Nebula-class Star Destroyer Trojan, Confederation Expeditionary Force

A cyan glow emanated from the holoprojector into the depths of the otherwise dark chamber. Arrayed around the projector, black clad navy crewmen, pilots, and gray-armoured shock troopers listened with rapt attention to the briefer; a black-haired woman with a trace of an Abhean accent. She circled around the projector, occasionally pointing out at different objects projected from the holo device. Captain Valeska gazed across the audience.

“...an event which cannot be tolerated. The forceful seizure of Confederation merchant vessel is an act of war, particularly when the said vessel is neutral space. It is nothing less than piracy. Blissex is used to roughing up Soroyan vessels, but this cannot, and will not be tolerated anymore. We intend to rescue captives taken by her. Not all of them are our own, but there are various political dissidents from several of the Warlord…errr…Warlady’s possession. Eregion will be taken.

It is just several light years north of Soroya. Eregion has a relatively thin, and turbulent atmosphere; most people need breathing masks on the surface. Probably why Blissex chose to use it as a penal colony. I imagine it would be somewhat hard to escape if you can’t breathe.”

The woman shook her head at the thought.

“Anyways, the prisoners work in a subterranean mining complex, digging out various common ores for her war effort. The prisoners are guarded by some outdated battle droids, probably because droids can’t be bribed, and they aren’t much use on the frontlines. Dealing with them should not pose a problem. There is a small naval presence around Eregion, which the fleet should easily be capable of taking care of. More specific information regarding your individual tasks within the mission has been transmitted to your datapads. Good luck, and may the Force be with you.”

The room erupted into murmurs even before the glow lights turned back on. Personnel whirled about in their seats, quietly discussing details about the planned attack, occasionally pointing something out on their datapads. Shrugging, Valeska grabbed her own datapad and pushed her way through the crowd to foyer doors. She breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped into the sparsely populated corridor, leaving the din behind her. She tugged her collar. They have much to discuss. So do I, so do I. There he is.

“Lieutenant Dreis?”

“Yes Ma’am?”

“Get me the Rear-Admiral over a secure line. There are things we need to discuss.”

“Right away.”

“Oh,” stated the former instructor, “and patch into my quarters.”

“Will do,” saluted the communications officer, pacing to a turbolift.

Slowly continuing down the corridor, she merely looked down at her datapad, exploring the briefing menu, clicking on items which interested her. My; Confederation Intelligence and Naval Recon have been busy. Of course, I do have all the data and specific briefings for everyone on this ship. Valeska frowned. Supposedly in order for me to help smooth and coordinate things between the forces, but the level of detail is a little too much for my taste. It’s like trying to read the Encyclopedia Galactica in a single day. The doors to her quarters swished open, and she entered.

The Captain looked at the inactive holoprojector resting in the centre of the room. He’s still not here. She sighed. Of course he’s not; the Supreme Commander has other things to oversee besides this operation. Although all’s pretty quiet on the front, except for this. She blinked. Unless there’s something else going on, which I never really do know about. Collapsing on the couch, she ran her hand through the strands of her dark hair as she read the datapad. A green light started blinking on the projector. She tapped the remote and glanced at her chrono. It took twelve minutes to get a hold of him. Not bad.

The projector flared to life, materializing a stately image of Rear-Admiral Lucerne, clothed in a dress uniform against a background of stars. Corise’s hair seemed unusually combed compared to its daily tussled state. She noted, with some internal amusement, that a Kashan dress saber hung from his belt. Swords are very useful these days; especially against lightsabers. The man tilted his head to the left.

“Well?” questioned the man.

“Nothing sir.”

The man let out an exasperated sigh. “There had better be a reason you asked for a secure line than to say: nothing sir.”

She smirked. “That’s not what I meant. I actually have a question regarding the operation at Eregion.”

Corise’s expression softened. “Yes?”

“There is a list of naval forces noted in system according to our recon flights. Doesn’t that look a little heavy for a prison planet? And for the Trojan to take on herself?”

The younger Lucerne tilted his head to the other side and glanced to his side.

“Yes, quite frankly, it is. The concentration of naval forces is somewhat larger than what would be expected given the planet’s little worth, at least from what we know. But that is not the most interesting part about the naval forces there.”

“Oh?”

“The composition of the forces is,” stated the Kashan man, “Tell me, what do you think of the proportion of Rendili StarDrive Light Corvettes compared to the rest of the forces present?”

She frowned. “It’s high, especially if they’re only fielding one old heavy cruiser with a smattering of Nebulons.”

He nodded. “Yes, it is. What you may find interesting is that these corvettes of those types have been used to harass Soroyan shipping in the past. In fact, those are the only vessels that have, at least from Blissex.”

“Why?”

He shrugged. “We really don’t know exactly why. I’m speculating because of their high-speed, we wouldn’t be able to catch them with most of our patrols, and their common use even by respectable groups, makes them hard to spot in a crowded, neutral port. That and our minefields are optimized for larger capital ships that the Empire typically fields for invasions. I imagine Soroya will happy once we’ve removed them from their outskirts.”

“Their incursions have been very infrequent,” she frowned, “when was the last time they were in sovereign Soroya space.”

“Not since the planet joined the Confederation. They’ve stayed away, until that last hold-up,” recalled the Kashan officer, “of course, it probably wasn’t terribly smart to stop in the middle of unclaimed space for repairs.”

She shook her head. “What about the numbers of capital ships again?”

Corise stared off into space. “Don’t worry about it. You won’t be alone. That’s all that I can say for now.”

Abruptly shaking his head, he glanced at his wrist chrono. “Speaking of which, Captain, I believe it is your time for to get underway.”

She nodded. “I know; I already alerted my helmsmen to start moving at the designated time.”

“Let’s hope he-”

“She,” corrected Valeska, “let’s hope she is following orders.”

The man smiled and nodded. “Yes, of course. Regrettably, I have some other calls to attend to.”

The Abhean woman nodded. “I understand. You’ve covered all my topics.”

“Excellent. May the force be with you.”

The holograph dissipated out of existence, leaving the woman in the silence of her cabin and the swirling stars of hyperspace. May the force be with us all.

Eregion

The man stood hunched over the terminal, his fingers rapidly tapping and pressing a bewildering array of buttons, dials, and witches. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Colonel Eldrel stared at the console for a moment, his right lip slightly curled into a snarl. springing from his chair, the prison official bashed the console with apair of fists; a deep thud reverberated throughout the pressurized chamber. Eldrel slowly shook his head.

“This can’t be happening not again.”

He turned to look at the comlink laying on the table. Stiffening his lip, the man calmly paced up to it, and snatched the cylindrical object up to his lips. Eldrel pressed a pair of studs that changed the comlink’s frequency, and spoke.

“We have a pressure drop at sub-station Alpha-Sixty-Nine, over.”

“Copy that, Warden. We’ll send a patrol over to check it out.”

“That had better be a live squad, not those piece of S*** B1s.”

“Yes Colonel Eldrel.”

The colonel pressed a pair of studs again, turning it off. The thin man swaggered back over to the consoles seat, and collapsed into it like man into bed after a hard day’s labour. Eldrel flipped several switches on the console, resulting in the room’s multiple flatscreens showing live feed from the holocams throughout the facility. The Warlady’s officer gazed at them in a daze. One corridor seemed to waver for a moment before his patrol of black-suited naval troopers passed through it, their guns drawn in case of an intrusion. The squad reached substation Alpha-Sixty-Nine without incidence. Eldrel’s comlink crackled.

“Sir?”

“Yes?”

“Everything appears fine. One of the ventilation vents was a little loose, and we found some rodent droppings. Looks like we’ll need to get out the poison again. There’s something else, sir, that I should come over and talk to you, Dr. Eldrel.”

Colonel Eldrel froze. That would be the code word, and one I didn’t want to hear. Eldrel was no doctor, by any means. The reference of adding the title doctor before anyone’s name meant that some security related issue had been found, and that it needed to get talked about immediately in person; the comm.-waves were never truly safe. The warden nodded, and continued on with the charade.

“Very well. Is it your back again?”

“Yes.”

“Well, get to my office ASAP then,” demanded Eldrel.

“Right away.”

So what could it be? Rats? Possible, except that’s not urgent enough for the code word. We’re dealing with an enemy of some sort, but who? Probably one of the resistance groups. It would make sense for them to free their comrades in arms. He smiled. But that’s something that we can’t let happen, and won’t. It only takes a push of a button. And they’ll all be dead. A hand rapped at his door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me doctor. My back?”

Eldrel flipped a switch to bring up the holofeed outside the sole door in to his office. Alone, a black-suited sergeant stood waiting at the entrance. Silence permeated the corridor, except for the shifting of the sergeant’s boots as the man grew impatient with the delay. Eldrel shrugged, and opened the door via another switch. The naval trooper walked in wearily.

“Well?” questioned Eldrel.

“Well, we thought it could be any number of pests but for one thing.”

“Which is?”

“The screws were partially lifted from the vent when we found them. Someone probably took them out, went through the shaft, and partially put them back in. Partially probably so they would have to take less time taking them back out for their exit.”

Eldrel bit his lip. “Any idea who?”

“Me.”

Both of Blissex’s men swiveled to face the voice, their blasters drawn. A man stood there, holding a combat helmet in his left hand, and a thermal detonator in his right. The infiltrator wore a fabric body suit with a series of hard plates covering the vital areas and the torso, and several series of smaller, lighter plates covering everything else. But the most peculiar element of the man was his sudden appearance out of nowhere.

“Who are you, and how did you do that?” demanded Eldrel.

“I am General Trutzig, of the Confederation Army. And what I do is my business alone; check behind you.”

“You think we’re that stupid? That’s the oldest trick in the book. I-”

Trutzig shrugged as the two men collapsed into unconsciousness, several more men appearing throughout the room, all similarly dressed. Two of which had hit Blissex’s men at point-blank range with stun clubs. Trutzig merely nodded in acknowledgement as he hit several controls; the first of which shut the door into the office.

“All right, we’ve secured the control station,” noted the Audacian, “now we just have to ride it out until those space cowboys have done their job.”

Nebula-class Star Destroyer Trojan, Eregion

The stars streaked throughout the bridge viewports among the deafening silence of the bridge. While Captain Valeska casually leaned back in her command chair, most of the command crew of the Abhean vessel stood ramrod stiff. Their first actual battle. They’ll grow confidence with time; that and they’ll eventually become desensitized to it. The dark-haired woman shook her head at the thought, and began to tap her fingers on the armrest. Breaking through the silence, the helmswoman quietly reported.

“Reverting…now.”

Now to see if the plan actually works. The white wedge of the Trojan surged into realspace as arrow into the darkness. Numerous batteries on its glistening hull immediately, and blindly, opened fire, spraying a flurry of emerald and sapphire coloured bolts into the depths of space. Most were off-target, continuing to soar until they dissipated into nothingness. A select few, however, found their marks, slamming into the unshielded and surprised enemy vessels. It is a tactic useful for only one thing: to imbue fear into an unsuspecting enemy. Intimidation can be a great weapon, particularly with these odds. She glanced her console. Shields are up, fighters launched, and the weapons are now going to manual control assisted with targeting computers. Everything is as planned. A single Imperator-class Star Destroyer Mk I Avenger with the transponder codes of Blissex’s forces, a trio of Nebulons, and those Rendili corvettes.

“Captain, the Avenger is coming about. Not all of their weapons are being manned though. It looks like we caught them sleeping.”

The former gunnery instructor nodded. “Concentrate all fire on the Avenger at weak points in their shields.”

“Yes ma’am.”

The distance between the two titans closed, with numerous tiny fireballs erupting in their midst. Most of which were formerly the antiquated Tie Fighters fielded by Blissex’s forces. Deathsabers and Nemesis Assault Bombers spread throughout the battlefield, sowing confusion within the harried enemy ranks. Valeska watched range indicators on her console.

“Get our fighters out from between us and the Avenger. Things are going to get very, very messy.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Seconds later, space between the two star destroyers erupted into shades of green and blue, as the two warships traded blows. Some unlucky starfighters on either side caught between the two erupted into flames before disintegrating. This will be an interesting fight. We have an advantage in shielding, but we’re fairly close in firepower. Enough so that it will be a very slim margin of victory if we’re by ourselves. Her jaw tensed as the Trojan rocked under the first barrage from the Avenger. Her eyes darted to the damage control screen. No hull penetrations, minor shield loss. That won’t be a problem, I hope. On the navigation screen, a tiny blip surged alongside the Trojan, prompting Valeska to immediately view the information on the vessel. The Confederate starship Constellation; it’s a Interdictor Mk II. I know that design. We were developing it at Abhean even before we joined the Confederation. But why is it here, and why now? What is he thinking? To send only that? It’s a little thin-skinned to send up against a star destroyer. It would be fine against the frigates and corvettes though. She pursed her lips together as the Constellation made her first maneuver of the day.

The Constellation surged forward, towards the Avenger, which ignored it to concentrate on its tertiary threat: the Trojan. Instead, the Nebulon B frigates accompanying the Warlady’s star destroyer gave pursuit. Green turbolaser bolts darted between the Constellation and the frigates, slamming into shields, briefly turning them opaque before they firmed up more. The lighter guns on the Constellation poured a rapid stream of bolts, striking any Tie or warhead that came remotely close to the Confederation Interdictor. The four gravity-well projectors powered up as the Constellation began a turn that would take her behind the Avenger; and most danger. Starfighters, mostly Shadowcasters, streamed from the interdictor’s hangar bay and whirled about the cruiser in a defensive screen. So the Constellation is taking a passive defense position. All right. I’ve completely lost the Rear-Admiral’s train of thought. As the Nebulon frigates neared the wedge-shaped ship, the Constellation’s guns erupted into fire against the lead Nebulon. While individually weak, the light turbolasers of the Constellation made up for it with a higher rate of fire and concentrating on one section of the old frigate’s shields, slowly tearing the protective layering of the warlady’s ship. The starfighters of the light cruiser danced about the frigate, drawing fire or using their weapons to divide the shielding of the Nebulon. It is a small advantage, but it will allow the Constellation to concentrate her shields on only section; it is a fight that the Constellation will win by the endurance of her shields, and their back-up shields. Valeska shrugged.

“Ma’am, we have more hyperspace reversions.

What? More starships reverted to hyperspace nearly on top of the Constellation, bearing Confederation transponder codes. The largest was a twin of the Trojan: a Nebula-class Star Destroyer under the command of Captain Adwin. Several other warships under the promising officer’s command reverted with the star destroyer as well: the Seraph Mk III Warrior and a handful of Amphion-class Light Frigates. A Thrawn’s pincer. I should have known. The Thrawn’s Pincer was a tactic developed by Admiral Ackbar during his tenure as Supreme Commander of the New Republic. Generally, Interdictors were used as offensive weapons to keep enemy ships from escaping into hyperspace; the Constellation had done that in the past, helping Confederation round up criminal elements on the borders of Confederation space. But the Thrawn’s Pincer used the gravity wells as a navigation device, pulling out the ships at a point with precision that most navigational computers could not compare with. And it’s a good position as well. Adwin’s ships will simply be able to rake the enemy ships from astern for a while while we take the Avenger head on. She nodded. The odds have swung in our favour, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Rear-Admiral has other things up his sleeves.

No one seemed to breath in the instant that it took them to revert to hyperspace and into the battle that had just commenced above Eregion. Awdin could see out of the main view port as things began to focus in and the blurring streak of light resolved into stars while others into the fleet that were stationed above the planet. Then things snapped into real time and the battle was in clear view and Awdin could see that the Constellation was already pounding the Nebulons. While the Trojan was going head to head with the imperator that was no doubt commanding Blissex’s fleet.

Awdin watched as a small group of fighters impacted on his ships shields, they had not been able to maneuver around it as it had reverted. Awdin felt the ship rumble and heard the thunderous sounds of the Aequus’s guns opeing up on the nearest Light Corvette. The wave of green and cyan bolts thundered into it, the ship not standing a chance against the turbolaser fire that was directed against it. With a shudder it exploded fragments filling the space around it.

Awdin turned his attention towards the rest of his fleet, “Status reports on all ships.” Awdin could see the Warrior engaged with another two of the corvettes one of them trailing smoke from multiple turbolaser hits.

“Sir all ships are present and engaged. The Amphions are awaiting the execution signal.” Awdin looked around the view port, but couldn’t find the Amphions.

Awdin nodded, “Bring up a tactical display.” The captain watched as the holoprojector in his chairs arm brought up a tactical view. Awdin looked around the field immediately identifying the Trojan and the Aequus, then saw the Warrior with only one corvette now the other nowhere on the screen. Finally he found the amphions in the prearranged position opening up their guns onto the corvettes that were left. He looked over at the tactical officer “Execute.”

Awdin watched as the man tapped a command into the console, which was simultaneously sent to the Amphions of Awdin’s command. Almost immediately they sped forward 3 of them going over the corvette formation, the other 3 going under. Awdin could only hope that this would split their fire and hopefully lessen the damage done to the light frigates. Finally the Amphions began to split and widen their formation and increased their fire rate pounding the corvettes with everything they had. Awdin smiled as the fire from the corvetted began to become disordered as they tried to pick targets. No doubt eventually they would become organized but in the meantime the Amphions would take the opportunity to pound them as much as possible.

Awdin rocked in his chair as the deck shuddered more than a little. “Sir the Nebulons are redirecting their fire onto us.”

Awdin looked at his tactial map finding the three Nebulons heading towards the Aequus. “Increase port shield strength and open fire try and nock them out they could be useful later” Awdin felt the shudders a moment later that informed him his orders were being faithfully carried out. The cyan and green bolts racing towards the approaching Nebulons that were now viewable out the main view port. The space between the ships began filling as more of the nebulons and the Aequus’s guns came into range. “Launch all missile tubes, target the center ship.” Small trails of smoke appeared as the missiles were launch towards the approaching Nebulons their proton yields would do massive damage to the ships upon impact.

The Captain watched as the Nebulons took evasive action hoping to somehow avoid the missiles that would certainly disable one of their shields and possibly do hull damage. The two Nebulosn on the side peeled off while the other dived under attempting to confuse the missiles into splitting up and minimizing damage to the ships as a whole. The porton missiles however continued toward the center following it through the downward arc the missiles keeping up and gaining rapidly.

The first plumb of light erupted on the aft shields draining them substantially as 2 more came impacted the shields around the same area. Four other impacted head on the light power massive as the blasts combined draining the shields of almost everything they had left. “Sir the Nebulons are accelerating toward us forming back up.”

Awdin watched as indeed they began to reform and accelerate forward the middle Nebulon a tad sluggish after the Proton bombardment. “Fire all ion cannon on the center ship. Divide the turbolaser and heavy turbolaser fire between the other two.” Awdin felt the rumbles again as the Aequus’s fire redirected a steady stream of blue and green developing between Awdin’s ship and the Nebulons. He watched the center Nebulons shields finally fail, the ion cannons now directly hitting its hull. Awdin watched as the cyan bolts washed over the surface of the ship until finally it listed to port and ceased all activity. The Nebulon’s running lights and lasers went dark along with her engines, for all purposes now it was a ghost ship.

“The remaining Nebulons are breaking off along with the corvettes they are retreating towards the northern pole of the planet. Perimeter established sir.” Awdin looked at the map as the Nebulons and corvettes broke off running for the planets poles. Slowly and quietly he breathed a sigh of relief, they had done it and managed to take minimal casualties as far as he could tell.

“I want status reports on all ships, but in the meantime have the ships form up and have them ready for if the fleet decides to come back.” Awdin closed down the tactical map and laid back in his chair, “What is the status report for the Aequus.”

“Sir the shields took the brunt of the Nebulons attack and apart from that there was very little other damage.” Awdin nodded glad that nothing serious had occurred. “The reports are coming in from the other ships. It looks like the Warrior took a little structural damage when engaging the corvettes but nothing serious. The Ampions took some structural damage here and there but there all in battle condition. Except for the Ambrose, she took multiple hits and is in need of repairs badly, but she can fight if nessecary.” Awdin nodded. Personally knowing the captain of the Ambrose he doubted the man would stay out of a fight.
Now he had one more thing to help with, “Helm turn us around and set a course for the imperator and the Trojan.”

“Yes sir course set.” Awdin watched as his view shifted and they headed back to the battle, he hadn’t realized they’d gotten so far away.

Nebula-class Star Destroyer Trojan, Eregion

Torrents of green and blue light pulsed throughout space, like a vengeful torrent from the gods of old. The Avenger and the Trojan continued their charge forward towards each other, charging as warriors of old. Shields turned opaque on both sides, with variations of colour ranging from dark red to a bright, nearly white shade as the shields failed. Imperator star destroyers were noted for being on the lower end of shield technology for their size, while those of the Nebulas ranged within the upper standards for vessels of their size. This in turn was augmented by the Confederation practice of installing back-up shield generator systems on their homebuilt Nebula star destroyers. We certainly have the advantage of defence. I believe the original specifications give us an 11% advantage in shield strength over the Imperator line. We hold; I hope.

The Confederation star destroyer rocked hard, pitching standing crewmen to the ground and jarring those strapped into their seats. Captain Valeska grimly smiled. Diminutive plumes of smoke rose from the crewpit; several consoles had been shorted out by the concentrated ion attacks of the Avenger. Trying to take out the command structure of an enemy target can work sometimes, especially on ships with highly exposed bridges, like an Imperator. But the bridge of a Nebula-class SD is just above the main surface; it’s a little too small of a profile for it to do some serious disabling. She sighed, glancing to her right. Albeit it has taken out our flight control station, but the auxiliary version is still working.

“Bow shields are now at 65%,” shouted out a voice.

“Thank you Lieutenant,” replied the raven haired woman, “shunt energy from our aft shields to reinforce the front.”

“Yes ma’am.”

The Abhean captain hestitated for a second. “Redirect all gunnery stations to fire on Point Five-Niner. That is, if their weapons are capable of being brought to bear on that section.”

The chief gunner nodded. Nearly continuous beams of emerald and sapphire converged on the middle of the Avenger’s superstructure at the base of the lofty control tower. The warlord’s ship’s shields burned from ruby to a ghostly white within mere seconds. They have to be redirecting a lot of their shield strength to reinforce that point. Great. Come on, get one through. A pair of heavy turbolaser bolts pierced through the shields and lanced into the gray hull plating, scorching the surface and knocking several subsystems in the area offline. The relatively small complement of ion cannons on the Trojan tirelessly magnified the effect, systematically shutting down shield generators, communications, and weapon systems in the area. The shield dropped in that area, being disabled by the sustained ionic strike. Emerald bolts began to drill throughout the superstructure. Power readings on the control tower wildly fluctuated before dropping to nearly zero. We’ve knocked out their main power coupling for that area. No power to bridge means less coordination, and consequently less effectiveness on their part. Excellent. The former gunnery instructor raised her voice over the din of the Confederation crew pit.

“Cease fire to point Five-niner. We don’t want to damage her too bad for now. All weapons return to their original courses. I want their weapons offline soon. Make them a priority, chief.”

The various beam weapons of the white wedge diverged from the Avenger’s superstructure, lashing out at active weapons of the warlord’s vessel. Flurries of blue bolts slammed into Taim & Bak turbolasers, frying their circuits, and taking them offline. Green bolts slammed into the Avenger’s shields, slowly beating them down to allow for more precise strikes from the Confederation starfighters and the Confederation star destroyers potent concussion missile tubes. A salvo of the warheads surged out from the Trojan’s midships, effortlessly covering the short distance between the two ships before brilliantly exploding against the older ship’s hull. Valeska smiled. And this good; we have assault concussion missile tubes instead of the typical missiles used by Victory Star Destroyers or DP-20s. Less speed, but a hell lot of a more punch.
“A lot of life signs just went out ma’am. I think we actually might have produced an effective shock wave in the immediate area.”

Valeska nodded in satisfaction. That’s very rare, especially these days. Not only does the missile have to the strike the target, but it has to strike it at such a precise angle as to generate a shockwave when it strikes the armor, which has to already be weakened enough to allow the resonance to form unhampered and pure. That and usually most missiles don’t hit that often these days, courtesy of point defence systems. Heck, we could use our turbolasers in flak burst mode to quickly dispatch large numbers of them.

“Excellent, less enemies to deal with when we board the vessel.”

Commander Cath, the ship’s XO frowned. “We’re boarding her?”

“Well, not exactly.”

Cath raised an eyebrow.

“We’re going to assist with the boarding operations if we can subdue her with ion cannons. We’re going to need help to do that as well.”

Cath shook his head. “Even if we had every Confederation ship here board the vessel, there wouldn’t be enough troops to take on half the Avenger’s ground complement, assuming it’s fully manned.”

“Which is unlikely given its mission.”

The commander shook his head. “We’re still taking a bad risk.”

“I would agree, if we were using only the troops found onboard the ships present in a traditional matter. But we’re doing the exact opposite.”

“Which is?”

“Infiltrators.”

Cath frowned. “Right.”

Valeska swiveled her chair to view the continuing struggle on the Avenger, noting the arrival of the Aequus striking at the old Imperator’s rear. The Avenger is significantly outmatched; Triple-teamed between two other equally powerful ships and the Constellation. Victory is within our grasp.

Awdin looked out of the main viewport at the last stages of the battle between the imperator and the Aequus’s sister ship the Trojan. Awdin relaxed his posture a little and laced his fingers thoughtfully behind him back watching to energy bolts exchanged between the two capital ships. He knew it was only a matter of time before the imperator was defeated. She was outgunned and out shielded by the Trojan, and would be at an even greater disadvantage when the Aequus’s guns were finally within effective range. Then things would go from bad to worse for Blissex’s star destroyer.

“Sir our guns are almost in effective range, but the Warrior reports that the Warlady’s remaining forces that gathered over the poles after we beat them back are reforming and assuming attack formation.” Awdin nodded bringing up a tactical display of the area of battle, seeing the Corvettes and the nebulons reforming and swinging around to engage the Amphions of Malcost’s forces.

Awdin smiled as he watched the Warrior enter formation with the Amphions as the also formed up and readied themselves to once again beat back the small fleet of the Warlady. Awdin was pretty confident that the Warrior and the accompanying amphions could destroy the remaining ships.

“Sir we are in effective firing range of all heavy turbolasers and ion cannons.” Awdin up from the tac map seeing the Imperator had gotten noticeably bigger, and they had managed to come up directly behind her.

“Concentrate all ion cannons on the engines, turbolasers are to not fire, I repeat not to fire. The rear-admiral want the ship captured if all possible.” Awdin saw the cyan bolts begin to pour onto the engines and the surrounding systems, the dull thuds reverberating through the deck barely noticeable thanks to stabilizers and other equipment.

Awdin could see the Trojan and her gunnery pouring fire onto the base of the imperators massive control tower. He could see from here the shields turning white strained to their maximum by the weight of fire poured onto them. Finally two of the emerald bolts got through the shields impacting the hull plating of the tower. Awdin could only imagine the chaos as numerous subsystems completely shut down sure to the turbolaser fire and the ion fire that had gotten through as the shield had dropped.

Awdin then noticed the salvo of missiles that the Trojan had launched at the control tower also, their slit smoke trails tracing their path across the black background. Awdin had to squint a bit as the missiles impacted created a second sun on the imperators hull plating.

“Sir, shields are down and the engines are off line along with most of the subsystems in the area and life support in the engine blocks of the ship.” Awdin looked away from the tower and saw that the engines had indeed gone dark and the ion cannon fire from his ship had halted. “Also sir the Warrior reports that another force of corvettes has just rounded the other side of the planet, and the captain is not sure about the odds.”

Awdin looked again at the Tactical display that he had brought up earlier and saw the second force of 5 or so corvettes rounding the planet, and that combined with the 2 Nebulons and the other 4 corvettes of the first force out numbers the 6 Amphions, (2 of them badly damaged), and the Warrior. He had to get back or his force faced destruction or victory at a heavy cost. “Navigation set course back to the rest of the fleet. I will make sure that fleet troubles the Confederation no more.”

Quickly as his orders were carried out Awdin sent a small report of the damage to engines, sensor read outs, and the small bit about no life support in the engine block to Captain Valeska, along with a note that they would provide any support if a boarding action was attempted.

Awdin pushed a small button and the report was sent to the Trojan’s Captain. Awdin looked up and noted that the Aequus had already turned and was on a course back towards the rest of his fleet, at full speed. This time he wouldn’t give any of them the option of retreat.

Awdin walked up until he was merely a foot from the glass of the main viewport, and he could see clearly as the Warrior and his Amphions engaged the newest group of Corvettes. “Redirect course towards the nebulons and the other corvettes, and open fire immediately when in range. Direct all ion cannon fire on the right most Nebulon the turbolasers on the left most. We might be able to disable another one of them.” Awdin saw the change of direction in his ship once more and saw the Nebulons and the rest of the corvettes come into view. He could only imagine how their captains felt as the Nebula-Class star Destroyer turned towards them.

It took only another few moments for the Nebula’s big guns to enter effective range, it took another moment or so for the gunners to find their marks and then let loose a massive barrage. The sudden stream of cyan and emerald bolts erupted from the Nebula streaking through space toward the Nebulons, and at that moment they knew they had no chance. The turbolasers took only a few seconds to shred through the shield of the first frigate breaking it in half as heavy turbolaser fire shredded the smaller section of hull connecting the bow to the engines. By the time the Other Nebulon’s shields were down from the ion bolts the other Nebulon was nothing but more space dust littering the battle field.

Awdin watched as the other Nebulon banked attempting to get away from the continuous stream of Cyan ion bolts that pounded it. This move actually provided Awdin’s gunnery with a better angle on the engines which shut down a moment later as several cyan bolts scored hits, the rest of the ship went dark shortly after as it couldn’t maneuver away from the rest of the ion bolts.

Awdin watched as the gunners of both turbolaser turrets and ion cannon turrets stopped for a moment, the stream dwindling until it was non existent. It was then looking upon the disabled hull, and the remains of both of the Nebulons, that the corvettes decided to retreat. For a moment they stood still but finally their engines kicked in and they began to maneuver away from the Aequus.

“All batteries execute.” Awdin watched as again for the second time to turbolaser batteries and the ion cannon batteries open fire the stream this time spread out as they tracked the fleeing corvettes. The first exploded as a turbolaser scored a direct hit on its reactor the resulting explosion tearing the ship apart from the inside out. The second was just plainly shredded by amount of fire poured its hull. Awdin watched as all but two of the corvettes were destroyed those two were lucky enough to have been merely knocked out by ion cannon fire, the rest, or what was left of them, now floated in the space nearby.

“Sir the warrior has reported that they have beaten back the enemy although the Ambrose had to be evacuated due to substantial damage.” Awdin sighed at they news happy that they had also managed to beat back the other corvettes but also is mourning for the Ambrose and the crew that it had lost. “They report that the rest of the ships have taken minor damage but nothing serious.” Awdin nodded glad that they had taken little other damage other than the lose of the Ambrose, although they would no doubt require a little refit time in the port even with little damages.

“Good send a message to Captain Valeska, inform her that the rest of the fleet is broken and won’t be bothering anyone anymore.” Awdin smiled slightly to himself as he thought about the results of at least his part in the engagement.

Nebula-class Star Destroyer Trojan, Eregion

The Trojan’s bridge was a flurry of activity, only occasionally disrupted by the jarring of the bridge from the impacts of Blissex’s guns and the dimming of the lights that went with it. Black-clad officers manned their stations, some calmly inputting orders and view diagnostic data, others frantically coordinating men and machines for the Confederation’s drive to subdue the Avenger. Captain Valeska began to recline back on the chair, taking a moment to recollect herself, only to be battered by a storm of voices.

“Their engines have been disabled,” shouted an officer above the din.

“We’ve disabled the last of their starboard batteries-”

“There is a shield breach on the Avenger right below Battery Eight-”

“All right,” interrupted the Abhean women, “It looks like now is the time for the special team. Helm, take us in to get near that gap. Flight Control, the shuttles are ready?”

“Yes ma’am.”

The silver wedge of the Trojan soared overhead the increasingly disabled, and damaged, Avenger. Sapphire bolts from the Confederation star destroyer lanced forth, striking their targets with the precision that could only from heavily drilled gunnery crews. The Imperator star destroyer sporadically returned fire, the number of its guns lessening as the ion cannons fried circuits, computers, and other equipment needed to operate the guns. Valeska tapped her foot. Their fire is becoming rather ineffectual. Now is the time to strike.

“Launch the first wave.”

Four Dx-9 Transports, commonly called Stormtrooper Transports, plummeted from the Trojan’s dorsal hangar bay to the Avenger’s hull around Battery Eight. The boxy shuttles fired several warheads as they descended; the first being a magnetic pulse which temporarily knocked out electronics the area; the second composed of concussion missiles with which to break through the already weakened hull armor. Several tiny fireballs erupted on the surface of the Avenger, hurling shards of metal into space. The first wave shuttles plowed through the debris to connect with their target. Burrowing into the tiny pockets, the transports burned through doors with hull rings. And out of the doors sprung Confederation troopers wearing the uniforms of Warlord Blissex’s forces.

Aftermath…

Redemption Military Base, Eregion

The three people walked down the corridor, their boots clinking on the metallic walkway in the cavern. Up ahead, they approached a ceraglass viewport of the planet’s inhospitable surface. Sand and rocky wastes stretched as far as the eye could see. In the clear sky, the silver wedge of the warlord’s Avenger, now the Confederation’s Emancipator, hung suspended in orbit, trailed by several Confederation warships; the planet’s chief protector remained the same, though under a different banner.

“By the maker, how any of the prisoners survived with this airflow is beyond me,” muttered Valeska.

Hans face wrinkled up into a toothy grin. “You mean this is any different from the stuff used on the Trojan? It’s recycled, compressed, and stored air. It’s terrible. What I would give for the scent of Audacia’s woods wherever I’d travel.”

The Rear-Admiral shook his head; prompting his subordinates to drop the topic completely. Stopping at the window, he gazed at the distant Avenger, hesitated, and began to speak gravely.

“I think we had managed to give Warlord Blissex the right message. But there’s one problem that we’ve learned from the interrogation of the Avenger’s prisoners.”

Valeska frowned. “And what might that be?”

Trutzig held up a hand. “Does it have to do with something of the effect of the actual leadership?”

“Well,” mused Corise, “I imagine so. Considering that the Avenger’s crew hadn’t heard from Blissex in several months says something. Pretty much each planet in her domain has been acting somewhat independently, but they all co-operate on some things. None of them no what happened to Blissex.”

“So they’re a democratic government of sorts then?” mused the woman, flipping a strand of her dark hair aside.

The younger Lucerne frowned. “I’m not really sure. Whatever they have, it’s not formal at all. More like an agreement to keep the space stable and not have a civil war.”

Hans nodded. “Like the Pentastar Alignment.”

“Possibly, possibly. But whatever they are now, I’ve asked to discuss with some of their planets’ leaders just to talk. Peace and such. Obviously, we’ll be handing back their crews and soldiers. Disarmed.”

Valeska frowned. “Care to elaborate on that?”

“It’s the deal Pro-Consul Thorn and myself worked over with them. They’re short on manpower everywhere; the Avenger wasn’t even fully crewed, which explains why they were so easily overwhelmed by our marines. We’re keeping the planet and the ships as the spoils of war. Some of which will be transferred to Adwin’s command.”

The two other officers nodded. Corise turned around to face them, leaning up against one of the guard rails in the process. He continued.

“Which leaves us with Eregion and a bunch of political dissidents.”

The Audacian man straightened part of his tiled armor. “I imagine they can’t wait to get off, and I bet it’s not only because of the air quality.”

Valeska nodded. “And I’m guessing we’ll have to take care of their transport.”

“Yes. I think the Emancipator will do quite nicely in that regard,” commented the Kashan man.

“Are you kidding me?” burst out Valeska, “using an Imperator Star Destroyer to transfer refugees?”

Corise looked at the Abhean woman with a blank face. “They’re no longer refugees. Nearly all of them have accepted the offer to become Confederation citizens. The Emancipator will drop them off at Soroya, and from there they’ll disperse throughout the Confederation.”

“And what’s going to defend the planet while the Emancipator is gone?” questioned the former trainer.

“I imagine,” mused the General, “that you’ll want my men and I to stay while that’s going on. To man the planetary shield generators and the rest of the base.”

Valeska shook her head, looking at the window. “All this loss to capture a wasteland. This is nearly a worthless gain.”

Hans shrugged. “There are other planets throughout the Confederation that are fairly sparsely populated. In fact, I think we’re something of an anomaly in the fact that because most of the Coalition is more away from the core, they’re generally not as heavily populated as we are.”

“There might be some truth to that. But it hardly matters, really. I had some Deathsabers and scout craft do a quick survey of the planet; just to make sure that we didn’t miss some secret base or anything,” commented the younger Lucerne, “which there unsurprisingly wasn’t. So, this basically is a secure, unpopulated planet…”

“Weapons testing?” asked Valeska.

Trutzig shook his head. “The heat and the atmosphere don’t make it a terribly good indicator of results in a normal conditioning. And for the same reasons, I can’t see us training a troops here.”

“Very true,” agreed Corise, “which is why the planet is going nearly fully automated; something like Uffel.”

Valeska and Trutzig cocked their heads to the side. Lucerne shrugged.

“Mole Miners and construction droids will be pretty busy in the upcoming days. There is some mineral value that they can get to which could prove useful in the future.”

Trutzig frowned. “There can’t be too much mineral wealth here, otherwise I’m surprised Blissex or someone else didn’t set up a mining operation here.”

“Also true,” acknowledged the Rear-Admiral, “but the tunnels left over from the digging have some potential uses.”

“Such as?”

“Such as growing subterranean mushrooms, but-”

“Are you serious?” interrupted Trutzig.

“Yes,” glared the officer, “that’s been something that has been suggested. It would allow the Confederation to build up a back-up food source that could be grown nearly indefinitely with little work. The labs on Almas have engineered several types that can also survive hazardous conditions. I’ve authorized them to use 25% of the tunnels made for growing them. It’s more of a political thing than anything.”

“How so?”

“Because it allows Almas to show off their skills to the rest of the Confederation, and more importantly, it eliminates hunger for the citizens that are in poverty. The mushrooms, which can taste like anything from genetic engineering, would then be handed out to our needier citizens. Consider it humanitarian and welfare work. Not a lot of that goes through the galaxy these days.”

Trutzig nodded. “And that will attract more people like that to the Confederation.”

Valeska smiled. “It’d take more than magical mushrooms to get me to come here.”

Corise nodded. “It’s a culmination of several things: protection, freedom, a strong economy, and benefits. There’s not a whole lot more attractive than these things when it comes to a government. Now, besides that, several of the construction droids will be setting up automated factories to produce goods that really can’t be produced anywhere else within the Confederation. Like hyperbarides for example. Other things that are hazardous to manufacture.”

“Those had better be set up somewhere else than besides the growing tunnels,” noted Valeska.

“True. As it stands, they’ll be centralized around this base while the growing tunnels will be on the opposite side of the world…”