(The taking of Sacorria and construction of Liberty Station)

Sacorria
On each side mountains and hills streamed past, forests and rivers, lakes and rolling lands. The speeder was at maximum speeds and still its rider tried to coax more speed out of it. ACS had landed on Sacorria a few moments earlier using a fake landing permit. Merechel was back at the freighter keeping it safe while he responded to the message he had received days ago while in system.

Within the message a mysterious character had requested he come alone to a remote location in the mountains of Sacorria. He had insinuated that it would be in the young rogue's interests to attend a gathering, a moot as he had termed it.

Soon a small prefabricated base came into view, and ACS slowed the speeder. Manuevering it into cover he let down the landing gear and turned off the repulsor. Walking towards the base he was met by an emerging figure.

The figure approached quickly, as ACS neared he noted that his eyes continually darted from side to side, assuring that no one was watching them. The figure signaled to be silent and motioned to follow. ACS complied without word. He had long ago learned that such a meeting required little speaking from the giver of the invitation and even less from the invited.

Stepping into the base structure he was led hurriedly into a room guarded by two troops in faded and worn CorSec uniforms. They held outdated assault rifles. What they lacked in crisp dressing they made up for with steely military discipline. With a shiver ACS thought that they would have made excellent candidates for stormtrooper training.... perhaps they had been. ACS had only a moment to ponder this as he was drawn back to the situation at hand by the young officer showing him to the meeting. He gave a final gesture to the room, adding emphasis as if for ACS to dawdle would be a catastrophic danger to them all. Not wishing to upset the edgy officer ACS entered the room and took a seat he was pointed to. Standing at the head of the table, at which ACS was now seated, was a man in his mid forties. He appeared to be a high ranking officer and his demeanor showed it. There was something familiar about his face, though ACS could not quite place it. As though he had seen this face dozens of times before, but not in person.

Again ACS was deprived the time to debate the scene he found himself in as the distinguished man in a crisp military turn, faced him and said, "Welcome young Solo. We are pleased you could make it to our meeting." He gestured to a few others sitting in the room. Then continued, "We will begin in a few moments... once the remaining players arrive."

Just as the man at the head of the table finished, Aidan strode in, flanked by two of the ragged ex-CorSec soldiers. He took a quick glance around before taking the seat he was offered. He nodded at ACS, and folded his fingers beneath his chin.

Meetings such as this made him nervous due to his status in the galaxy, but Aidan attended nonetheless. He seemed to be drawn to the place, and once he arrived felt that what was about to be said in this meeting would drastically change the galaxy...

As Aidan filed in ACS returned a nod to him. It seemed that the officer had been awaiting Aidan's arrival, making his way to a chart, he cleared his throat. All attention was now fixated upon the officer. Anxiousness filled the air as everyone awaited the aged man's words. He obliged their nervousness by beginning promptly, "Thank you all for coming. I am General Kyle Bel Iblis, commander of rogue group of Corellian Security Forces whose mission it is to liberate the Corellian System of the oppressive reign of the New Order." The general paused allowing everyone to realize their common trait... a desire to throw off the yoke of Imperial rule.

Starting again, the general spoke with an air of pride as he described his groups successes in achieving this goal and even pointed out a few of the past triumphs of others present. This however gave way rather abruptly to a more resigned and mournful tone as he said, " And yet for all our victories we are no closer to being rid of the Empire than when we began our quest. We just don't have the resources, nor the man-power to wage an effective and significant campaign against them." Giving another transitional pause the general worked some moisture back into his mouth, "That is why you have all been assembled here. We all want to see Corellia free, the whole galaxy for that matter, and we have all fought for that means in one way or another in the past. Now I'm offering you all a chance to join forces with my troops and I to form an organization to meet our goal. Each of us seperately will never liberate our homeworld, but together we can and we will!" His final statment gradual rose in confidence and resonance.

He finished by asking in a more collected manner, "Now who is with us?"

General Kyle Iblis...

Aidan knew the man looked familiar. He had seen him on the Holonet several times... he was a wanted man, indeed. His reputation far exceded that of the small deeds Aidan had accomplished. He was definitely an enemy of the New Order, so Aidan felt he could trust him. Still, he felt he should know more of the situation.

Aidan remained silent while the man spoke, and was astonished at how quickly the man asked for allegiance. It was not everyday a man was called in to rid the the galaxy of an opressing government.

Aidan almost spoke up, but chose to stay silent. He would let some of the others react to the General's offer before he made a decision.

Standing just outside the door and listening to the entire speech, many question arose in Knighthawk's mind. And also pride swelled within him. His home had been under the iron fist of the Empire too long and the time he had spent in prison for fighting said government still burned holes in Knighthawk's memories. But that still didn't hide the fact that this man was asking for a nearly impossible task to be accomplished. And if they failed the people of Corellia would suffer even more than they had ever thought possible for allowing a revolt to begin. A Full Garrison would surely be the least of Corellia's worries if they failed. And not only that but the counter-attack would be horrible. Win or lose Corellia had a very slim chance of coming out of this in one piece.

The thoughts hurreled around in his mind as he thought quietly to himself. Surely someone would be curious enough to ask some questions. Knighthawk's personality didn't let him ask what he wanted to know. So the only thing that could be done is to wait. The answers would come in time...

The figure sat cross legged on the smooth stone floors of the local temple, deep in meditation. He had come here from Xa Fel because he had felt a stirring in the force, and that something of interest was about to occur on the planet of Corellia. Since arriving on planet he had gone deep into meditation, trying to sort out everything he could get ahold of, but visions of the future were not always clear. Finally, shaking his head in disgust, he came back to the present. Necros looked around at the temple's various furnishings before standing tall, and then shifting in various directions, cracking and shaking various joints and bones that had stayed inactive for more than several hours.

The Sith Knight then decided to head out on the local town and get something to eat. Meditating, while it means your body is pretty much passive, still uses up energy, and by now his stomach was growling something fierce. Perhaps he would try some of the spicy food known to the local eateries. Something with some Charbon root fried in. Collecting his lightsaber from the table nearby, and clipping it to his belt, Darth Necros slung his cloak over his shoulders, concealing him under a robe of blackness.

Leaving the temple grounds, he endured an arderous and long journey through the local forest, letting his dark side energies emanating from his body discourage any local predators from attacking him, and emerged from the forest into the local town, one by the name of Wesaix. The town was not too large, just a city built around a downtown shopping, resturant, and antique district, with a small speeder port nearby, and residences surronding the rest of the area. He had emerged into the town at high noon, and so his choice of apparel had a sharp contrast to the rest of the city, which naturally drew attention.

Necros took this opportunity to delve into the thoughts of those that focused his eyes upon him, and he got an interesting perspective on their loyalties. Many of the people were content under Imperial rule and were happily living their lives away, while a few others would gladly support a change in goverment. But there was no such thing as perfect contentment. If there was, then the Old Repubic would still be around today. Entering a local bakery, he shrugged off his cloak, and surreptiously hid his lightsaber as he did so, and ordered a fine spicy dish of bantha stew served with ohka bread and a glass of corellian brandy.

Having paid the fee, the Sith knight settled down and began to enjoy his lunch.

A Sentinel shuttle popped unceremoniously out of hyperspace over Sacorria. The fact that it was a sentinel class vessel, traveling alone, was perhaps the most remarkable thing about it, as the model was not usually employed as a personal transport. Developed for the Galactic Empire after the Battle of Yavin by Sienar Fleet Systems, it was modeled after the famous Lambda class, but with a different directive- its official designation was as a landing craft. As such the Sentinels' were less luxurious and therefore less likely to be employed as personal transports. Plus, it usually suited those who were of a caliber to travel in a personal shuttle to employ a squadron or two of escort fighters, which provided a much more visible level of security and usually acted as a suitable deterrent to anyone itching to take a potshot at them.

Tir Esias was the type of man who might require such protection but had no ego to stroke, nor wished to announce his presence so forcibly. With military grade shielding and reinforced armor, eight laser cannons, two of concussion missile launchers, an ion cannon and a pair of repeating blasters (for ground security) the Sentinel could account for itself very well in a fight. As an added bonus, the mounts were retractable, which not only allowed the vessel to preserve its aerodynamics for atmospheric travel but on numerous occasion led would be attackers to underestimate the power of their quarry. Finally, this ship had a class one hyperdrive, and could reach speeds in excess of 1000 kilometers per hour in the atmosphere, which meant that the option to run instead of fight, always existed.

Of course, if Tir had exercised either of those options then there had been a serious breach in his ultimate layer of security, the shroud of secrecy that surrounded the Union. He was not coming to Sacorria to pick a fight, at least not directly, but the Corellian sector was, if not the heart of the Galactic Empire at least one of its lungs. Too dangerous one of the galaxies most wanted men, like Brutus Nogoth, to approach without serious risk. Tir Esias, on the other hand, was an unknown- or at least not a household name. Although it had been a minor detail, Tir Esias had announced himself over Tammar, and even in the chaos of battle there was little chance the Coalition had lost his name. The GC and Empire weren't the best of friends, but Tir wouldn't have put it past Imperial Intelligence to have the ability to read the GC's databanks down to the last megabyte.

A nomne de guerre would cover identity. And the ship was registered to Belgardi Universal, a Union affiliate, but also a galactic spanning mega-corporation that operated just about everywhere. There had been that misunderstand at Bespin... but nothing to make anyone too suspicious.

Besides, the Triad was officially neutral.

Despite the Imperial stranglehold on the majority of the Corellian Sector, the Sacorrian Triad had maintained its official neutrality, with some obvious deference to the superiority of the nearby Imperial presence. Still, the Triad was not a council of lap-dogs; they simply had an understanding of the strength the Empire could bring to bear against them. They cooperated when necessary, but were obstinate about there sovereignty- and Tir had no doubt- maintained deeper desires than simply surviving as an independent entity.

Tir expected no trouble. He sensed no trouble. The aura coming off Qive, however, was one of mild unease. If he could have looked at the hulking Gen'Dai with true eyes, he would have seen him cleaning the barrel of a massive blaster pistol- an undeniable sign that Qive was concerned about something. Tir Esias didn't say anything to his associate. The huge alien did not need to explain himself to Tir, simply to perform his task. Qive was very good at what he did.... and the lessons that Tir had taken from Vodo Bass (and continued on his own) made him much less dependent on Qive than he had been in the past.

The shuttle had angled toward the planet and was moving toward a small, private spaceport in the Sacorrian countryside, the time had passed quickly as Tir Esias contemplated the situation. This was a mission for Brutus Nogoth, the champion of freedom fighters/terrorists everywhere. Yet the head of the GLF rarely left on of his mega-cell bases, and when he did never moved in anything smaller than a Star Destroyer. Though, Tir would concede, not without good reason.

The GLF was a critical part of the Union. It grabbed all the headlines, did lots of (somewhat superficial) damage, and diverted the eyes of the galaxy's power players from the Union itself. As they focused on stamping out the terrorist threat, the Union had carved itself out an unseen empire, a confederacy of the underworld that had handholds from the Corporate Sector to the Ison Corridor. The Union had done nothing but create a previously unheard of synergy that joined many disparate factions into an organization that could focus and channel their power. For the right price, that power could be purchased.

Or the Union could wield it for its own purposes.

The shuttle set down on a landing pad. The docking fee had been paid in advance. Rico Belgardi's company was a tiny bit poorer- though without the assistance the Union had given him he would never had made all that money in the first place- but the price was right. There had been whispers, subtle messages sent out at hubs across the galaxy. A meeting had been called.

The message had never been intended for Tir's ears, but with the reach of the Union, with the extent of its underworld connections and power, there was little the Chairman- and in extension Tir and the Committee did not hear. Brutus Nogoth had found the message very interesting. The Chairman had dispatched Tir Esias, as he often did, to relay a message on Brutus' (and the Committee's) behalf.

An enclosed landspeeder, sans driver (the role was filled by Qive), carried Tir to the pre-fabricated base where the message had indicated those interested were to assemble. Qive brought the speeder to a stop, then exited the craft with Tir in toe. The sight of a Qive, behemoth with a pair of heavy blaster pistols on his hips, surprised the CorSec guards at the base's entrance, but they were experienced enough to realize no one drove up to the front gate in broad daylight if they were planning an attack. They raised their rifles, and barked out a challenge.

Tir responded.

"I am hear to speak with General Bel Iblis. I have an offer I suspect he will find extremely interesting."

ACS sat still, so still in fact one had to wonder whether he had fallen into a deep slumber. The young man had not lost consciousness; however, he was merely doing as he frequently did, drawing into himself almost meditatively and regarding what he had heard. Examining the ends to actions yet to be enacted. Currently his thoughts had strayed to two different far flung days that might be. The two scenarios were polar opposites. In the one, a bright and shining day had dawned upon Corellia and the planets of its sector. A single word that every man, woman, and child of the Corellian system had yearned to utter with a burning passion that had been within them since the days of Korol Solo… Freedom. The people had been freed from the cumbersome burden of Imperial bondage. Nevermore would Corellia be subjugated from afar, dominated against its will.

But for all the gleaming hope presented by the freedom of Corellia, there loomed the dark and vile shadow of another possible future for Corellia. In it Gen. Bel Iblis’ movement and all other attempts at liberating Corellia fail and for Corellia is wracked in suffering for its insolent revolt against the Empire’s strangling grasp upon it. The same faces ACS had envisioned celebrating independence were now being slain in the streets as an example to Corellians that there would never be a free Corellia again; and so Corellia could fall into shadow and despair, its hopes virtually crushed till the renewal of all things.

ACS blinked and returned his focus on those around him. He was fully prepared to speak up in response to the General’s proposal when he realized attention in the room had refocused upon the doorway to the room and single figure, which had disrupted the proceedings. ACS heard the words, "I am here to speak with General Iblis. I have an offer I suspect he will find extremely interesting." Arching an eyebrow, ACS turned his gaze on the General whose eyes were narrowed, as though he could discern just by a single glance the nature of the man’s character. Perhaps the General was a force user, such as ACS had heard of in history lessons. Whatever it was motivating his reply, the General responded with, a simple, “Let him in.”

Waiting till the intruder had walked fully into the room and into view of all in attendance the General continued, “I do not know how you discovered our meeting, but if you are here to lend your aid to our cause then welcome, friend. Speak up; tell US of your proposal.”
The General made sure to emphasize that the interloper would reveal his offer to all present. Whatever he had to say, he could and would say in front of all in attendance.

The room was still as it was. Various discussions were being passed around and different opinions were also traded. One argument had to be broken up and a person stormed out of the building in a fury almost bumping into me if I hadn't moved to the side. I shake my head and think to myself, This little shin-dig better have something kick it in the butt or we'll be seeing more folks storm out of here. Folks just don't have any patience anymore.

But as I finished gathering my own opinion about the situation I saw a man from the crowd shuffle around a bit. Before this he had shown no desire to move about or anything. I had personally thought he was asleep, even though I had no idea how one could sleep amongst such comotion. And even as the man stirred and I figured, began to speak his opinion the entire room came rather silent and as the voices faded away a new man walked right passed me and into the room where the gaurds challenged him, and he made his request known to speak to the hosting General.

I move back to the door stoop and lean back onto it, crossing my arms and anxiously await what this new face had to say. And sure enough the General voiced out what was on his mind, finally this git-together was going to go somewhere... maybe...

Kyle Bel Iblis

So it was true. According to historians, one of the first things Emperor Palpatine had done after ascending to the throne of the new Galactic Empire was to search for his former colleuage, Garm Bel Iblis, and murder his family. Bel Iblis had been one of the few senators of the Old Republic with as much charm, charisma and clout as Palpatine- he merely lacked the Sith Lord's deviousness.

Bel Iblis has long ago dropped of the radar of the galaxy. Bel Iblis had never been popular with the New Republic, and the Empire did little memoralize a man who had tried to keep Corellia out of the New Order by sitting out of the Clone Wars. There had always been rumors, rumors that Palpatine had failed in his quest to destroy Bel Iblis's family (evidenced by the fact that Garm himself had survived the plot) but never any proof.

The proof is right in front of your eyes.

Tir Esias might have chuckled at his own thoughts, had he not been standing before a group which was expecting him to announce his intentions. A bling man declaring that anything was before his eyes was an ironic statement. Tir Esias, however, could feel, could sense the power eminating from the man who had spoken. He had little doubt that the Union's intelligence was faulty.

He has the potential to become quite a symbol.

Tir Esias did not hold the terrorist members of the Union in particularly high regard. Hilter Afdol was a major asset, but Tir doubted if the man really thought of himself as a terrorist. Brutus Nogoth had acheived some success- but had he really hurt the Empire appreciably? In Tir's opinion, the GLF's greatest contribution to the Union had been the shadow it cast over the Union's other operations.

Still, the Correllians had a well known and well deserved independent streak. With the son of a hero leading them, the possibility existed that these "Sons of Corellia" could cause the Empire significant problems. And the more time the Empire spent dealing with internal messess, the less time it spent on operations that could harm the Union.

"My name is Tir Esias, and I carry a message from Brutus Nogoth of the Galactic Liberation Front."

And someone and something much more powerful.

"The Galactic Empire does not tolerate dissent- and they are far more powerful than you can possibly fathom. If you attempt to oppose them on you own, you will be crushed."

Tir let that thought be absorbed by the assembled revolutionaries.

"Without outside support, you cannot hope to succeed. The Galactic Liberation Front, however, can provide that support. My message is simple: Brutus Nogoth offers the oppurtunity to stand together as one, to oppose the Imperial opression that stymies your homeworld."

The speech was somewhat convuluted, and Tir didn't like giving it, but he did not disobey orders from the Chairman. As such, he had moved right to the point.

And so the ball was in Bel Iblis's court.