{Teth Spearhead}

Boarder of Coalition/Black Dragon space, Day of the Dragon

The Black Dragons were indeed prepared.

Gravity wells lined the length of the boarder, which was a freakish feat to say the least - it was hard enough to interdict a planet, but an entire slice of the galaxy? The only place even rumored to have such power was the mysterious shutdown of Wild Space, and even that was suspected to be an anomaly caused by the naturally strange geography of that area.

To invade that way would require massive force and a long, slow journey through space. That is why, at this exact moment in time, no Coalition fleet was there.

No, it was realized that only a fool attacks where the enemy thinks you will attack. There wasn't enough resources in all of the Imperium, however, to build a solid sphere of protection around all of space. In a true lesson on the nature of the galaxy, the Coalition fleet was further down, where the Black Dragon's territory bordered on nothing but empty space as far as the Perlemian Trade Route.

There, the Grand Coalition Fleet of the East (Teth Spearhead), waited for a report from a reknowned Knight by the name of Jay. He came from the west, and his reputation as a fierce warrior was well-worth it.

"We can't advance until he arrives..." muttered Panacka. "What the hell is taking him so long?"

As if on cue, a small force of vessels on loan from the Onyxian Commonwealth appeared from Hyperspace. The comm crackled, and a deep voice said "Panacka! You old wardog, you! How're they treating you?"

"Just fine." said Panacka tersly "Jay, we've been waiting on your advance forces. Just do your job, okay? We want to start the invasion sometime today.

"No problem." said Jay "Let me introduce the Vanguard Detatchment!"

Vanguard detatchment was a force of a few Bakura-class Destroyers and loaded Stryker Carriers. It was no fleet - hardly a detatchment, in fact - but these few ships had the power to cut through interdiction fields and pave the way for the Coalition invasion.

“The Coalition marches to war.” said Panacka, with great severity. “With such mighty warships on our side, do they stand a chance?” The Graviton detectors finished uploading the Gravity Well locations to the Vanguard, which then leapt into hyperspace to find the first one standing in their way. Soon, the Coalition’s might would follow.



Panacka sat in the command center, looking at the target on his holodisplay. Floating there, like a jewel waiting for someone to reach out and take it, was Chandaar.

"When fighting a war" he said, to the room "an enemy without intelligence is defeated. The plan is simple - seize Chandaar. It's the beach-head, gentlemen. With that, we crack their defences. Jay's Vanguard has experienced no trouble in wiping away unguarded blips, and we are making good - if sporadically delayed - time."

He stepped away from the table and lead his officers to the bridge "Remember the formation - Swords in front, force behind them. The Vlyx will keep the heart of the formation. The Black Dragon Empire is isolationist, so it's hard to tell just what we'll meet, so be ready for anything. Drop us in as close as possible, shy of the gravity well." His eyes held a hard determination in them "It's war. Prepare to meet the enemy, head on. No more games, no more trickery, no more stalling tactics like gravity wells and plagues. It ends - and begins - here."



In space, a ball floated along alone, a tiny dot in infinite depths. For months, years, there had been nearly no motion around it - it was forgotten, drifting in the dark.

Then, as if from nowhere, the sleek, dagger-like profile of a Bakura-Class destroyer appeared. A well-aimed turbolaser blast cracked the sensitive technology open and reducing it to space dust. As fast as it had appeared, it was gone again.

The passage of the might of the Coalition fleet went unnoticed, for it was in hyperspace. In real-space, the only indicator of their passage was the crackled remains of Black Dragon technology. It had begun.

(OOC: In one post, I will arrive at Chandaar unless you provide a compelling reason to stop.)

Immobilizer 450 - Mukkenvelle
Tion - Neutral Zone Border

Space was vast, quite large and for the most part, very empty. Nothing could emphasize this more than watching multiple read out screens each telling the same thing, over and over again, for multiple times each day. Duty was Duty, and this had been their assaignment, Farfalen soilders did what they were told. Most of the time it was enjoyable. This was not one of those times.

"Jut" Kawalski, as his friends would call him, sat at his consolue for the fourteenth hour of the day, his shift almost up, he kept his well trained eyes on the sensor readings across the board. A small flicker here, a small flicker there, normal background radiation from a pulsar in the area. It was all the normal data, he had been forced to interpret it all his first day there, and now it was second nature.

"Five months..." he muttered sharply under his breath, switching the sensors display to a quick visual check of the area. It was another five months till relief units came to supply and replace personelle, far too long he felt, for a deep space operation.

There was a flash on the screen and he blinked for a second, one second too long.

"Fuck!"

"Shit!"

Almost simultanious curses from the weapons control stations on either side of him. He switched readings back over to sensors, and found the screen to be oddly empty. He switched across multiple sensor scans and came up empty on all of them. Not that there was nothing out there, but that there was litterally nothing out there.

"What was that Jut? Did you get a reading on it?"

From his right. Think fast Jut. He hadn't seen a thing, they didn't know.

"Too damn fast, sensors didn't have time to catch anything."

Pressing back against his seat, he stood up, straightened his uniform, and walked calmly to command deck. Standong over the command pits, the ships commander looked down into them, observing multiple officers each running their own pits full of sensors readings and weapons officers.

"Sir, bad news, Sir!"

Raising his flat palm to his head, he saluted in kind. The Commander turned slowly, raising his palm similarly and nodded.

"Report"

"One of our Gravity wells seems to have come under attack sir"

He looked gravely down at the man, waving an arm to the comms officer to open channel.

"Status of the Well?"

"Destroyed sir"

Inhaling deeply, he closed up inside. They had all been dreading this day. In the history of war, frontline units with such low cover did not have a high survivability rate.

"Very well, coordinate with the other three Wells to reposition them in order to gain as broad an interdiction area as possible in the area attacked."

"Yes Sir!"

Storming off back to his pit, Jut did as he was told, the commander on the other hand walked over to the Comms officer, who had just opened frequiency to the nearby Tion world of Chandaar. Placing his hand on the shoulder of the young man, he spoke outloud towards the consolues reciever.

"Attention Chandaar Command, please alert all Defense patrol fleets of possible incursion into Imperium space. We have Detected Hostile craft in our area. Repeat. Hostile Craft in area. Please take all advised precautions. Mukkenvelle out."

Shaking his head slowly, he returned to his post over the pits, resupply would have to come that much quicker this time.

Jay loved Hyperspace - it always made him feel like he was moving fast. A part of him deep down wanted to stick his head out a window and let his tongue hang out, but sadly, speed in space did not offer all the same visceral joys that he had experienced on solid ground.

His comm chirped, and he flicked it on. "Jay here."

"Jay, this is Bravo leader. Our sensors are picking up a change in gravitational readings, confirm?"

Jay punched up the graviton detector, that detected a minor shift in the play of gravity around them. The wells appeared to be moving, and Jay could guess why. "They're trying to plug the hole. Feed in the new arrival coordinates and prepare to hit the next one - this might play to our advantage if it spreads them thinner."

Once again, the Coalition warships popped into existance. Jay felt the tug of reality set in as the streaks became stars. Ahead, another ball of metal hung like an overgrown shooting gallery target. With a nod, the warship's crew gave the order. A cannon quickly decimated this next well.

"There just isn't any sport to this, Bravo leader." he laughed, and punched in the next set of coordinates. "Prepare to jump again."

Unfortunatly for Jay, he was not to be so lucky this day nor any day after it. Upon reversion from hyperspace to realspace the wells dual Wyvern cannons spung into life, whirling around to target the new threat. Due to weapons placement on the spherical well, either cannon could only fire in one 180 degree angle. This particular well sat at just an angle to the the approaching fighters that only one cannon would be in operational range.

Aboard The Mukkenvelle

"Jut" smacked the board in front of him, nearly leaping out of his seat as he saw the oncoming fighters, not in the visuals, but in specific sensor readings in the electromagnetic spectrum. A heavy buildup and release of radiation with a detectable magnetic bubble were tell signs of a hyperspace signature, even if not he wasn't taking the chance to lose another one.

"FIRE FIRE FIRE!"

He of course had no targets or coordinates to give, but it was an alert to the gunners sitting on either side of him of incoming hostiles. Checking their own sensor scans, they swivled their cannons into the most favorable positions for attack according to scans. As they main turrent moved, the first ship emerged from hyperspace. The weapons operator slamed down on his controls firing a wide arch across the space the sensors informed him of.

Within a second his screen went dead, the gravity well destroyed much like the first. "Jut" cursed himself once again, pressing himself up from his chair, solemnly walking towards to command deck once more. In deep space the twisted remains of a gravity well spun, many impact holes cratered its surface, still burning hot with the edges of weapons fire.

One additional hulk coasted into the scene, bumping into the first hulk and remaining there. A single Cypher, hit head on by the Wyverns first blasts as it exited hyperspace, it had no chance to shield itself before it even moved. One large hole trailed its way across the front of the unusually shaped craft, not the wound that did it in unfortunatly, a smaller side impact in the ship itself punctured its way through the cockpit, killing Jay instantly.

Not to be left alone, one last participant in this cherade would join them many centuries down the road. A freeze dried version of his former self, "Jut" Kawalski had failed for the last time, and his remains were a tell reminder to any who would find him what happens to poor Farfalen officers.

Mukkenvelle - Bridge Deck
Communications Terminal

"Yes sir, I believe with these two attacks we can saftely say they route takes them straight to Chandaar, I suggest reinforcing the planetary defense fleet with portions of nearby systems. Yes sir, if possible siphon off Claw attack fleets to replace those reinforcements over their own worlds. Yes Sir. Yes Sir. Very well Sir."

Turning from the communications unit, he strolled slowly back over to the top of the command deck, standing over all of the lower command pits.

"Attention all Grav Well Operators! New orders from command. We are to shut down all Interdiction fields under our control, we are clearing the road people. Let'm on through..."

He smiled a bit, turning back to face the viewport again. If all went well, he would be seeing combat again. How he missed it so...

"I almost felt that one." said Jay, as the shot collided with the shields of his warship.

"We're through..." he said, a little nervy "But that was a little odd. I think they're on to us - Panacka?"

His comm crackled to life as the warships jumped to hyperspace.

"This is Panacka - I trust you haven't hit any trouble?"

"That last well was ready to fire on us. I think they're aware we're on the move." It could mean anything, though "I think we can expect greater resistance up ahead."

The comm was quiet, and Panacka said "Thanks for the heads-up. Are we nearly through?"

"Nearly, yes." said Jay, tersly "I don't like this sneaking around, why can't we have a real fight already?"

Panacka nodded, and said into his comm "Trust me, I feel the same way. This is the only way we'll have one, though, so keep up the good work." he turned it off, and went to his seat around the table. The holographic display of their progress and surrounding space appeared, and he began to rub his chin thoughtfully at the possibilities...

This planet is the capital world of the Cronese Mandate, and is often referred to as the Jewel of the Tion. It's capital boasts some of the tallest spires and the Imperium's intelligence buildings are housed here. The planet is one of the most exotic and cosmopolitan planets in the Black Dragon Empire, thanks to the restorations provided by the Imperium.

-Taken from The Imperium Guide to Travel

Taking a swig back from the bottle in hand, he quickly raised his forarm to wipe his upper lip. Twisting the cap on the small metal canister, he slid it back into his coat pocket. He gazed up at the spire once more, shaking his head. Tallest in the Imperium, he told himself, Neva gunna fall. Grabing the back edge of the transport, things began to grow darker by the second until he couldn't see the sky anymore, let alone the sight of towers he had grown so accustomed to.

Since the day the klaxons had begun, everyone began packing up their valuables for the trip down. No one had actually ever seen the city down below, but it was talked of quite often during its construction. Of course, no one ever thought it would be needed. Capital of the Mandate, enemy fleets would never reach here after all. Would seem the Taj was worth his two credits after all, he smirked and licked his lips, wishing he hadn't wiped his face after all.

He closed his eyes and discovered there was little difference than when he opened them. He left them closed. The call had gone out mere hours ago, suspected incoming hostile forces, and that was all. Evacuation was manditory, reinforced by the civil defense forces being evacuated with them. No one would be left behind if it could be helped, and it could.

Feeling the wind blow through his hair was nice, he leaned a bit more off the edge of the transport and cought the full force of the wind at the speed they were going, it nearly knocked him off the edge of the platform. Yanking hard on the pole he was leaning off of, he pulled himself back up to the back of the transport, in the complete darkness and lacking any identifying markers of their speed he had forgotten the simple fact of how low they had to go to reach saftey.

Blinking rapidly, he wiped his brow on the bar he clung to, his heart beating faster than it had in the last three weeks at least. Looking out from the side once more, he tried to make out a wall to see just how close he had become to being thrown off, and nearly fell off a second time. He was blinded with light once more as the huge cavern opened up around him. it took his breath away, and had he not become acutely aware of his grip as it slid from the pole he certainly would have become a smear on the ground behind them.

The cavern was ginormus, Yeah, Ginormus, thats a good word, he thought. Towers rose just as high as he remembered them on the surface, and yet here they were, reaching for what? The cavern walls? Looking up and then around he could only notice how smooth the surface of the walls themselves seemed, slate grey he would have to say and with an alomst polished finish.

Leaning against the back of the cabin, he felt the transport slow quickly, a large station looming out around them with many other similar transports already offloading their occupants. Leaping from the edge of the platform, he landed on the smooth stone of the boarding dock. Taking a look in either direction, he followed the flow of traffic as it made its way deep into the terminal. All sorts of people were gathered here, not only from across the city above, but from the surrounding country side and even further than that, each carrying what they could bring with them.

"Your hand sir?"

"Eh?"

"Sir... Your hand..."

Ah, yeah, he shook his head and held out his hand, the scanner the worked used read his DNA to determine his identity, as well as dictate his lodging and where. The device was nothing more in appearance than a long Iron rod, but the man held it over his hand a moment and smiled.

"Very good Mr. Essex, your in the Highrise Quarter, complex b-22, room number 1555. We hope your stay isn't too obtrusive, please move along."

Nodding he walked in towards the enclosed city, looking back towards the way he came one last time. The path the transport had used was gone, where once had been inky blackness he could see was nothing more than that very same smooth stone again.

Time must be running out if they are locking up already.







Two rather large wormholes pockmarked the inner system, an array of civilian transports leaving the area whilst by the same measure military defenses entering it. The exact destination of the coming threat was unknown, but the destruction of the gravity wells in such a straight line was a good indicator, and it pointed straight to this world.

The Tion-Class Star Destroyer Inspiration rested in high orbit over the world, coordinating interstellar traffic from its vantage point. Chandaar was one stop in the space evacuation for many on the other side of the proposed strike points, and would have to be supervised to ensure they made it saftley to the next. The bulk of military forces called in to defend the Jewel of the Tion were the very Tion Star Destroyers constrcted on Mandate worlds, returning home to defend their mother worlds.

Aboard the bridge of Inspiration, Captain Sepid walked down a marble path, a series of lilacs and gardenias lining either side of his way. The Lake of Concentration loomed ahead of him, shaking his head he thought better of approaching it, but he could not help but doing so, at least as soon as he saw his first officer already sitting there. The Lake of Concentration was primarily used for those focusing on the Web or the Drive, its slight ripples and otherwise calm and clear surface served as a good method to keep a mind focused on its task.

It was this in mind, he knew something important was happening for his First to be here, not with the comm array or tactical. His feet made soft squishing noises against the wet stones leading up to the lake, his dark brown robes grazing the blades of grass the lead up to the waters.

"How goes the preperations Number one?" He stoped just before the sitting stones at the waters edge, hands behind his back, clumping the robes up around his chest. He had up to date information just as readily as everyone else on the ship did, it was for the relaxing art of conversation that the need to talk about it arise.

Looking up at him she smiled, patting the rock next to her, an invitation he readily accepted as he moved to sit, swining the back of his robe out to avoid sitting on it. smiling warmly to the brown haired beauty beside him, he nodded for her to go on.

"Well, as Im sure you know, civilian traffic has all but finished moving out of the system, as well the Unity Defense Grid on the planet has been sealed up and reporting ready status." She paused for a moment before continuing, "Ah, see there, now planetary defense networks are requesting go ahead to begin preparing."

"Yes yes, sending confrimation on the PIM Network launch preperation sequance and the codes to raise the planetary shield network. Hold back on the advanced turbolaser batteries for the time being, keep something back to suprise them with if they do come." He sighed slightly, which cought her off guard as she turned to face him.

"Something the matter?"

"Nothing Important..."

"Don't give me that, I know you, now tell me whats wrong."

"Well, we all know whats been said. We know whats happening across the Imperium. War. People are dying out there, and its only a matter of time before people are dying here. Look at us, we are here planing the dfense of a system we fear is about to be decimated from some invisible enemy." He paused a moment to take a breath, looking back to the water.

"How many of us are prepared to sacrifice everything for the well being of the Imperium, for what they believe in and for the means by which peace must be assured? I know every member of my crew would raise their arm and say I am right on the spot, but they are kids Janice. Kids! They think of this as an exciting game, they sure;y musn't know what lay ahead. We were there in the begining, when the very Imperium was forged with blood and sacrifice. We know what lay before us today...."

Nodding, she looked down at the war. She understood every word he said, and inside, she felt exactly the same. The cord it struck with her though, she was one of those Kids, maybe not in body but at her Mysteri, she would eagerly raise her hand and say I am time and time again, everytime she was asked.

"Taj forgive me for this if I fail him" he muttered to himself, resting his head against her shoulder, inhaling the soft scent of her hair, "there must be a limit to even his love." He sighed slightly distraught, there was more to defend than just a world, than its people or even their way of life. There were more important things in this galaxy than Empires and grand ideals.

"Fathers don't just love their children every now and then, its a love without end..." she said, staring into the water, but looked up into his face with a warm smile and a tear slowly rolled from her eye. Taking his thumb, Sepid softly wiped it away, bringing his arms around her shoulders and pressing her against his chest, he placed a small peck against her temple. His hand came to rest on her belly, its gentle curve giving the tell signs of her pregnancy. Their pregnancy.

"Dellat." said Jay flatly. "...Dellat? Really?"

"Yes, Dellat." said Panacka, evenly. "If they know we're coming from our route through the wells, then we'll have to change directions, won't we?"

"But Panacka, we just finished clearing the route to Chandaar! There's at least one more well between us and Dellat!"

"Listen, Jay, I understand your irritation, but comm-channels aren't safe to discuss vital plans. Just trust me. Take your detatchement, and clear our route to Dellat. Unless it's an emergency, maintain comm silence, complete your objectives, then return to the fall-back point."

Jay just cursed, and turned off his comm "New orders, everyone - give Chandaar a wide berth, we're clearing a path to Dellat."

"But sir..." said a confused lieutenant "Chandaar is an enemy capital, Dellat is a mining world. What reason do we have for going there?"

"Ask our Grand Strategist." Jay scowled, and kicked. He had half a mind to refuse the order on grounds of his Knight status and try to convince Panacka to attack Chandaar instead - he'd had it up to here with the tricks. "If they've got half a brain cell, they'll know what we're up to the moment we drop the next well."

"Yeah, but will they be able to get there in time?" said the lieutenant, briefly forgetting the formalities of rank "I mean, once we hit the well between Chandaar and Dellat, they might guess where we're going - but how will they get there in time?"

Jay grumbled "Great - we won't even have anyone to fight. Not that we get to do much fighting anyways, we'll be at the 'Fall-back' point."



Like the wells previous, there was no stopping the roll of the Coalition. An appearance, a shot, and the way was clear from Chandaar to Dellat.

Jay sighed "It's done. Our part in this mission is over, for now. Take us back to the fall-back point and be sure to maintain raido-silence. We'll avoid detection until word of the outcome of this battle reaches us."

Little did he know, big plans were already on the move.

A planet located within the Tion Hegemony, Dellalt was at one time part of a strategic cluster of pre-Old Republic Expansionist growth. It was during this period that the planet came under the watchful eye of Xim the Despot, who hoped to use it as his base of operations when he began his galactic conquest.

Dellalt became the primary jewel in Xim's empire. He built huge vaults on the planet's southern continent, and the starship Queen of Ranroon was en-route to deliver a huge shipment of war materiel when Xim fell at the Third Battle of Vontor. The Queen was hidden in the mountains near the vaults, until it was discovered by Han Solo and Badure.

Since then, a large mining operation has flourished on Dellalt, but it started to stagnate under the ownership of J'uoch and R'all. As with much of the Tion Hegemony during the rule of Emperor Palpatine, Dellalt was virtually forgotten. Dellalt has two natural satellites, and is home to the Swimming People, a race of aquatic sauropteroids. During the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy, Dellalt was overrun during the second wave of attacks.

Since its inception into the Black Dragon Empire, Dellalt was restored to full operating conditions and its mining facities are now supervised by the Imperium.

-Taken from The Imperium Guide to Travel

The world shimmered with an ethreal haze on first appearance, one had to take a second glance or one long stern stare to determine what was really going on. Assembler Clouds, enough of them to rival the dreaded weapon that called Maw its home, encircled the planet, but not just that. The seas of the worlds swirled with visible movement, the land itself seemed to move, a scene from appocolyptic horror. This was the fright behind grey goo, what every nano scientist in the outside galaxy had held back with baited breath in advanvce of this simple science.

Just past this empheryal mist, a DragoNest station sat, perched over the world, its stationary orbit keeping it between that of the worlds twin moons. The Imperiums Guide was known for its missing information, only in such that it did not give all the facts on the worlds it covered. Dellat was not just a restored mining operation for the Imperium, it was the Main mining operation of the Imperium.

Solid blocks of matter floated up through the swirling clouds that covered this globe, pushing up through the atmospheres until the station seemed to reach out, grabbing it with its own tractor beams and depositing it on a slow drift towards another Wormhole in this planets orbit. The trajectory was perfectly calculated, as was it with the hundreds of other blocks that preceded it in the same path towards the hole, and were the unexpected to occur, the DragoNest itself was well prepared to launch its own craft to usher lost blocks back into place.

Another Two wormholes, another couple of worlds. One spilled out from Chandaar, civilian shiping still spilled out of its maw at regular intervals, arriving in orbit over the out resourced world of Dellat, from their they would join another assortment of shipping lanes to link up with the next wormhole to Lianna. Chandaar's wormhole had been redirected from the normal Arbiter network to direct traffic into nearby systems as to expidite evacuations of possible war zones and minimalize casualties for Imperium citizens.

Whilst the connection from Chandaar to Dellat was unusual, the Dellat connection to Lianna was symply natural. As the resources of the world were converted into useable materials over Dellat, they were then transported through the wormhole to Lianna for processing and refinement. This specification of need for each world increased general output for all parties in the Imperium, and was found to be an exceptionaly efficent method by which to handle mining issuies on naturally pristine worlds.

Three Tions sat over the wormhole from Chandaar, watchful of the Dellat system as they were of their path back, to ensure if the worlds they guarded did come under siege, that they would not follow the refugees to the next world in the chain. An arbiter hung close by, holding the rift open as more ships poured through to join the path to Lianna. A pair of Dragonclaws rested over the other rift, on the same mission as their larger kin. Added to that were transports lifted from the moons, still inhabited for all this time, filled with the planets native semi-intelligent inhabitants. There had been an effort among the more academic Tion officials to garner a larger intelligence among these creatures on a modern sense of the word. They too were being evacuated now, but not for the same reasons.


DragoNest Platform M-1

The M-1 was one of the oldest DragoNest's in the Imperium, specificaly overhauled from older platforms already found in the planets orbit. Using the very same assemblers that now singularly occupied the planet, the DragoNest was constructed from these existing parts, as has thus overseen the mining operations of the Imperium from day one of the worlds intigration into the Imperium. Not specifically combat oriented, it still held in its midst the standard compliment of a fully operational station, and could, on a moments notice, prepare for the worst.

"Here?"

He nodded slightly, pointing down to an old style map he had rolled across the table. It was a hand me down from his family of old, when explorers still flung themselves across space in ships that hardly seemed like they could handle interstellar flight. He cherished the map, but hardly ever had a use for it, so he found he'd pull it out whenever possible.

"Indeed, thats the report. Farfalen ships have been attacked in a relative pattern that leads to our location. If not us, then somewhere further down the line, either way, if they can be stopped... better now than later."

Another man shrugged lightly, turning his back from the antiquated piece of paper. "Is it? What of Chandaar? Was that not the call before? I mean, what of all this civilian traffic, its really fragging up the quota on production."

Sighing a moment, he laid a hand on the table, careful not to touch the soft workings of the paper with his sweaty palms. "Yes, that was what I heard, and for some forsaken reason the course of Farfalen destruction has turned in this direction, so precautions are being made for us as well, or have you forgotten the Universal decrees..."

"Of course I have not! How can we be certain though? Are we to evacuate every world a series of Gravity wells die on? What if that is the plan? Evacuate all our citizens to a single spot and then they move in and kill us all..."

Muttering to himself he nodded, "Yeah, wouldn't be above their MO would it? Like Mon Cal... No, I think the Taj would have thought of that. Our primary concern is here. This is where we are, this is where our families are. If we are told to leave, we all leave, until then, we all stay. This is our home, Taj Given."

"Indeed, and so help me if some Forsaken unbelievers are going to take it from us. Send a message with the next set of refugee ships going through the rift. Rally Lianna's defense fleet in case we need aid that Chandaar will be unable to give. I want Deathgliders holding position near each wormhole, if worse comes to worse, were going to need that help."

"Yes sir, oh and sir, we are getting requests by some of the smaller ships that wish to dock here..."

Jay looked on at the holographic display of Dellat. The last wells were gone, giving the Coalition armada a clear path from the edge of the field to this end. Once more he cursed the change in plans. Where was the honour in it? They'd worked so hard to get this far, and now they weren't even going to engage the enemy head on?

"The way is clear." said Jay into his ship's comm. "You can begin the attack on Dellat..."

"Attack Dellat?" replied Panacka, a measure of mock innocence in his voice "Why would I want to do that? Read your orders carefully, Jay - I never said we'd follow you there. Your purpose was, and is, to keep them on edge and uncertain of our path, which you have performed admirably. Go back to the fall-back point and ensure we have a clear way out, the first division of the Teth Spearhead is about to appear over Chandaar."

Stunned, Jay allowed a slow smile of understanding move across his face. "You're a crafty bugger, Panacka. Give 'em hell."



Panacka prided himself on being - as Jay eloquently phrased it - a crafty bugger. He sat casually in the command room of the Vlyx, examining the holodisplay that showed the spread of forces. The enemy had to be constantly uncertain. The Dragons might have a larger force, overall, but they also had a lot more territory to protect. They couldn't hope to protect it all, which made Jay's attack very important.

"Sir, we're just about to arrive." reported an aide with a brisk salute. The gaunt Captain of the East nodded, and rose slowly from his chair.

"Then I will be on the bridge. Have someone posted here, if anything unusual is reported have it brought to my attention on the double."

With determination and control, he marched out of the room and towards his command.



The first ship to appear at Chandaar was the Vlyx, giving the enemy a look at its' sleek frame and fury, a monster of war. Then around it appeared the flights of Claymores, Longswords, and Enforcers with wings of Kris fighters. Behind came the ranks of mighty Dominators and Defenders, supported by wings of SSFs and the lumbering Sabre assault bombers. In the heart of the formation, mysterious new support vessels went otherwise unnoticed. Jay's forces could not be risked in open combat, and were not attending the battle, but they would hardly be seen as needed after the Coalition forces rallied.

Built from ore dug out of the heart of Nkllon, forged in the depths of hidden factories of war around CN-1344 and CN-1653, crewed by legions of men and women from Teth and volunteers from all across the Coalition, they were a grim and overwhelming force - the iron will of the East incarnate.

"Are all forces deployed?" said Panacka, licking dry lips. A junior officer nodded to him. "Good. Raise shields, power up all weapons, activate the Sinew, and prepare to advance. Fighters in tight formation until we reach contact with the enemy. But before we do, just for the troops' benefit, give them one last shout."

"Aye, sir." said the junior officer, who passed a quick command to the comm officer.

For a moment, the Sinew brought together the communications of all the ships of the fleet and wired their combined message to all that could hear it in the depths of space.

In the heart of the Vlyx, Private Rebecca Cormier tried to keep her heart from racing. Packed in tightly with the other soldiers of the squad, they waited on their Meteor for the chance to be deployed - if their ship lasted long enough to get to the surface. Suddenly, the helmet comm chirped on, and the voice of Panacka could be heard throughout the fleet.

"Soldiers of the Coalition - let's give them a little something to listen to in the silence of space."

Possessed by a sudden rising swell of spirit in the deep darkness of anxiety, Rebecca screamed furiously into her comm. The roar was taken up by the unit, passing from Meteor to Meteor until every soldier in the fleet was bellowing battlecries and fury into the comm. Space was silent, but in the waves of communications that floated through space was carried all the rage and tension that an entire army felt trapped deep within them.

Panacka smiled as his officers quieted down. He doubted anyone heard it, was it not said that in space no one could hear you scream? He nevertheless had no doubt it was something they needed to do. Gone were the days where you looked across a field into your enemy's eyes, but at least you could still shout your challenge to the universe. "Prepare for battle." He nodded to the comms officer to restore normal communications. It had begun.

"We've got multiple hyperspace reversion vectors across the board sir... this must be what the fuss has been about...Im reading Coalition signatures..." she trailed off as she closed her eyes, envisioning the forces as they grouped, her imagination shaped by the sensor readings. She could see them all; the planets, the ships and the mysterious formations coming their way.

"Very well, launch all Deathgliders, fleet wide, I want concentrated fighter screens to strike at specific ships as they become threats. If Im not mistaken, which I know Im not, we have clear advantage here, lets not waste it." Space became a hornets nest of activity around the world as the words were spoken, the actions were taken. Launch racks across the bows of all thirty-nine Tion's opened up, ejecting Deathgliders into space at an alarming rate.

Spreading their wings upon ejection, the familiar scream of their engines poured through space as they formed up into a giant claw before the Tion formation, erecting a fighter screen against the oncoming invasion. The fearsome form of a Dragons claw was a visual representation of their might, visible even across the vast distance that seperated the two opposing forces.

"One Hundred and Ninety-Five Squadrons launched and ready for combat, shall I raise shields?" She was laid back, resting comfortably against the leaves of a bush, and due to her current circumstances, couldn't be bothered with thinking of. Draging a finger across the sand helped her concentrate as she closed her eyes once again.

"Indeed, all fighters and all combat vessels, raise primary defenses and power up back-up shielding. I wan't main and secondary weapons charged across the Fleet, no suprises, Open communications..." He said outloud as an after thought, the communications subsystem already open to him at the thought of it.

"Attention all ships, this is the moment we have been preparing for. The Murderers of Mon Cal have come to rob us of our lives once again, but this time we were ready for them, let us show them what the Might of the Dragon really is shall we?" broadcasting orders to navigation Mysteri across the broad expanse of star destroyers and fighter craft, he pushed the fleet forwards moving to position themselves just ahead of the last of the refugee ships escaping the planets orbit.

Turning back from the main viewer, he watched his wife to be as she lay there beside the bushes. He smiled to himself briefly, she was so beautiful to him and he was sure everyone else could see it too. He would get her through this, he would get them all through this, he had to... He just had to...