST's onto the grounds of the lush planet. The rest of his men quickly followed suit and made their ways toward the heavy guns of their counterparts. Kix subtly rose his head and listened intently for the sounds of their air assault.

The invasion had begun...

Captain Anre reached over the control panel and touched the proper key, and in the center of the room the holographic tactical display appeared. Sleeping Death was driving toward high orbit above the sunside equator; the other Carrack cruisers of the Black Dragon Empire's task force were splitting up into outer and inner defense positions; and another was coming in as backstop from the night side. Other ships, mostly freighters and other commercial types, could be seen attempting to pierce through the Star Destroyer's line, but were cut down by its lethal crossfire.

Barely two months ago, the Tion Hegemony had confidently said that the Black Dragon Empire would never be a threat to their sector because they lacked the ability to dispatch their forces evenly and concentrate their efforts on a long-term basis. After Argai, the Black Dragon Empire had obviously succeeded in learning the necessary efforts, thanks to him spearheading the campaign.

But it still left the government of the Tion Hegemony as a threat to the Black Dragon Empire's new plans. A very dangerous threat indeed. The Hegemony had to be overthrown and eventually replaced with new leadership, of course, Sully being the new leader and administrator of this new Hegemony.

The intercom beeped. "Captain Anre?"

The tattooed captain reached over the display panel and touched the key, pushing away his thoughts about the lingering cloud of the Hegemony as best he could. For the moment, at least, the BDE needed him. "Sleeping Death is in position, Captain," Polum said.

"Very well," Sully replied. "Hold position."

"As ordered, Captain."

"Confirm that we're above Saheelindeel's spaceport," the captain ordered.

"Navigation confirms we are over it," Lt. Polum said.

"Good," Sully said calmly. "Open a channel to the planet."

There was a double click of an opening comm channel. "This is BDE Star Destroyer Sleeping Death, calling the governing body of Saheelindeel," Captain Anre boomed. "In the name of the Black Dragon Empire, I declare Saheelindeel to be under the mandate of BDE law and the protection of BDE forces. You will cease all defenses, recall all military units, and prepare for an orderly transfer of command."

There was no response. "I know you are recieving this message," the captain continued. "If you fail to respond, I will have to assume that you mean to resist the Black Dragon Empire's offer. In that event, I would have no choice but to open hostilities."

Again, silence. "They're sending another transmission," Commander Pegent heard the comm officer say. "Sounds like they are trying to attempt to contact Chandaar, under the Cronese Mandate."

"I'm certain they are. Our communications blockade should intercept it with ease," Sully told him. "Prepare for planetary bombardment. Commander Pegent?"

"Turbolaser batteries are charged, Captain." Pegent said.

"I hope Sij Olith completed his objective, or all this will be for nothing. Stand by to fire on my mark. Three. Two. One. Fire."

On the tactical hologram a double lance of green fire angled out from Sleeping Death's turbolaser batteries toward the planet below. The blasts struck within the perimeter of an area of Saheelindeel away from the BDE's concentrated forces inside the spaceport.

"Their attempt to transmit another message to the Cronese Mandate was cut off right in the middle, sir," the comm officer reported with a touch of dark humor. "I think we surprised them."

"Of course. They believed their shield generators would protect them. Let's convince them it wasn't a fluke," Sully remarked. "Prepare to fire again. Commander Pegent?"

"Targeting locations now."

"On my mark. Three. Two. One. Fire."

Again the green fire lanced out, and again, with perfect precision, the turbolasers found their mark. "Well done," Captain Anre said. "Lt. Polum, order the Carrack cruisers into position over the other cities in Saheelindeel."

"As you command, Captain Anre."

"Black Dragon Empire Star Destroyer Sleeping Death, this is Governor Hemme of the Saheelindeel spaceport governing body," a slightly quavering voice came from the intercom speaker. "We would ask you to cease your bombardment of Saheelindeel while we discuss terms for surrender."

"My terms are quite simple," the captain of the BDE said. "You will begin by surrendering your defenses to our ground forces and allowing the rest of my deployments to land in your spaceport. They will be given control of the docking bays and of all ground-to-space weaponry, if any. All of your remaining defenses will be turned over to our control."

"And once these changes have been implemented?"

"Then you will be part of the Black Dragon Empire, with all the rights and duties that implies."

"There will be no tax levies?" Governor Hemme asked suspiciously. "No forced conscription of our young people?"

Commander Pegent could imagine Sully's grim smile as he tapped away at the tactical display panels.

"Yes, to your second question; a qualified yes to your first," Sully told the governor. "As you are obviously aware, most Tion worlds are currently under the leadership of the Tion Hegemony. However, we expect to change this and we expect full coorperation to our expansion effort by your extensive production of food, water, and qualified citizens for our draft, although limited."

There was a long pause from the other end. Govenor Hemme was no fool, Sully realized-- the governor knew full well what the BDE had in mind for Saheelindeel. First it would be direct BDE control of the ground/space defenses, then direct control of the network systems, the processing facilities, and the vast recruitment of qualified men and woman for their armies; and in a very short time the entire planet would have become nothing more than a supply depot for the BDE expansion machine.

Just like Argai two months ago.

But the alternative was for him to stand silently by and watch as his world was utterly destroyed before his eyes. And he knew that, too. The forces of the Black Dragon Empire had already an upper hand on Saheelindeel with invading ground forces converging. The other sectors couldn't help anymore. Argai had fallen. There would be no pleading for help to the Cronese Mandate or Allied Tion when their communications were eliminated.

"We will comply to your requests, Sleeping Death, as a gesture of good faith," Govenor Hemme said at last, his tone defiant but with a hint of defeat to it.

"Excellent. A representative will be on his way shortly to discuss the particulars with your government. His name will be Lt. Commander Kix Davin, and he will be escorted by a squad of stormtroopers from the BDE. You will give him your full coorperation in the transfer of your rulership to BDE control," Sully continued. "Meanwhile, I presume you have no objection to our forces taking up preliminary defense positions?"

A sigh, more felt than really heard. "We have no objections, Sleeping Death," Hemme said reluctantly. "We are ordering our forces to surrender."

On the comm channels, the transmissions from their ground forces confirmed the cease of hostilities. "Commander Pegent," Sully ordered, "you may begin transporting our forces to the surface. Standard defensive positions around all targets."

"Acknowledged, Captain," Pegent's voice said, feeling a tight smile twitch at his lip.

"And order the Carracks to unload their next batch of colonists to the surface," he added. "I am sure they are quite anxious to begin the colonization of their new planet."

On the tactical hologram the first waves of dropships, assault shuttles and TIE fighter escorts had exited Sleeping Death, fanning out toward their assigned locations...