Several soldiers briskly stepped in military precision, down the dimly lit corridors. In tow they brought along two young men to meet with their distinguished leader. The clomp of their boots against the durasteel floor rang through the hallways as they neared an archway. The soldiers stop and key in a pass-code, seconds later the sound of repulsors whirring fills the air as the door opens and the soldiers step through the entrance. The soldiers then, true to their military background, take up guard positions at the doorway which slams shut moments after all those invited had entered. The two young men step towards the middle of the room. One, the younger of the two, stands at an informal attention, while the other maintains the strictest of disciplined postures; much the same as that of the soldiers guarding the entry-way. The older man, in crisp looking military attire stands at the front of the room.

Moments later the older man finished conversing with his aide and sent him on an errand. Turning his focus to the two men in front of him he smiles quietly and appreciatively. “Hello. Take your seats gentlemen,” he states in a gentle yet deep and resonating voice.

The men instantly comply, taking up seats at a nearby conference table as the General continues to pace near the front of the room. He seems to be choosing his wording for the next series of statements carefully as he makes his way to a holoprojector. Taking up a remote signal for it he begins, “I brought you boys here to show you something.” A click of the remote turns on the holoprojector, and immediately, the image of a building lying in ruin is brought up. The General continued, “This was where my father was speaking before the Imperials set off the bomb which killed my mother.” Another click and shards of rocky debris drifting through open space appears. “This is Alderaan after Grand Moff Tarkin used the first Death Star to destroy it.” Another click and a new scene, this of thousands of wookies being detained and transported off to slave compounds for sale. Another click and an image of the casualties of the Battle of Endor, as they were gathered for burial, appeared. Then images of the devastation of Grand Admiral Thrawn, image after image of horrors flashed before the two young men. At its end, the visage of the current leader of the New Order materialized in front of them. He did not seem evil, at least not on the surface. In fact, he seemed much like any other man one might meet in the galaxy. Perhaps it was this sense that the General had wanted to engender, as his next statement was rather blunt and forceful, “This man is the leader of the most evil organization in the galaxy.” Pausing he gave time to let the other two men settle the thought in their own minds, before continuing, “Though on the surface he may seem like any other man he and his government are responsible for innumerable atrocities over a course of more than 50 years. The current regime being the heir and perpetuation… perhaps even culmination of the prior despotic empire.” Another pause. “And as you have seen, the graphic images of the first dynasty’s corruption and destructive tyranny are easily obtained, however, tangible pictures and examples of the current Empire’s policies and actions are harder to obtain. You see over the years this batch of Imperials have wisely covered their actions and true nature in an elaborate and myriad bundle of lies and falsehoods. In short gentlemen, this Empire has built a wall of propaganda around the truth to hold it back from the unsuspecting masses under their rule.” A final brief pause was given by the General to allow the men to grasp the enormity of this issue. A moment later he finished by saying, “If we are to rally our people to the cause of freedom, and gain the support of others, we must tear down the lies that have ensnared them. No longer can we allow the Empire to twist reality to hide their tyrannical evils. Corellians naturally yearn for freedom, but there will be some who will believe the lies of the Empire. They will fight us alongside the Empire, which is something we cannot succumb to. No Corellia should ever shed the blood of another Corellian. And this is what will happen… UNLESS… we somehow obtain documents and reports filed by officers giving account of their actions. This along with vidcam and holocam footage should allow us to at least chip away at the Empire’s blockade of the truth. Hole enough for the light of truth to strike the hearts of our fellow Corellians.”

The General’s final statement was filled with a mellow hope that one day such a light would shine forth on Corellia. For a few seconds the General even dared to dream…

But coming out of his daze and narrowing his eyes, he gathered himself again. There was no room for dreaming at the moment, there would be time when the luxury of dreams could be indulged in. “Now to the end of exposing the Empire’s deeds we are assigning you two and few other soldiers to the task of obtaining intelligence and locating a repository of such knowledge, be it computer or human, and get the necessary data and images to begin our war against the Empire. This is your first assignment boys, and I know you will make me and Corellia proud. DISMISSED.”

".......This is your first assignment boys, and I know you will make me and Corellia proud. DISMISSED!"

With that I come to attention and present a crisp salute which is returned. Once General Iblis dropped his salute I snapped mine back to my side, wait a second the do an about face and walked the shortest route out of his office. Once ACS and myself had exited the room the door slides shut and I motion for him to come with me. I begin walking towards the hangar. We needed to get off the ground and head for the planet of Corellia. We needed to set foot on the ground and perhaps scout out the local Imperial Garrison. The more information we had on our enemies the better off we would be. Just one thought crossed my mind and that was of course, the hope that we would find enough tangible evidence to fully take the good faith of the Corellian population and keep them in our graces.

Every faction had some dirt. But the problem was finding enough dirt...

But surely the Empire would follow their own protocol and log everything in so to keep track of their own footsteps in case the event came along that they would have to do such a thing.

I take a deep breath as I walked along. "Any idea on where to start?"

ACS

ACS turned to face Ben, who had been co-assigned to the mission of obtaining information for cracking the force field of deception generated by the Empire. Ben had just asked ACS if he had an idea of where to start, a notion that almost made ACS chuckle. He and his family had made a life of avoiding Imperial entanglements, and now he was to go into the nest itself? Right into the danger zone. However, his developed tendancy towards composure aided him and he responded, though still in a rather amused manner, "The General seemed to suggest that we were to meet with a contact to discuss further details."

After a moment of scanning the display from the datapad given him, ACS continued, "The meeting is to happen in Fighter Bay 3. It appears we are to meet with an informant on Corellia, somewhere outside Coronet. Our contact in the Fighter Bay will have more information."

General Bel Iblis

After the two young officers exited his office, Bel Iblis clicked on his comm to an aide and said in a hushed voice, "Send him in." A few seconds later the door to his office whirred to life and opened with a hiss. In stepped yet another young officer. This time he merely nodded to the man, and began, not giving him time to sit or speak: "You are needed for an important mission, of the utmost secrecy..." Beckoning the other man closer he spoke in as quiet a voice as he could, informing the young soldier of his mission that would be in operation effectively immediately. As clandestine as the last pair's mission was, this man's was even more so... in fact not even the prior agents would know that a man from their own group would be working very near them. Once finished explaining the situation he handed a datapad to the man and sent him on his way, with his best wishes. The battle was to begin in earnest soon, and the fates of many hinged upon the success of these assignments.

The landing bay was drastically different from the last time Hilter Afdol had been there.

A lone worker stood on top of some distant scaffolding, pounding away with an unrecognizable tool at the tough rock face of Liberty Station. A few technicians were fiddling with a battered old Y-Wing fighter, one of the few craft current parked on this particular level of the cavernous hangar. Otherwise, the hangar (or at least the terrace that Hilter was currently standing on) was empty.

Hilter tapped his foot idly, waiting for the men Bel Iblis had deemed worthy to undertake the extraction mission to show up. He eyes scanned the now smooth lines of the rock, and he realized that what he was looking at was a sculpture. He had seen the rough, half-finished, unpolished, version when he had first arrived to take stock of the Sons, and was now looking at a masterful piece of engineering... a true work of art.

Still, a pretty headquarters was one thing- a successful movement, another. Corellia was still an Imperial stronghold, a symbol of Imperial dominance. The former capital of the New Republic, the planet was heavily fortified and strongly garrisoned. The GC attack on the planet had even helped mollify some of the population (if there could be such a thing as a mollified Corellian) and unrest was minimal, if non-existent. Even now, Hilter knew many of the Corellians on Liberty Station were exiles who had left Corellia when it fell to the New order, but slowly, by word of mouth, the group was becoming known and attracting more native sons.

With a dull thud, Hilter's mind was returned from the abstract to the here and now. A turbolift door slid open, revealing a pair of men. They looked at each other, then back to Hilter.

"Gentlemen."

The man on the left nodded, his green eyes glinted with reflective light. The other made no gesture.

"You can call me Hilter."

"Ben" said the man with green eyes. The other remained silent.

Hilter pressed on.

"As I have told General Bel Iblis, my organization has obtained information about a possible Imperial defector. His name is Jazon Teraroc, Colonel, Imperial Army. He's currently stationed at the Imperial garrison on Selonia.."

Knighthawk interjected.

""Selonia? I thought we were going to do recon on Corellia."

Hilter, slightly annoyed, replied.

"The window of opportunity for this operation is limited- you can sneak around Corellia whenever it pleases you."

The man who hadn't spoken broke his silence.

"What makes extracting this guy so important?"

He speaks- and with some thought behind his words.

"Teraroc has information that might prove useful. Besides, he's of Corellian descent. He's turned down a promotion to Lieutenant General, and tried to resign, but was rebuffed. He tried to make contact with the Galactic Coalition... that’s how my organization got in contact with him.

When we last spoke with him, he was worried that ISB or COMPNOR would come after him. The fact that they denied his resignation is a sign that he knows something they don't want getting out."

"So... what’s the plan?"

Hilter smiled.

"I'm just the consultant. You two are the operatives."

The silent Corellian shot a dagger glance at Hilter.

"I do have some more information. Teraroc is in charge of a garrison on the island of Horlik in the planet's southern hemisphere. The native Selonian clan is called the Haveron, but I don't know how much help they will be- our operatives couldn't find any of them in the vicinity of the garrison. Theoretically, since Teraroc controls his garrison, you shouldn't have too much trouble if you can get word to him that you're coming.

The big problem is getting down to the surface clandestinely, and then getting off. There’s a sizable fleet overhead, and the system is basically on lock-down... very little civilian traffic. The Selonians aren't big on space travel themselves, they prefer their tunnels."

Hilter handed over a data-pad.

'This has some more pertinent details."

The silent Corellian grabbed it.

"Well, I hope that's helpful. Good luck gentlemen."

Hilter strolled off to the turbolift, leaving the two Corellians alone in the hangar.

ACS

Clutching the datapad tightly, ACS narrowed his eyes glowering after the man who had handed it to him. Something was wrong with him. The young man could not quite put a reason to the ill foreboding sense that had permeated the air from the moment he had come into the other's presence, but it felt vile. Evil almost. The presence of such man with such a dark essence to him left Anargen anxious. He had not dug too deeply into the dealings of the Sons, but something told him he would rather not know any more than he had to.

Ben had been distracted by the pilots for the shuttle, who would help in the extraction process. As he was off, ironing out the details essential to getting offworld, ACS was trying to determine from the information given them, how to get onto the planet.

It seemed from the general outline of history that the planet had been subjugated within the past decade by the Empire. Shortly before the disastrous battle between the Empire and Galactic Coalition occurred. ACS looked up from the shimmering readouts and tried to remember exactly what he had been doing when he heard over the holonet of the attack. At the time he first heard he remembered being overjoyed. It seemed the oppurtunity to drive the Empire off his homeworld had come, though he himself was far from Corellia at the time. As the conflict drew on he was horrified to see the liberation attempt fall apart, and eventually become more damaging for his people than helpful. It slowly became the most tragic day in the history of his people. The seeds of confusion and ill planning bore the fruits of deception and falsehood. Now many considered the Empire to be their protectors rather than pleasant-faced slavers. It was ACS' sincerest wish that none of the good he and the Sons should try to do, would turn out for evil and a hinderance to freedom's work.

Sighing deeply he looked down on the datapad once more, drowning out melancholy thoughts with the flurry of words flying past. That is.. till he saw something which made his stomach churn. It was an estimated species distribution on the planet. Selonia was inhabitated by non-humans, Selonians. Who like the Drall were weasel-like creatures. At one time there were 16 million beings living on the planet, with the majority being predominantly the native Selonians, with a scattering of Drall and Corellian humans. But from the estimates given before him the population was ridiculously reduced from its former numbers and the distribution of species skewed from what it once was. Now the majority of beings planetside were human! A handful of Selonians remained now and even many Drall had vanished from Selonia's watery surface. What had happened in the time since the battle between GC and New Order? Had the Galaxy had its attention so diverted that it failed to mention what may have been one of the great evils of our time? ACS was not sure, but once planetside the young man was certain he would look into this. Because if he, a native to the system, was unaware of the doings on Selonia, it stood to reason that many others were oblivious to the Selonians' plight.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Galactic Standard Day later...

ACS had worked furiously after that initial viewing of the datapad. His determination to find a way onto the planet and had been pouring over any records he could find in an archive of Corellian history held within Liberty Station. Records became more sporadic and less reliable in the years since Imperial occupation, but from what he had managed to gather he found that since the taking of Selonia, several large projects had begun. They seemed to be something like a colonization effort, but due to the restriction of traffic over the planet, in force since the battle between the GC and NO, had limited the information coming back about the goings on there. The scattered bits of data available pointed to a building under construction on Horlik Island. It was within an hour's ride by speeder from the garrison. The information further provided by the operatives Afdol had mentioned in the datapad had also discovered some pockets of Selonians another two hours ride from that point. Though their position may have changed. This seemed ideal, as the two Sons could pose as supply transporters, there to deliver the next load of materials. Once landed the crates of supplies would be emptied and carted off, with mock materials inside. The pilots would deliver these items whilst ACS and Ben were secreted away in one of the compartments. Once there they would sneak out of the construction site and then blend in with foot traffic. From there they would need to make contact first with the Selonian den Haveron. With their aide, they would then attempt to contact and extract Colonel Teraroc. It was a relatively vaguely fleshed out and wild gambit, but from what little information available, it seemed the best and most secretive method for getting in unnoticed.
Or so ACS hoped, as he sat in the dark crate in transit to Selonia. They had to be near to entering the atmosphere. It amazed the young man how easy it was to lose one’s bearings when one could not see what was around them. It gave him a profound new respect for those without sight… and an even more profound sense of thankfulness for his own sight. He silently wondered whether Ben was thinking the same, when a jarring shudder went through the crate. They had entered the planet’s atmosphere and were making their final descent to the site. The plan seemed to be working out as hoped. The shaking subsided and the two men waited the few tense minutes remaining till another series of jars signaled landing. Not as soft as ACS had hoped either. Now was the crucial time. No sounds, no movements till they were certain that they were able to get out unseen. The trip had been planned so that as little time spent in such a state would be required of them. The time dragged on for forever… agonizingly so. There were several instances when ACS was ready to pronounce it time to get out, but each time a sudden noise from without froze him in place. Rigid and motionless. Fixated for many tense seconds, dreading being discovered. It was better to not even think the consequences of such. Not that ACS feared death for himself. He did fear what would become of those he cared for however; and the thought of what might happen to them haunted him on more nights than he cared to remember. Those nights were not likely to end soon, should what he feared to be cause of the sudden plunge in Selonia’s population be true. As this thought sent a chill down his spine he heard Ben stand and move towards a side of a box. He knew it was time. As Ben cut through the side of the box with a fusion cutter ACS attempted to locate their gear. He had expected it to be a tall and frustrating task given his lack of physical sight at the moment, but strangely he seemed to have no trouble finding the location of the items for their mission, though they had been slung from their prior positions from when the two Sons first entered the crate. In a confusing sort of way, it was as though he could see them without seeing them. Whatever the case Ben finished cutting through and signaled to ACS. It was dark outside, but there was a clear sky with the stars shining like corusca gems, their light twinkling brilliantly in a velvety obsidian sky. How many of them had ACS seen from their own systems? Too many he quietly answered himself. None had ever seemed so beauteous to his travel-weary eyes than Corel, the star of his home planet. A thought that made him smile. He was fighting for his home and its freedom. No more than that, he was fighting for his family and their safety. Thus was he able to step forth onto Selonian ground with a greater purpose. They would succeed. They must. And as he and Ben snuck off into the night through the vacated construction grounds he could not shake a growing sense of hope for days of good to come. No matter the odds.

ACS

Sneaking quietly into the night ACS looked about. The streets were relatively empty in this region, largely due to the fact that this area had yet to see the development other, older places on the planet might. The hour also lent to the lack of ground traffic.

"All the better," ACS thought to himself.

Making their way towards the outskirts of town, ACS saw in the night sky what appeared to be a shooting star. Though ACS knew without much deliberation that the beacon of light shooting across the sky was anything but that. He had been around enough spaceports to know a landing ship when he saw one. Then in an instant, the liked winked out. Leaving only the black velvet of night's canopy behind. ACS wondered if its running lights winked out. Could something have happened to the ship? There hadn't been an in air disintegration of a mid size star ship in centuries so far as ACS knew. But that was neither here nor there, and he did not have time to ponder on such things for very long. He had work to do.

The two walked for several hours in the vale beyond the cities limits, hiking along various trails till they found a suitable place to make camp. They chose a densely forested area with a small rocky alcove for further cover. ACS pondered quietly in the darkness how in the blazes he would manage to find the Selonians. Surely if they had lasted unknown for this long they would be incredibly difficult to find. Even with the data provided. Sighing with frustration born of uncertainty, ACS closed his eyes. Determined to get some rest. He would need it for the day following.

Blinking sleepily in the bright light of the day ACS sat up and stretched. Looking about slightly dazed he noticed Knighthawk had already stalked off somewhere. Taking a few steps he noticed that both men’s packs still lay in the spot they had stowed them. Curious, ACS looked about him trying to figure out where the other may have gone. Looking down at the coppice floor he noticed a shallow indentation in the ground. Taking a few careful steps towards it, ACS found another depression, like the first, but increasingly narrow till it rounded off… the tip of a boot print. Gazing off in the direction of the foot’s point, ACS walked quickly now. Ducking a few branches and walking as silently as possible he made his way around the trees and thick brush that filled the area. After a few more carefully dodged branches and thorny bushes, ACS found himself staring at a relative clearing in the wood. There he found a thick covering of leaves lay on the ground. “Odd for the time of year,” he thought. Perhaps they had been blown down by the storm in the night?” A glance at the trees around the area suggested otherwise. There were no large clumps rent from one area as a storm’s damage would cause. Instead an even removal of leaves over several trees was present. This area was meant to look this way. Lifting the cover of leaves he saw a deep print that looked like it had been made by a gigantic rodent. It faced in the direction outcropping of rock. It appeared to make a small cliff, around 3 meters or so. Dropping off the precipice he landed in a crouch and turned to see another alcove, like the one he and Knighthawk had spent the night in. Something seemed different though… a sudden sense of danger washed over his senses. Drawing his blaster, a scratched and moderately modified DL-44, he stepped into the alcove and reached out to touch a small gleaming piece of metal. Pressing his thumb against it there was a rumble and the sound of metallic gears whirring. Air rushed out as pistons raised a secret doorway and bright light streamed out. Squinting against the white glare, the last thing he would see for several hours was a dark form reaching out and jamming something into his arm. A searing pain shot up his arm and then unconscious took him.

When he awoke he found himself lying in a makeshift bed in what looked to be a medical bay. The lights were dimmed right now, he guessed to prevent further injury to his eyes. As he set up he noticed sitting Knighthawk was sitting, rather nonchalantly in the corner awaiting his awakening. Standing cracking his neck to ease some of his stiffness he groggily asked, “What happened? Where are we?”

Smiled and replied that they had found the Selonians. It had been their discovery of the secret entrance to an underground refuge, hidden away in the woods, which became the prompt for contact between each party. Ben further explained he had spoken with the leader of the Selonians already and they had agreed to give them a speeder in return for eventual aid in liberating their bound planet. Furthermore upon Knightawk and ACS’ return to Liberty Station the eldest son of the clan mother was to accompany them to discuss further relations between the Selonians and Sons of Corellia. How he had managed such negotiations and political maneuverings ACS had no idea. More than that, he did not envy the other in slightest. ACS had a great deal of disdain for political dealings, which in his eyes, too often ignored the truth and good of many for the benefit of appearances and personal gain. All this aside, he was pleased that their work would become substantially easier now. Their first objective was already complete… now all that lay ahead of them was contacting, and extracting, the good Colonel.