OOC: Also entitled: Around A Month Late (Kashyyyk and Trandosha)

IC:
Jan was attending yet another meeting of the higher ups in the Coalition government. Among the members present there were the usual suspects, including Regrad, Marth Meer, Frakutsk, Yolem, Fergunson and Viryn. And, of course, Jan Dondana, Minister of Defence. Viryn, as usual, was in one of his moods.

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p> </o:p>

“So just what the hell are we doing here this time?”

<o:p> </o:p>

“We need to discuss the next planets to be offered membership by the Coalition,” responded Jan.

<o:p> </o:p>

“That again? Aren’t you guys happy enough as is? I mean we have almost 50 planets and are the second largest government in the galaxy. Why can’t you go keep yourself busy with your fleets and the planets we have, leaving me to do the real work?”

<o:p> </o:p>

“Yousa is wrong. Wesa need more planets or else the Empire willsa destroy <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">usa</st1:place></st1:country-region> and sponsor terror and destruction across the galaxy.” Argued Frakutsk.

<o:p> </o:p>

“All right, lets calm down and get down to the business everyone. Jan, I believe you had some suggestions on who to extend membership to,” cut in Regrad, always the one to keep the peace in this, the Coalition’s <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Command</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Tower</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.

<o:p> </o:p>

“As much as I respect the Prime Minister’s method of using darts to select a planet,” said Jan with a chuckle, remembering the G’rho meeting, “I feel that we should us a more thought through plan this time. We need more innovative technology to keep up in any war with another galactic power. Recently the galaxy has begun another massive surge in research and development. Both the New Order and we have researched many new technologies recently, as seen by their new ships present in the Battle of Tynna and the new ships we have been developing. I don’t foresee this trend ending soon; in fact I see it continuing to grow. As well we need more fierce warriors willing to fight for a cause. My staff and I have conducted a search for planets known for one or both of these and we have pinpointed one system where we can get both.”

<o:p> </o:p>

Jan quickly hit a set of buttons on a holographic projector and a system was projected in front of the members.

<o:p> </o:p>

“This is the Kashyyyk System, home to Kashyyyk and Trandosha. It is the opinion of my staff, and I concur, that both would be excellent planets to offer membership to.”

<o:p> </o:p>

“Excuse me for moment by I thought you said both planets. Are you saying we should offer membership to the Trandoshans? The same Trandoshans who helped the Separatists attack Kashyyyk in the Clone Wars, even going so far as to leading parts of the assault? The same Trandoshans who gave the Empire the idea of enslaving the Wookies in the first place and then profited so much from it? You want us to offer them membership? And you want the Wookies to accept that idea and not complain or anything? You are crazier than Regrad,” responded Viryn.

<o:p> </o:p>

Jan sighed, took a deep breath and then plunged into the argument. While he thought Regrad might interfere and tell Viryn to wait until the proposal was done before exploding, Jan felt that the issue had to be addressed now, because he was certain that when the membership was announced to the public they would have to deal with similar arguments and questions from reporters.

<o:p> </o:p>

“I’m afraid that my esteemed colleague may not have the same information that is available to myself. As such it would be a pleasure to share my knowledge with him,” said Jan, trying to be as diplomatic as possible.

<o:p> </o:p>

Viryn, however, didn’t like this and broke in again.

<o:p> </o:p>

“Cut the crap and just tell us everything in plain words.”

<o:p> </o:p>

“Fine then. Why don’t you just shut the fuck up, sit down and listen for a moment, you miserable drunk!” Replied Jan, now angered at Viryn’s repeated outbursts.

<o:p> </o:p>

At this point Regrad felt it was best to cut in.

<o:p> </o:p>

“Both of you, we don’t need this hostility in here. We are all allies, and educated beings. If we can’t get along in here, how can we expect the Coalition to stay together? Now Jan, please continue with your presentation and we ill wait until the end to offer up our comments.”

<o:p> </o:p>

“Thank you Prime Minister. The present day Trandoshan’s are hardly the same ones that you are all aware of and used to, and definitely not like the ones the citizens know of. Trandoshans are not the monsters in bedtime stories anymore. Rather they are no more a monster than any other species. While some still take part in activities we would consider criminal, such as slaving, the vast majority of them do not. As well, in recent years they have developed much better relations with the Wookies then previously. If the Wookies, the ones who have suffered so much because of the Trandoshans, can forgive them, why can’t we? Is it fair to hold a whole species accountable for some of its members’ ancestors? No, it is not. The Wookies have realized this and it is high time that we did as well. Furthermore, while there will no doubt be some Trandoshan’s who don’t wish to join the Coalition, the same happened at every other planet in the Coalition when they first joined. However our intelligence sources indicate that the majority of the population would support joining the Coalition, although it might be an uphill battle to convince a large majority of them to do so.”

<o:p> </o:p>

Do you have any numbers available on what percentage would support the Coalition?” asked Yolem.

<o:p> </o:p>

“No definite numbers, as no survey has been done, but we believe it would be about 60%, with that number increasing if we present a good argument to them on why they should join us. For Kashyyyk we believe it to be much higher, around 80%. For Trandosha we will encounter portions of the population which wishes to join another government such as the New Order or the Black Dragon Empire and portions which wishes to stay neutral. However for Kashyyyk we believe that the 20% of the Wookies who are not necessarily in favour of joining the Coalition are not in favour of joining another government, but rather are in favour of remaining neutral.”

<o:p> </o:p>

“The numbers for Trandosha seem kind of low for an easy operation. Is there some way we could potentially bring those numbers up?” asked Meer.

<o:p> </o:p>

“We believe it might be possible to raise the numbers for both Kashyyyk and Trandosha,” replied Jan.

<o:p> </o:p>

“Just how do you propose we do that?” inquired <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ferguson</st1:place></st1:City>.

<o:p> </o:p>

“We feel that it would be possible to appeal to the psychology, culture and traditions of the Trandoshans and Wookies. The Trandoshans have a strong warrior tradition and their culture is full of more warriors. We feel that by sending some of our better and more well known warriors it would be possible to appeal to these traditions and culture. As well, the Wookies also have a warrior heritage and a culture full of honour. Also they love technology, especially new technology. Therefore my staff recommends that we send a large fleet, full of some of our newest technologies to the Kashyyyk system. As well there are others reasons for such a large fleet, which will be outlined later on in this meeting.”

<o:p> </o:p>

“Who does your staff recommend we send?” asked Regrad.

<o:p> </o:p>

“They feel that both species would be extremely honoured if we sent myself, since I am the Minister of Defence, and therefore in charge of all of our fleets and warriors. They also feel that it would be good if Admiral Logan was sent on the mission, as he is one of our best known commanders. However he has many other demands on his time and is therefore unable for participation in this event. However a later tour of Coalition planets by him including a visiting to Kashyyyk and Trandosha would be beneficial. In his stead they feel that because of Captain Kit Galden’s efforts in the Chalactan situation and subsequent fame in that area of space, it would be a good idea to include him in the mission. Furthermore, to command the starfighters they wish to send General Gordon Fren and his Slasher Squadron. They also feel including any White Knight available in the mission would be a good idea, as they are known across the galaxy as expert warriors. They also feel that having some Praetorian vessels included in the fleet would go a long way in making up for the lack of Admiral Logan being present. They suggest that the fleet be made up of the newest technology. As such the flagship shall be Dominator. Also present shall be a pair of Claymore Battleships, 2 Longsword Frigates, a Praetorian Silencer Cruiser, a Haven Light Cruiser, 4 Defender Gunships and a pair of Praetorian Bird of Preys Mark 3. The fighter compliment will consist of Kriss Fighter, Swift Space Superiority Fighters and Sabre Assault Bombers. 6 of the Heroic – class Support Vessels will be included on the mission.”

<o:p> </o:p>

“That is a rather large fleet to be sending into a non-hostile area of space. What do you expect to find there? We have no indications of any New Order activity or interest in that system. As well we have no indication that the Black Dragon Empire as anything planned for that system.” Said Meer.

<o:p> </o:p>

“True, we do not have any knowledge of any planned TNO or BDE activity in the system. However tensions with both groups has risen dramatically during recent times. This Commodore Harker’s trip through Coalition space just happening to stop at Teth has been worrying myself and my staff lately. We fear that this is a change in Black Dragon Empire policy and that they will soon become more active on the galactic stage. If this is the case they couldn’t have picked a worse time, at least in our opinion. We are still improving our fleet, bringing it up to the same level as that of other militaries. These developments are ongoing, as they should be, considering the ever-changing war situation, but we would prefer to have done at least another couple months, if not a year’s worth of development and production before another war breaks out.”

<o:p> </o:p>

“But our military in its present form should be capable of defending our current territory against the Black Dragon Empire, correct?” inquired Yolem.

<o:p> </o:p>

“Yes, it should be able to, although it would be close. As well, present circumstances concerning the Empire causes us to wonder if another war is on the near horizon. The recent attack on Tynna, as well as the situation at Roche Asteroid Belt are both cases that we worry about and that have made tensions rise between our two governments. Each of these conflicts have been instigated y the Empire, by firing first, annexing a system, intruding in our space or a combination of all of these. While no formal declaration of war has been made, nor have we seen a massed attack, we worry that these are not unrelated issues and are instead the vanguards for a total assault on our space. The Tynna assault was most likely done to see how we would react to an intrusion into our space. We showed them that we are not afraid of them and would repel any such assaults to the best of our abilities. On a similar line they were surprised by our hostility and left with large personnel losses. However as far as material went they didn’t really lose all that much, however they did learn a lot about our new style of ships, information that I have no doubt they will put to great use in a future war. As well, at the very least if neither of these or one of these was not a sanctioned mission by the Empire than we have to worry that the Empire has at least one, if not two, rogue commanders out there willing to assault the Coalition. Even more worrying is that one is off the rank of Grand Admiral and if the ships involved at Roche were receiving commands from their superior, than the other has the rank of Grand Moff. If these two personnel, so high up in the Imperial Command that they are, have committed rogue missions than we have to worry about the stability of Imperial Command and look at the possibility of a military coup or breaking of the Empire. If that were the case we would be looking at the return of the Warlord age, when the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">New</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Republic</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> was fighting off the Empire and all of the Warlords. Or, in more recent times, prior to the fall of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">New</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Republic</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> when the borders were less well drawn, with numerous smaller governments out there, all fighting with each other or with the larger governments. Specifically I am thinking of during the Rogue Empire and New Alliance wars, when many smaller governments were brought into the fight and crushed. The <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Mon</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Calamari</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Republic</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>, one of our founding members, was flattened during those wars and that led to a dislike of the Rogue Empire, leading to the Mon Calamari and Jutraalian Empire Wars and the Republic being crushed once more.”



“Wesa can see why itsa a worry about da Empire stopping da mission or starting another warsa, but whysa does itsa worry yousa if da Empire collapsesa?” asked Frakutsk.

<o:p> </o:p>

“While in some ways it would be beneficial to us if the Empire were to collapse and divide into many smaller governments, it would also mean that we would have to crush each and every one separately, making it more difficult to wipe out the tyranny that exists for those living underneath the Empire’s control. Plus if we were off attacking one of the parts of the old Empire we would have to watch for another part taking that as an opportunity to assault us. If the Empire remains in one piece it would be easier for us to use one key strategic blow to destroy it, rather than having to worry about striking many strategic blows to destroy each part of it.” Jan replied.

<o:p> </o:p>

“Well, you argue your case quite well Jan. I feel that your recommendations are good ones. Since there doesn’t seem to be any unanswered questions or complaints, I give the operation the go ahead, with the fleet recommended.”

<o:p> </o:p>

“Thank you Prime Minister.”

<o:p> </o:p>

“I think that concludes our business for today. Since its Friday, I believe its times for some relaxation.”

<o:p> </o:p>

With that the higher ups in the Coalition relaxed and discussed what had happened that week…

Meanwhile, in a pre-fab orbital shipyard above Tissuss

Tzhali marvalled at what he was seeing. "Your joking I hope?"

"Nope, she's one of the finiest ships in the fleet, or rather, soon to be." The dockmaster said

"Just HOW did you get such a small facility like this? I never heard of a shipyard that is moveable," Tzhali asked

The dockmaster smiled. "Our fleet is all about hit and run's, therefor our scientist's developed a special technology that allows for mobile shipyard's, small compared to normal ones, but have four together and it IS possible to make cruisers and carriers"

"But not the type the empire has?"

He shook his head. "Nope, we refuse to build those type of ships, our fleet works better with modified cruisers and carrier's, thats why our tie fighter's and x-wings don't match the one's the rebellion used, nor do the tie's match the one's that TNO use's"

"Can we match them though?"

"No," The dockmaster said. "Unfortantly any opposition to the TNO will result in thousand's of dead, including our civilian base"

Tzhali nodded and turned around. "When can she break orbit?"

"We have two already out there, one's located near Kashyyyk, the other is located near Trandosha, both about 100 km's out from the planets. They monitor all incoming and outgoing hyperspace signatures," The dock master handed Tzhali a clipboard. "If a master fleet is sighted, or any ships from the TNO, Coalition, or BDE, you'll be alerted. Just keep in mind: The Sarendives work for Kashyyyk and Trandosha, if it ever come's to them joining one of the three, the fleet will follow."

"What about TNO?"

He then grinned. "We would rather DIE than join the New Order."

"What about the Coalition"

"It'll take a lot of convincing on THERE part"

"What about the BDE?"

He laughed. "We don't know anything about the BDE. Who Knows? Maybe they might get on the table, but I doubt it"

Tzhali nodded and watched as a modified wing of B-wing's flew by. "Where's there torpedo and bomb bays?"

"Replaced, they're armed strictly with laser's and have an extra engine attached," The dock master smiled. "It's what we do best, all our ships are modified at HQ then the spec's are sent here to modify them further"

"Wheres HQ?"

The dockmaster smiled. "Not even *I* know that, only those higher ups, like Lavality truely know"

"I worry though, what happens if one of the three find out about this shipyard?"

"They won't" the dockmaster grinned

"Why not?"

"Because, you can't spy on what you can't see," with that the dockmaster left. Tzhali stared at the guy before smiling and looking back at the small cruiser outside the window. "So.. two are already out... this one should be completed soon"

Tzhali soon took a shuttle back to his Republic Class Destroyer, which was orbiting Kashyyyk at the time. "Anything new?"

His 2nd in command shook his head. "Nothing... it's quiet.. no pirate's no nothing, suffice it to say, it's VERY quiet out there"

Tzhali didn't like that. "Get the fleet in position, something tells me we'll have company"

"Alert the Transhans?"

"Nope, they have enough to worry about. Let's set the fleet up, one half around Trandosha the other around Kashyyk, 5 destroyers, 3 cruisers, 2 carriers and a hand full of fighters for both planets." Tzhali folded his arms

"isn't that... excessive?" the communications wookie asked

He shook his head. "Intell is worried, the TNO haven't made a move toward either planet's and recent signs show something going on with the Coalition, they don't want to take any chance's so they dispatched half the defense fleet to help"

"Fleet Command and Control wants us to defend both planets, at least until an agreement can be made between both governments for a complete alliance, for the momment the chieftans are still argueing back on Kashyyyk." Tzhali rubbed his head. "But.. headway is being made so it looks like peace might actually come soon"

"Peace maybe..." one of the enlisted humans responded. "Sorry sir, but couldn't help but comment."

"Don't worry," Tzhali took a look at the clipboard. "Continue monitoring the region, only authorized ships are trading and commerical vessels from our fleet, from Trandosha and from Kashyyyk, if any ships from any unauthorized fleet show up. Let me know"

His sensor officer turned in her seat. "You'll be sitting right there, so you'll know anyway." She smiled

he nodded. "So.. tell me anyway" he grinned

She just nodded

(ooc: dang it bro...I was expecting to post first :P)

Kaskyyyk System: Bloodfang

The Rynock Class Destroyer Bloodfang was going at full speed, which was impressive for a ship it's size, slowly gaining on the much smaller ship that was it's target. The Destroyer, a newest destroyer class in the Trandoshan Fleet, was chasing a slave ship, also of Trandoshan design, in a race to capture it before it reached hyperspace. At the helm of this Destroyer, was the well decorated and renowned Vice Admiral Tiosk, who had made it his mission to stop the capture of innocent wookiees on the wookiee homeworld.

Not so long ago, such an act would have been a considered an act of treason for his race, but times have changed dramatically within the last year. A revolution movement, or rebellion as other's referred to it, lead by now Speaker-Above-All Naosha and her lifemate Rissonik, Sha'tor of the powerful K'Satikur Clan, successfully convinced the Trandoshan people that things needed to change if they were to survive the coming decades. Even though it was intended as a peaceful movement, many Trandoshan's lost their lives during the near civil war, largely due to the extreme decisions of the former Speaker-Above-All, Hyossk, in an attempt to stop the movement. The insane Trandoshan had ultimately ended his own life, saving the Council from having to force him out of office, but his actions had resulted in many large gaps in the Trandoshan military hierarchy and the Fleet nearly completely destroyed.

The Bloodfang, along with Admiral Balik's ship, the Blackblade, was one of a handful of Rynocks that survived the final space battle, but had only recently finished the extensive repairs it needed. The long forced shore leave had left the crew overly eager to get flying again, especially Tiosk: he was well known to hate getting bored and sitting at a desk looking over fleet manifests and ship schedules wasn't his idea of 'excitement'. Needless to say, he volunteered his ship and crew to be the first to start patrolling the system for pirates and other law breakers. Specifically though, they were to keep an eye out for slave ships.

In a bid to continue strengthening the Trandoshan/Wookiee alliance, the Fleet had vowed to do everything they could to stop the flow of slave ships in and out of Kashyyyk, which after the fall of the New Republic had increased: until now the Trandoshan government didn't care if it continued or not. Since the Fleet was in such bad shape at the moment though, the Trandoshans had few ships to spare for such a task, hence why the Fleet was willing to allow a high ranking official out on this task: though some say they did it to just get the antsy Tiosk out of their scales.

Progress thus far has been satisfactory: in the two weeks they have started this mission they had successfully captured five slave ships, with only one managing to escape to hyperspace before the Bloodfang's sensors could determine their destination. The wookiees they rescued were understandably wary of their rescuers and remained on guard until a translator convinced them of the crew's intent. After that they were extremely grateful and couldn't wait to tell their loved ones of what the crew had done for them.

Tiosk and his crew were keenly aware of the risks posed to the Wookiees themselves during these rescues. The slavers could very well just kill their captives as the Bloodfang tractored their disabled ship into it's hanger bay, thereby making their rescue attempt worthless. So far though, they haven't thought of it and the crew got satisfaction of saving Wookiee's from a fate worse then death and transporting the slavers back home to be tried for their crimes.

It was sometimes rather humorous when the slavers were told the extent of the trouble they were in. Apparently their operation was surprisingly isolated from the main flow of information from the homeworld, meaning they were among the last to find out about the change of pace for their people. Some took the news quite well, perhaps even willing to reform their ways, but many were enraged by the news vowing harm to the leaders of this new Trandoshan 'ideal'. These threats of course, where just added to the slavers list of crimes they will be tried with.

"One minute til firing range is reached Admiral." The weapons officer accounced.

"One minute thirty estimated for hyperspace." The sensor officer added.

"Be prepared to fire ion cannons the moment we get in range." Tiosk said, leaning forward in his seat. "And keep the hyperdrived warmed up."

"Affirmative Admiral."

Tiosk sighed and shook his head. "I still can't get used to being called 'Admiral'." He muttered, being an unusual Trandoshan that actually didn't like the promotion he had been given recently.

"I'm sure you'll get used to it eventually sir." Konik, his second-in-command, commented. "It's not every year someone makes two ranks at once...."

Tiosk snorted and kept his eyes on the ship in the viewscreen in front of him. With his previous rank being 'Captain', he should have just been promoted to 'High Captain'. However with the previous Fleet Admiral's demise during the major space battle at the end of the revolution, then Vice-Admiral Balik took his spot as Fleet Admiral. By some strange fate of luck all the High Captains had been killed during the space battles, leaving the Council with no choice but to promote a Captain twice: Tiosk had been the lucky (in his point of view: unlucky) Trandoshan to get the job.

The slave ship took a sudden sharp turn to port and the Bloodfang nearly tilted completely 90 degrees to attempt to match it: as well as fast it was also rather agile for a destroyer, but even so the slave ship managed to regain some of it's lead.

"Twenty seconds til firing range." The weapons officer said after the turn was finished.

"Twenty five seconds until hyperspace. Destination coords locked in." Announced the sensor officer.

This is going to be close. Tiosk thought, gritting his teeth. Normally he would have his fighter squadrons disable the ship, but he wanted to try having the Bloodfang itself do all the work. He was starting to wonder if they'll be forced to chase it in hyperspace and finish the job after they had reenter real space. No matter, they will catch this ship and then head home after transporting the rescued Wookiee's back home: their brig as nearly filled to capacity with slavers.

His worries ended up becoming unfounded as the ion cannons finally fired, the first hits completely disabling the slave ship and stopping it in it's tracks.

"Activate tractor beams and prepare boarding party." Tiosk commanded. "Let's hope the Wookiees are still in one piece."

Roughtly an hour later Tiosk was down in the hanger bay, watching the freshly handcuffed slavers being marched to the brig and the Wookiee's giving heartfelt thanks to the crew. The Vice-Admiral simply grinned at the few slavers that dared to look him in the eye, challenging him, knowing that he was fully capable of flooring any of them if they attempted to attack: his one time membership with the K'Satikur Clan ensured that.

~Admiral.~ A voice emitted from his communicator.

Tiosk lifted the device and spoke into it. "Yes, what is it?"

~Can you return to the bridge sir? There's something you need to see....~

Puzzled at why his officer didn't just say it, Tiosk made his way back to the bridge, where he saw more then one bridge officer gawking at the viewscreen. Tiosk's own jaw dropped a bit when it saw what they were looking at. "How long have they been there?" He asked when he finally got his wits. He didn't consider the recent arrivals as a threat on that note however, though he couldn't help but wonder why the Galactic Coalition would bring that many ships into the Kashyyyk system.

"Long enough to watch the show." Replied an officer. "Should we alert the Fleet?"

"The Coalition isn't the type that just comes and do force take overs like the New Order." Tiosk said with a shake of his head. "They use diplomatic means first: my guess is they are trying to impress us to get a foot in our door. Well that worked in my book." He chuckled. "Do inform our Fleet about the new arrivals as well as our allies. Let them know we intend to follow them at a respectable distance until we can confirm their purpose."

"What about the slavers in the brig and the Wookiees?" Konik asked.

"If they are here for diplomatic reasons they'll be heading for both Kashyyyk and Trandosha themselves, so we can still accomplish our mission."

"Understood sir."

(ooc: Nee! :P sorry sis, saw it first.. shoulda told me :yuck )



Tzhali had spit out his drink when the new's got to him. "Where?!"

"Above Kashyyyk sir," the sensor officer shouted

He clasped his hands. "Damn... what do THEY want..."

"Sir, all ships responding to new arrival's, ETA, Five Minutes." The communications officer annouced

"X-wings squad's are launching from carriers, taking up defensive position's around Trandosha and Kashyyyk's main city." an officer annouced

Tzhali then raised his hand. "Don't arm weapons, there's more ships THERE than the Serendives Fleet has at this point in time."

"Not really," an officer replied. "Just send the word and the HQ defense fleet will be here... easily out numbering them 23 to 1"

Tzhali shook his head. "If they wanted to attack, they would've already."

"Still, I'll send a message to our shipyard in orbit near Tissuss to stay cloaked. Don't need THEM finding her." The comm. officer said as she got on the horn

Roughly a minute later, over thirty five x-wing's appears out of hyper-space and made there way toward the Galactic Coalition. ~This is Red One to fleet, HQ dispatched us after a large fleet left the Coalition Homeworld. Eve- holy shit~

"Don't attack Red One, we haven't any clue what there intention's are." Tzhali ordered

~Yes Sir~

"Damn I wish Lavality was here... she'd know what to do in this situation."

"I already know, she'd order our ships to stand down, disarm weapons, and not to show any aggresive move." One of his human officer said

"Very well then, relay that order." Tzhali said. The officer bowed, Tzhali knew he would never get used to that trandition. After a few minute's all his ships had stood down, weapons where either offline or retracted back into the hull. Shields where still online though, that was a requirement

He watched his carriers, all six of them, move toward Trandosha then took up positions just above the planet. His ten destroyers sat there, waiting for the Coalition to make a move. His nine cruisers moved toward the Coalition fleet, but kept a respectful distence away

Tzhali already knew though that who ever commanded that fleet would know who the leader was of this fleet, his ship was easily twice as big as a reguler Republic Destroyer, in fact, it was roughly 2/4 the size bigger than the standard destroyer, so it wasn't a doubt in his mind that they already knew who the leader was... but what was there intention?

Kashyyyk System: Kashyyyk

Cytshoa, one of the chieftains of the wookies, wondered the street's of there city. He hadn't heard a repor from Tzhali now for over five hour's and that worried him. Due to his city being so far under the tree's he couldn't tell if anything was going on up there in space. Although the numerous x-wing's that flew by told him something was going on

He walked toward one of the many landing pad's that dotted there city, contructed thanks to there allie's in order to help protect them from slavers, but even then it didn't help, the slavers still found ways around these defense's. He watched as a flight of Y-wing's appeared from the sky and landed on the pad, a wookie pilot got out and handed him a pad. "So, the Coalition is here"

The wookie nodded, forgetting his manners

"I'll let the others know," With that Cytshoa left

OOC: Much apologies for the delay. The way this is set up is so that if it becomes necessary (although I sincerly hope it won't) Dolash can take over for me by RPing out Jargur and Oaxaca.

IC:

Jan smiled as he looked out of the bow of Hawk as the fleet blasted out of hyperspace and arrived in the Kashyyyk System. Finally, after many delays, including the secret meeting on Ilum of all those lightsiders out there in galaxy, the mission had finally been given the go-ahead. However now there was another member of the team. Admiral Dawara, a Cren and the head of the military in the area of space surrounding the Farquak and Sapuni systems, had come along and been given military command of the fleet. This allowed Captain Kit Galden to stay onboard his Haven Light Cruiser, Justice II, where he preferred it, rather than commanding the Dominator that Jan would have directed the battle from (the Dominator was assigned to another mission thanks to Admiral Dawara bringing the Hawk). This also allowed Jan to concentrate more on diplomatic matters rather than have to worry about any battle. Admiral Dawara would be notified first of any military developments and then if he felt it was necessary, he could notify Jan. Also adding to the fleet were another two Dominator Heavy Cruisers that had been used to protect some of the convoys carrying important people from across the Coalition into the Onyxian Province.

“Fleet status?” called out Admiral Dawara.

“Ships reporting in now. Sea Hawk and Fire Hawk have both taken up positions on either side of us in Triangle Formation. The Claymores have formed up on either side of our triangle, each with one Longsword Frigate and a Defender Gunships supporting it. The Praetorians have formed up behind the Claymore on the left and Justice II along with the remaining two Defender Gunships have formed up behind the Claymore on the right. The Heroic – class Support Vessels and the 4 Fleet Carriers have formed up between Justice and the Praetorians.”

“Excellent. Launch a two squadrons of Kriss Fighters to run cover for each of the Claymore groups and then have 4 squadrons of Saber Assault Bombers launch, two to go above our formation and the other two to go below. Launch another 4 squadrons of Swift Space Superiority Fighters and have them copy the Saber Assault Bombers. Don’t power up ray shields or weapons yet, but be ready to pump energy into them at a moments notice.”

“Yes sir. Why only launch those numbers?”

“We are not here on an offensive mission. If something happens we will move to counter-act that situation, otherwise we will remain peaceful. The fighters launched are appropriate numbers for escorting us, and if something does happen then they will be able to hold off the enemy while we scramble the rest of our fighters. That is also why we are not powering up ray shields or weapons. If we were to do that then the Trandoshans and Wookies might take that as an offensive action and then try to attack us, making this mission a failure. Now, what else do we have in system, highest priority first.”

“Nothing major right now. Wait, we have a Class 2 threat near Kashyyyk.”

Class 2 designated something extremely odd, but not near enough to the Coalition fleet to affect it at the time.

“What is it?”

“A Star Destroyer, kind of like a Victory – class, but definitely heavily modified judging by the way that thing is moving. It just broke off from its route and seems to be following a freighter that just came blasting out of the atmosphere.”

“So the Wookies are trying to stop a smuggler, that is nothing worthy of a Class 2.”

“But this ship is reading a Trandoshan transponder. And the way that ship is moving around is impressive. I’ve never seen anything that maneuverable for the size except for a Claymore Battleship.”

“Do we have visual on the chase?”

“We can get an ok visual on it, but at that distance it won’t be too good.”

“Get me the best visual possible and then continue scanning the rest of the system. Unless there are any other high priority threats, just make a list of this ships and have them waiting for me upon the conclusion of this chase.”

Upon hearing all of this Jan became very interested. A Trandoshan ship, chasing a freighter exiting Kashyyyk’s atmosphere, and a ship that is almost as maneuverable as a Claymore Battleship? That was something extremely interesting.

“Ensign, send the visual feed to my station as well. And if that freighter makes hyperspace, try to calculate the outgoing vector, speed and probably destination.”

“Yes Minister.”

The ensign sent the visual to both Jan and Admiral Dawara, another bridge member started the necessary calculations for the route and then the ensign returned to scanning the remainder of the system. As no high priority threats were out there, both Jan and Admiral Dawara watched the chase unfold. Suddenly the freighter broke away at such an angle that Jan thought it would be impossible for the Destroyer to follow. Since the chase had been going for some time he expected the freighter to be able to enter hyperspace before the Destroyer would be able to react to the course change and make its own course change. Much to his surprise the Destroyer followed the freighter, barely losing any ground. Within seconds the Destroyer’s guns had opened fire on the freighter disabling it. Then the freighter began moving towards the Destroyer before vanishing into the docking bay. With the show over and after reading over the lists of vessels, Jan and Admiral Dawara called over the diplomats and moved to a currently unused mess hall.

“So what do you think of these new developments?” asked Jan to the diplomats.

The diplomats paused for a second to think over the situation before answering. The main one assigned to Kashyyyk (who just happened to be a Wookie) was the first to respond.

“They are interesting, but if anything they should make our job easier. There is clearly already some kind of official communication between at least the two militaries and possibly the two governments. Actually, if there is official communication between the two militaries, then you can pretty much guarantee on there being official communication between the two governments, because the militaries would be the branches of most likely to dislike each other.”

Next the main one assigned to Trandosha (who happened to be a Trandoshan, amazing how these things work out) chipped in his assessment.

“I tend to agree with Oaxaca on this one. Open, official dialogue at the very least between the militaries and governments makes our job much easier. It means that our two species, historically divided and enemies, have made up their differences on their own terms and have started working together. That means we shouldn’t have to mediate any disputes between the two governments and we shouldn’t have a problem with one not wanting to join the Coalition because the other government is a member.”

The rest of the diplomats chipped in their agreement with the two senior diplomats. That is to say, the majority of the remaining diplomats did so. There was one stand out who waited until everyone else had chipped in their agreement before speaking. This diplomat was a relatively junior one, a Cren by the name of Zyphor.

“This is a very promising sign, yes, but everyone is ignoring the negative here. The fleeing freighter was very likely a slaving ship, probably crewed by Trandoshans. If that is the case, then there is still a faction of the Trandoshan population that doesn’t like the closer ties with Kashyyyk. At the very least they will oppose any attempts of bringing Kashyyyk and Trandosha even closer together. They will certainly mount an opposition against our being here and if they control a portion of the military than that opposition could turn violent and mean failure for our mission. As well they could also choose to secede from the rest of Trandosha, maybe even join the Empire. That there is some sort of dialogue between the two governments is a good sign, but the signs aren’t all promising.”

“Thank you for your input. I agree with the conclusions presented by all of you. This is how we will proceed…” Jan then lay out the plan for what would happen after the meeting was over. He would record a message, which was done, and then the message would be broadcasted to both planets simultaneously. After that any responses by the planets would be handled by the chief diplomats assigned to each of the planets located on opposite ends of the bridge.

Jan, Admiral Dawara and the diplomats returned to the bridge. Admiral Dawara walked over to his command center and glanced at the sensor display.

“Ensign, what is this following us over here?”

“That is the Trandoshan Star Destroyer that apprehended the freighter earlier.”

“How long has it been following us?”

“For around the past 10 minutes sir. It sped up to reach that position and then slowed down to match our velocity. It is still quite a few kilometers out of range of the nearest Coalition vessel and it has not armed its weapons.”

“Keep your eye on it and tell me if its velocity changes even the slightest and if those weapons get powered up.”

“Yes sir.”

Admiral Dawara looked up out the viewport and saw numerous flickers of light dead ahead.

“We have reversions from hyperspace. It looks like 36 X-wings, although they are modified. They are heading straight for us.”

“Keep weapons powered down, see what they want.”

“A fleet near Kashyyyk is powering up weapons.”

“They are well out of range?”

“Yes sir.”

“Leave them be for now, just watch them.”

“The X-wings are breaking off sir. They appear to be heading towards that fleet that powered up their weapons. And now the fleet is powering down their weapons and moving into a position to orbit above the main city on Kashyyyk. Wait, some fighters have broken down to head towards the city. They are not identified, though the closest they come to are modified Y-wings.”

“Ok, leave them be. It seems that everyone has become aware of our presence here. Minister, do you think we should contact the planets now?”

“Yes. Send out the message.”

The following message was broadcast to Kashyyyk and Trandosha.
“Greetings Trandoshans. This is Minister Dondana of the Galactic Coalition, onboard the Galactic Coalition vessel Hawk, flagship of the Galactic Coalition fleet above your world. This fleet has no offensive intentions; it is a fleet of peace rather than war. I am on a diplomatic mission to this system and request an audience for the Galactic Coalition at your convenience. Please respond on this channel and speak with our chief diplomat on this mission to Trandosha, Jargur. Thank you for your time.”

The message to Kashyyyk replaced Trandoshans with Wookies, Trandosha with Kashyyyk and Jargur with Oaxaca. Now the Coalition mission just had to wait for the two species to respond.

Tzhali listened in one the communications, then raised a hand, one of his cloaked observation bombers had drifted rather close the Coalition fleet and was already painting targets, but with the flick his finger and a quick scatter message, the bomber veered away from the fleet and erased all target locks, while remaining cloaked that is.

He nodded at the message and opened up a commique with his own commander. "well?"

A picture of a wookie appeared, quiet old to some standards, his fur was slightly gray but he had the aura of being rather experienced. "I want you to be our leison, talk to them, see what they want.. speak for us." the wookie looked around. "But remember that there are factions that don't agree to us being at peace with the Trandoshans"

Tzhali nodded. He glanced aft of his ship and noticed one of his frigates, a modified CC-7700 frigate, move toward the fleet it seemed obvious to him that captain was getting a wee bit trigger happy. "Comm. inform the captain of the Ralroost to power down it's interdictor field and to stay put! We DO NOT need a confrontation here!" Tzhali barked the order and the comm. officer did as he was told

He sat there for a few, before noticing a wing of A-wings, unmodified, fly by his ship and fly toward the Coalition fleet, they banked slightly to the right and away from the fleet. His pilots where getting nervous and knew they should be, they where not in a position to fight a battle they no doubt would lose, even though there ships where modified he still didn't like the odd's

"Sir, incoming communications from the dockyard." The comm officer turned in her chair and nodded toward the commander. Tzhali nodded and took the call, after several minutes he smiled and killed the connection, then turned toward the communications officer.

"This is Admiral Tzhali of the Kashyyyk defense fleet," he spoke over the same comm. channel the Coalition did. He then nodded, "On behalf of Kashyyyk I welcome you to this system and wouldn't mind meeting, but please keep in mind, your arrival here is.... strange.." he said, god he was a terrible diplomate.. why the hell did the chieftain have to make him head Leison!

Bloodfang

“Well now, that settles it.” Tiosk said after intercepting the message. “Bet ya Admiral Balik will want me to escort any diplomats to the surface, so we’ll stick with them for now.”

“And the Wookiees on board sir?” Konik inquired.

“Get a couple of shuttles up and running to transport them home and ensure them the slaves will get their due. Speaking of which, get in contact with the fleet to see if they can send a ship over to take these slavers off our hands: we don’t want risk them causing havoc should we have diplomats come aboard.”

“Understood sir. It will be done.” Konik replied. “Just an observation sir, but wouldn’t this be Speaker-Above-All Naosha’s first foray into speaking for our people in that position?”

“It will indeed.” Tiosk said with a smile. “She’ll be fine and if I know Rissonik, he’ll insist on having a K’Satikur warrior or two escort her should she be required to travel to them.”

“Even with the Coalition sir?”

“It’s not the Coalition we’ll be worried about Konik.” Tiosk said, his eyes narrowing slightly. “There are factions on the homeworld and beyond that still wishes to see her dead: not everyone is happy with the recent arrangements Konik, the brig full of slavers is proof of that.”

Trandosha: Council of Elders

The Coalition had good timing, for the Council was just about to convene when the message arrived. Naosha had been bracing herself for the grueling day of bickering and whining that seemed to have become the norm during Council sessions, especially when the minor Councilors were meeting with them, and felt a bit of relief at the news. This would be a much welcome diversion and the first true test of her abilities in her position as Speaker-Above-All.

The green scaled, blue eyed female watched the other Councilors discuss this new development for a few minutes, waiting patiently for them to finish. She already knew what had to be done, but couldn’t act upon it without the rest of the Council’s approval. In all honesty she wondered what was taking them so long to ‘settle down’ and worried that this could be a sign that some Councilors were starting to have second thoughts about the way things were going now.

“Well Naosha.” One of them finally said to her after all the private conversations were finished. “This is what you’ve been waiting for I take it?”

“Yes.” Naosha said without hesitation. “A bit sooner then I thought to be honest, but better the Coalition then TNO knocking on our door.”

There were a few mummers of agreement. Indeed if the Coalition hadn’t come now, it may very well have been TNO that contacted them first and they knew that TNO would have fired first then open up negotiations.

“Do understand that we still have factions that are in…disagreement…with current operations.” Another Councilor said, whom was the only other female on the Elder Council.

“Those that opposed me have never left my mind Councilor Shisha.” Naosha replied. “I will also not forget that they too will have fair say in the Council, should a full Council convene on a possible alliance with the Coalition, of which I have little doubt that this is what they are calling for.”

“Then you are one step ahead of us.” Council Russis said with a smile. “As Speak-Above-All you will be our peoples voice when you meet the representatives of the Coalition, but take care not to make the same mistakes as my father…” His father was the former Speaker-Above-All, Hyssok, who had settled into the mindset that as Speaker-Above-All he had the right to make all the decisions on his own and that he was ruler over Trandosha: he had killed himself by accident while trying to kill off the other Councilors.

“Do not worry Councilor Russis, the mistakes of the Insane One shall not be repeated with me.”

“Then we are in agreement?” Another Councilor said. “That we agree to meet with them?” There was confirmation from all members of the Council, Naosha included. “Then, Speaker-Above-All Naosha, reply to their call and tell them we agree to met with them. But remember you limitations.”

“Of course.” Naosha bowed and punched in a code on the podium in front of her, activating the comm. unit within it. After ensuring she was on the right comm. line she spook.

“This is Speaker-Above-All Naosha, speaking on behalf of the Elder Council and the people of Trandosha. We welcome you with Scorekeeper’s blessings to our homeworld and agree to meet with you, though your arrival is a bit unexpected. Do you have a time and place you wish to met?”

The message both races recieved back was identical - offering the chance to meet at a neutral point between the two worlds, in a Coalition vessel detatched from the group brought with Jan. Tensions were a little high, to say the least, but still not near boiling.

In the midst of this intrigue, Jargur and Oaxaca were an odd pair, by anyone's standards. Of two races well-known for their hatred of each other, they served side by side as diplomats for the Coalition. It takes real friendship to surmount such a racial divide, and certainly, the two were getting along fine as they waited aboard the chosen vessel for representatives to make themselves known.

"What think you of this situation?" hissed Jargur, scratching his dulled scales with a lazy claw. "It is strange to me to see the sons of Kashyyyk operating such massive weapons of war. So many of them surely must remember the time of their youth, where they still wielded sticks and stones?"

Oaxaca gave a throaty, growling laugh, and said in his native tongue "Times have changed, and yet, how they have stayed the same! Our weapons are different but still our brothers do not trust each other. Wether at the end of a stick, or at the end of a turbolaser, war is war."

"Too true." said Jargur. "It is a tall order, if we believe ourselves capable of turning back years of racial prejudice and ill-feelings."

"That is why we have been chosen above all others!" said Oaxaca "At least then, should we fail, we will not have our arms torn off."

"No, nor suffer the indignity of descaling." Jargur paused "...I imagine they'd invent something suitably humiliating for you. A dehairing, maybe."

"I should like to see them try" Oaxaca gently rubbed his thick fur, neatly groomed from his time amongst the cosmopolitan Coalition. "But let us be serious again. The weapons of war our brothers are prepared to wield bode poorly for us. How can we possibly convince them to unite for what is right?"

"What is right, though?" said Jargur, whipping his tongue in amusement. "If we are to appeal to reason and goodness, we have to have an actual argument. Sadly, such is the price of growing out of simply holding an axe over your head and shouting."

"The bad blood between our peoples is baseless, and has been instigated often by others, such as the Empire. No longer do we recall who is to blame, and even if we did, they are long dead. The sins of the father should not carry on to their children, and if we are to bring peace and stability we must convince them that that is all that remains between them."

"Is it, though? A half dozen times already, ships have targeted each other, threatened each other, powered weapons, and run thither and yon, and we've only just got here!"

"I believe it is." Oaxaca crossed his arms proudly "There is no greater honour than facing the truth and being responsible for your kinsmen. If we speak truly, they shall surely hear the wisdom of our words."

"I wish I could have your idealism, my friend." said Jargur. "Nevertheless, if we cannot appeal to them to join the Coalition for mutual benefit and to develope a closer bond of understanding, then what else? There is always the warning that without Coalition protection, the Black Dragons or the Empire will seize upon them."

"I do not like to use fear to motivate." The wookie groaned. "The fact that there is any kind of peace at all between the Wookies and the Trandoshans bodes well - it suggests their leaders are at least open to the idea, lest they would still be fighting."

"We shall see soon enough..." said Jargur. "Be ready for anything, however. I do not think a fight would emerge on neutral ground, but it has been some time since either of us has seen our people, or their representatives."

Aboard the Wookie Flagship

Tzhali glanced around his quarters. Two of his officers, one human, one trandoshan, stood there in front of his desk. "Trissuss has been relocated to the asteroid field there it will remained cloak until an order is sent." The human officer said

The wookie nodded and looked at his other officer. "I'm must say that I'm surprised, everyone has responded well to the Coalitions arrival. Theres been no reports of riots or anything on Kashyyyk, but as for Trandosha, I haven't gotten any reports yet." Said the trandoshan officer

"Perhaps there won't be any riots or problems, at least, not for the time being. There are factions amongst both worlds that would love to see each side at war again. Space between the two worlds is still cluttered with debris from past skirmish's." Tzhali gestured to the debris field that was between the two worlds, a peice of the old 'Executioner' class destroyer floated by, the same ship that had been seized by the previous government, but was destroyed by a Serendive's Crack Team of Commandos before it could be used on someone. "Keep me appraised of what is going on." Tzhali got up and walked out of his quarters and made his way to the shuttle bay. There a Lamba shuttle awaited him. Four of his guards, again two wookie and two trandoshans stood there. "The Coaltion hasn't any clue about the Serendives right?" he asked one of the Serendive's officers that was there to go with him

"As far as we know.... no." The office said. "We believe they might have a hint that there is an unknown orginazation operating in the system, but we don't believe they know its us."

"What would you suggest?" Tzhali asked

"Your the fleet admiral for this system now, whats your decision?" The officer asked

Tzhali thought about it. "Keep all Serendive's ships out of range of the Coalition sensors, if you have to hide them in the asteroid field. I want all cloaked vessels to also stay away EXCEPT my escorts."

"Excuse me?" The officer's brow rose at what the Admiral just said

The wookie grinned. "I want them to know that there are other forces here, not really as a show of force, but just to tell them that there are people helping us out for the time being."

The officer nodded.

"One more thing, I want the modified interdictor class CC-7700's to stay powered down." With that the admiral boarded the shuttle. It's four escort's rose off the deck, then vanished in a what appeared to be a hazy smokey mass, there was no way to tell if the ships had already left the hanger or if they where still there.

The shuttle flew out of the hanger bay and headed for the Coalition ship that was marked as the meeting point. The view screen high lighted his escorts. Gold 1, Gold 2, Red 1, Red 2. Golds 1 and 2 would patrol around the area, while Reds 1 and 2 would patrol several km's away from gold squadron, all the while staying cloaked. He wondered if the Coalition would in fact pick them up, he doubted it since even there sensors couldn't pick them up, but he also wondered if the Coalition might ask them about these strange ships that where operating around both planets. After all, the portion of the Serendive's fleet operating around Trandosha wasn't under his command. That group had in fact been placed under Tiosk's command, by order of Rear Admiral Lavality

As the shuttle approuched, one of the pilots requested permission to land. "Now.. the political fun begins..." Tzhali said with crossed arms

OOC: Thanks a bunch Dolash. Kalshion and Slaskia sorry I couldn't finish this thread with you guys, but for your sake I've already delayed it enough and I'd just end up delaying it even more due to the fact that my teachers are still giving me a bunch of homework to do, even though exams start monday and I was called in to work extra hours this week. Maybe I'll be able to do a RP with you guys sometime later when I have more time on my hands.