NationStates Jolt Archive

Telvalis System: Unknown Regions.

Captain Telos contemplated the new situation he and his ship, his world, and his Galaxy had been thrown in to. News was trickling from Coruscant that the Empire had finally driven the rebellion from her last remaining worlds, which heralded a considerable lifestyle change within the Imperial forces. The military now deviating from defending top security installations and planets to a more relaxed, passive existence had slowly begun to contemplate more gentle methods of Galactic domination.

Sector fleets throughout the Empire were now broken apart and spread across Imperial space, cartographic analysis had subsequently been ordered on a scale not seen since the formation of the Old Republic, and the steady flow of refugees that were all too present in the wars had finally dwindled to a peace time trickle. The reduction in stress on the customs patrols and Imperial spaceports would be considerable; finally the Empire could do its job and keep the peace.

The Empire after concentrating on the militaristic values of peacekeeping for so long now sought about new ways to expand throughout the Galaxy and the primary motivation was mapping of the unknown regions, which, to the emperors delight, were rapidly becoming very well documented, with the discovery of several new species.

Two days ago Telos and his ship the ISD Challenge received orders to investigate a remote system in the outer rim. Imperial intelligence had labelled it an enigma due to the intense gravitational fluctuations originating from the system, but, due to the emperors special interest apparently taken in this particular subject it was best decided that an entire Star Destroyer and her escort group be dispatched to map the phenomenon.

As the Star Destroyer and her Carrack escort neared their destination, a great jolt slammed into the warship. Thrust from Hyperspace too quickly, the imperial craft hurtled into sub-light velocities, shaken and battered the ships hull strained under the forces. Inside the destroyer crew, members and droids were flung against the interiors, bones snapped with unhealthy tears signalling a most serious incident.

“What is happening?!” Telos demanded from his command chair. As the destroyer rotated into the uncharted system, the captain quietly thanking the small, but highly potent inertial dampeners that protected him, and his bridge crew. Very grateful that he was not experiencing the unfortunate consequences of rapid deceleration the captain pitied the lower ranks who did not receive the luxury of such a concentrated dampening field as the bridge, unfortunately for them it was not deemed “cost effective” by the Imperial Administrative division.

Glancing to the other side of the bridge Telos searched for answers from his first officer Michael Dickson, who, at this very moment was running from console to console trying to asses the situation. ”We have been pulled out of Hyperspace captain.”

“Rebel Interdictors?”

“No, the pattern of the gravity field is too random to be artificial.”

As the bridge crew debated on the cause of their situation a great smash resounded from the forward section. “What the hell was that?.” Telos boomed. All over the Star Destroyer claxons erupted indicating hull breeches on one of the lower tiers. White clouds of atmosphere gently floated past the bridge windows, along with the unfortunate crewmen who were in the decompressed section at the time.

“Captain, the Carrack Justice has just hit the forward hull, multiple breeches along Deck twelve thirteen.”

“The Ion cannon?”

“Its been sheered of its mounting captain.”

Debating the situation in his mind Telos was finally relieved when the Star Destroyer levelled out. The stars outside finally reached a stationary position. “What about the Justice? How much damage have they sustained?”

“Reports coming in now captain. The Justice has sustained heavy damage to its aft hull, but repairs will be able to save the vessel.”

“Very well, have both Carracks dock so we may offer aide to their crew, and scan this system, I want to know what the hell caused this……..”

Three Hours Later: Briefing room.

“It appears to be a wormhole captain, and a very unstable one at that.”

“Has the Empire any previous documentation of this kind of phenomenon?”

“Not as such, however the theory behind them is very advanced, I feel we should report this immediately to Coruscant. We don’t know where it leads, This is indeed a prime opportunity for scientific expansion, but…….I must point out that it is also a security threat.” Everyone around the room looked at the very apt science officer, it was a good move to put the military before the science, it was what the Navy liked, and what the Navy liked was the road to promotion. “I recommend we send a probe through and maintain a defensive perimeter until reinforcements arrive.”

Telos looked at his executive officer, receiving a nod in agreement it was decided. “Very well, I will relay our findings to Coruscant immediately. During such time I want a probe ready, and a full documentation of the damage we’ve received. I’m not sending anything into that without authorisation from the Palace first.”

The executive officer lifted his head. “I would like to suggest that until reinforcements arrive I advise we put the force on full tactical alert. The guns should be manned at all times.” Another round of nodding followed.

Captain Melver of the Justice looked up surprised at the suggestion. “You must be joking, most of our crews have suffered an injury in some way or form, how can we keep a round the clock watch on the guns if we don’t have the manpower?”

Telos looked at both men. “I must agree with captain Melver, a full and continuous tactical alert will put too great a strain on the uninjured crew members, however, at least half the guns are to be fully manned at all times. If there is nothing else this meeting is adjourned.” Rising from his chair Telos made his way to the holoroom, he had some important information to convey to high command.

One Day Later

The imposing shadow of the executor Star Destroyer forced itself upon the lifeless Telvalis system, on board the super star destroyer Admiral Blathe was hurriedly consulting with his fellow Moffs on what action should be taken with this….situation.

Three Moffs were present, each responsible for the security of the sector. As the system was in the uncharted regions each Admiral had a claim to the administration and jurisdiction over the growing situation in the Telvalis system. Eventually it was agreed, that Admiral Blathe would spearhead the operation.

“Well?” Admiral Harrel demanded.

“The emperor has ordered the wormhole stabilised, we are to receive immediate crews from Kuat, and a ring scaffolding is to be built.” Blathe looked on rather unimpressed.

“Congratulations Admiral, if you can make this operation a success you will have just won the emperors favour.” Harrel offered.

“Yes, but he asks the impossible. He wants the station built within two weeks.”

Both Harrel and Blathe turned to Admiral Prael. “It will be tight, but it’s possible.”

“What about the fleet?” Harrel asked impatiently.

“Its to remain here.”

“I expected as much” Prael added.

“So, I think we can ignore the administrative problems for now and get down to business.” Blathe began, utterly changing the subject. “The probe that was dispatched yesterday has finally returned some telemetric data. We have another Galaxy out there Admirals.”

“Any signs of life or space faring species?”

“Unknown, but, the Galaxy is rather comparable to our own, but we’ve yet to detect any life signs or indication of hyperspace travel. Astrometrics is currently compiling a local star chart, but we won’t know more until we send our first ship through.”

“Well, I feel that this wormhole is going to be a big mark on our future.”

Each admiral nodded in agreement. The Empire was always curious about other territory……

OOC: This is our first contact I assume?

IC: The Imperials would indeed find that this galaxy much similar to their own. In fact, as the probes began to map out more and more of the new galaxy, they would find similar star markings, constellations, and even hyperspace routes. It was almost as if it was the same exact space as their own. And they would soon find out the truth. That this was the exact same galaxy as their own, they'd just need some more...evidence of that fact. A fact that was soon to come.

For Captain Telos and his damaged ships, however, a new threat was coming. As their arrival had sent off waves of gravitational energy, and a hyperspace fluctation, which was attracting the current occupants of the system. The Ansion System, one in in the Mid-Rim and currently under control of the New Republic. After the incredible losses at Bilbringi, the Republic had been doing its best to recover and cover its borders as best as it could, but the loss of ships had been too much. So several sectors had been given up to the Imperials, who eagerly were snapping them up. The Republic was doing its best to hamper that movement as best as possible, striking raids on supply bases and fleets, attempting to limit the resources and military infrastructure Thrawn would gain with the sectors reclaimed. For now, they could only hold on and try to find a way to find a CGT array and get Corsucant out of blockade by the asteroids; getting morale up from the losses taken was key. Not to mention the clamor the various factions and races of the Republic were making about being protected. Already, in the Republic Senate, there were accusations flying about the Republic's inability to defend their worlds, and whether staying in the Republic was such a wise decision.


So it was a Republic strikeforce had been sent to the Ansion system, as the Senator of Ansion had made quite a clamor about needing protection, especially being so near to Bilbringi, and the Republic had to do so or be weakened politically. Just as Thrawn had planned, the Republic was beginning to fracture from political troubles. In system the Republic had two CR90 Corvettes, two DP20 gunships, and a single Nebulon-B Frigate. More ships were on the way, as soon as they could be freed up from the conflict going on with Thrawn in the lost sectors. So, they had to make do for now. The strikeforce was commanded from the Nebulon-B frigate Crystal Light, captained by Captain Le'erk. A Twilek, he had done well over the years in the Republic Navy and had recently been awarded his own command.

Now, with the disturbances, he was on edge. If it were the Imperials, and they had sent plenty of force as they had been doing, he wasn't sure what he could do to stop them. "Report."

"Sir, we detected a large disturbance at the edge of the system. It ended two minutes ago, and I am still detecting something. But I can't get much due to the interference of the Karosi Anomaly."

Le'erk nodded. The Karosi Anomaly had always been there; something that was just part of the universe. It was a massive field of gravitiational disturbances, set on the edge of the system. However, any ships sent in had not come back out, and so it was considered a death trap. In more barbaric times, the Ansionians sent criminals to die in there. However, they had never detected hyperspace disturbances from it. Until now.

The Captain crossed his arms. "Very well. Have Blue and Red Squadrons be sent out to investigate what is going on. Have all ships go to Yellow Alert, and I want everyone prepped in case it's the Imperials. Tell the squadrons to be careful of the Anomaly."

Blue and Red Squadrons were the designations of two of the X-wing squadrons that were aboard the Crystal Light. The pilots quickly dressed, especially as the emergency lights went to Yellow and the crews of the five ships ran around preparing. The X-wings were prepped in short order, and then they launched. They kept their S-foils locked for the moment, and rocketed towards Captain Telos and his wounded ships.


All the while, as this all happened, something watched the events going on....and prepared to make its move.

One Imperial Star Destroyer and two Carrack class frigates dominated the event horizon of the phenomenon, never before had the Empire led a spearhead into such unknown territory. For some it was a mission fraught with fear and the strange while for others such as the Imperial tacticians back on Coruscant simply assuming that there was no danger to the Empires integrity. Already the first ships from Kuat had arrived and had proceeded to begin the lengthy procedure of stabilising the Empires side of the wormhole. On what can only be described as the bottom of the phenomenon there was a haze of construction droids setting out the template for a much grander structure.

The unknown event was chaotic at best with the event horizon jumping and swerving from section to section refusing to allow for an even distribution. This made any form of transport dangerous until a suitable anchor could be placed to control this ‘natural’ occurrence.

The science involved was significantly similar to that of Waypoint station, the great hulk in orbit of Corellia which had been for many years now stripped bare, revealing all of its technological secrets. Until the ring station was completed it had been decided by the empires greatest minds to form an Interdiction network around the wormhole which would at least allow the transportation of smaller vessels, how an entire Imperial class star destroyer had survived was anyones guess, but she was still operational and her escorts were getting back on their feet.

As with standard Imperial doctrine a Tie fighter squadron had been deployed to monitor the surrounding space, so far the first Imperial probe droids had detected a system with populated planets and what appeared to be a space faring civilisation. If they were aggressive or too technologically advanced for captain Telos to suppress, then Grand Admiral Blathe had prepared a carrier force to begin an incursion into the unknown sector.

Silver Squadron, new and having only recently completed the Tie Fighter training programme was not perhaps the best choice for perimeter watch, however the rookie pilots were eager and had strict orders from their flight officers not to break comms silence or engage unless given direct orders to, as far as any approaching ships were concerned these Tie Fighters were ghosts amongst the universes great phenomenonal background noise. It was only when Silver One happened to notice the systems distant star suddenly disappearing from view that he realised something was moving out there, something… not too natural.

His first instinct was to contact the Challenge and report the situation as intangible as it was, yet the orders of his flight officer ricocheted within his head. “Do not break radio silence unless it is absolutely necessary.” Coming alongside the other five of his wingmates he rocked his Tie fighter from left to right visually signalling for them to follow maintaining a combat posture. Moving towards the two squadrons of X-Wings unknowingly the Empires first contact with the New Republic was about to happen.

Silver One was the first to catch sight of the X-Wings, two times he had to look “How did the rebels get out here?” He thought to himself banking back from their trajectory Silver Leader broke communications silence alerting the ISD Challenge of the incoming threat.

ISD Challenge

Captain Telos was reviewing the collected data on the present star system, shockingly it coincided remarkably with records held on the Ansion star system. The only thing that was missing was the gravimetric disturbances emanating from the wormhole. It was during this amusing train of thought that Silver Squadrons garbled transmission came in. “Re..b… X-W…ngs wo squ…d..o heading your way.”

His first officer Commodore Nelath approached the Telos with the transcript with the same confused look that was found on Silver Ones face. “X-Wings?” Telos said surprised. He looked around his bridge even glancing down into the crew pit. “Battlestations.” He ordered. “Commscan, inform Admiral Blathe that we have reported sightings of Rebel X-Wings in this system and we are moving to engage.”

From within the behemoths hanger the solid Neutronium hanger bays opened allowing a flurry of Tie-Fighters to exit through the atmospheric shield.

The two X-wing squadrons made their way across the space between the planet and began to skirt the edge of the Anomaly, doing their best to scan the gravitational nightmare and find what they could. Although, it appeared that using their eyes was going to be their best bet. The squadrons were spaced out a bit, to cover more ground and were in typical battle formation. Their shields were up, to counter any debris or energy that the Anomaly occasionally spat out, but they remained in locked S-Foils.


Suddenly, one of the X-wings detected what he felt were TIE fighters. He double-checked, and sure enough, there was a TIE squadron heading for them. "How did the Imperials get here? And through the Anomaly?" He prepared to call the others but then the TIE's veered away, as if they had seen them. His eyes narrowed; a secret operation, perhaps?

"Blue Leader, this is Blue Two."

"Blue Two, Blue Leader. What is it?"

"Blue Leader, I just saw a squadron of eyeballs heading for us and then retreat at the last minute."

"Blue Two, we all saw the same thing. I don't know what they are doing here, but we have to find out. Send a message to the Crystal Light and follow them. Even if they're ghosts, at least we won't be leaving ourselves open to an Imp attack. Lock S-foils into attack position and follow me."

The message was sent to the Republic battle group, who acknowledged and ordered for them to follow as well, and the X-wings began to pursue the squadron. The wormhole appeared to be....quieter than it had been in recent days, almost as if it was stabilizing. The thoughts of a secret Imperial mission to hurt the Republic was a key thought in their minds. As they came closer, hell broke loose.

"Sithspawn! Sir, I'm detecting several squadrons of TIE's coming straight at us!"

"What?!"

The said fighters made their appearance by bursting through a cloud of gas and began to make their run at the X-wings. The pilots of the X-wings, trained veterans of the last war, smiled at the sloppy style of some of the TIE's. These were obviously rookies, and it was a sign that Thrawn was clearly rebuilding. Those smiles, however, instantly vanished when the TIE's engines blew away a large amount of smoke to reveal their source.

An Imperial Star Destroyer and two Carrack-class cruisers.

"Alright, that's it boys. Break off, break off. Command, this is Red Leader. We have a Imp Destroyer and two Carracks in the Anomaly. I repeat we have an Imp Destroyer and two Carracks in the Anomaly. They have plenty of TIE support, I request IMMEDIATE support!"

The X-wings shot around, using their slim frames to do their insane acrobatics in space, and closed S-foils as they rocketed away, seeking to retreat from the ships that were guarding the Anomaly and whatever else was in it. The rookie TIE's were one thing, but tangling with an ISD? They had vivid enough memories of lost comrades to know how hard it was to kill one of those things.

Meanwhile, Captain Le'erk, he was scrambling all the fighters he could and getting the battle group together. Y-wings and more X-wings were deployed. He cursed his lack of A-wings and B-wings; he cursed his lack of better warships, and he pretty much just cursed. A distress call had been sent to High Command, but he had little hope of receiving reinforcements.

"All fighters, move forward to reinforce Blue and Red squadron, and engage those TIE's. Everyone else, follow my lead; we have a duty to fulfill."

And so, the First Battle for Ansion had begun.....

“Admiral, we have an incoming transmission from Captain Telos from the Challenge. He is reporting that he has engaged rebel X-wings and has located a staging base. He is requesting orders on how to continue.” Blathe swivelled in his command chair of his personal Super Star Destroyer, hand gently rubbing over his clean shaven jaw.

Just like the Grand Admiral Thrawn, Blathe also wore the white uniform of an Imperial Grand Admiral, having ascended through the ranks just like his father to become Vaders favoured expeditionary leader. X-Wings floated through his mind like mud. This idea that the rebellion had managed to set up a base or series of installations in another galaxy was intensely troubling. It would certainly go some way of explaining how they managed to gather so many ships together so quickly. But as for the size and distribution of their forces it was anyones guess, and Blathe was a betting man.

Having risen through the Empires ranks by making intense and insanely magnificent gambles in the war against the rebellion, this Grand Admiral had become notorious for a caviller attitude to war. It had cost the Empire much but the gains were well worth the price.

“We must find out the size and distribution of the rebellion.” Blathe drummed his left hand along the rest of his chair. “Order the Challenge and her escort to begin advancing into the system. They have orders to begin full suppression of the enemy.” The idea of a large rebel populated world simply popped into the Admirals mind, such fertile pickings up for grabs, yet two weeks before he could utilise it. Who knows how many other anomalies exist out there, perhaps the rebels have a bolting hole which they will use any second now, or gather even more forces for the upcoming slaughter?

“Order Telos, that if he happens to come across a rebel occupied planet, he has full authorisation to accept its surrender in the name of the emperor.” A holographic display suddenly activated of the system, with the Challenge and her escorts appearing as small green blips on the three dimensional map.

Challenge

Telos read his orders as they came in realising the huge scope of the operation that Blathe had tasked him with. Conquering an entire star system was not an easy task, especially when the enemy was of an unknown size and distribution. But there was only one way for he and his ships to proceed, and that was forward towards the systems heart.

Fighters and the escort of Carrack cruisers had been ordered to remain close to the Star Destroyer to provide an intensive fighter screen against any attacking squadrons. Moving out from the wormhole the Empire advanced upon the rebellion in a Galaxy far far away. . .

As the Challenge and her escorts moved towards Ansion, the Republic battle group responded in kind, blasting at full speed towards the Imperials. The X-wings and Y-wings were in front of the fleet, heading for a headlong collision with the incoming TIE squadrons. Captain Le'erk sat in his command chair, seasoned enough to not stand up during battle. That had been what killed the previous Captain, who had been so involved in the battle he had fought in to remember his personal safety.

Soon enough, he could see the Star Destroyer and the two cruisers bursting through the cloud cover to head for his own fleet. He sent orders for his fleet to disperse a little more, to open space and make the Imperials spread their shots out, allowing them to take more damage. He would need every trick in the book to hold off an ISD. He was rather surprised at the damage he saw; the Anomaly must have hurt them after all. They would need to capitalize upon that, if they were to win this battle. He took a deep breath and readied himself; battle was only a few second away, as he could see the beginnings of the fighter battle.

********

"Alright, boys and girls, unlock S-foils, arm shields and weapons, and lets go hunt us some eyeballs. Be careful out there; they may be rookies, but they can get lucky now and again. You know what to do."

A chorus of "ayes" sounded and then the Republic fighters roared into the fray. The X-wings and Y-wings let loose a flurry of red laser bolts as the TIE's responded with their own green bolts, and space began to light up in a familiar dance of light and movement. The X-wings fought well, having been trained well and in the middle of a war that kept their skills sharp, and hunt down the TIE's with extreme prejudice. The Y-wings gave what they could as well, being protected by the X-wings somewhat. The rookie TIE pilots still could get some Y-wings painted on their fighter, even in this situation.

As the battle continued on, the next phase began as the two Corellian corvettes moved into range and added their own blaster cannons into the fray, filling the space with red bolts of energy, as they sought to remove what fighters they could, and give them more of a chance to hurt the ships when the battle began in full swing.

The rumbling sound of the Destroyers super heavy guns rattled the cold durasteel floor of the command deck. Offset by this uneasy noise Telos found it difficult to concentrate under the weight of the behemoths firepower. Luckily for the rebellion, the good captain was not a seasoned combat veteran, instead he was a simple by the book officer, programmed by the Empires dense institutional structure to train gentleman and warriors who would serve the emperor without falter.

Telos was an excellent instructor by any standards in theory, but when it came to the more practical aspects of Imperial Service, he was often found wanting in certain areas. This was exactly the reason why he was given command of an Imperial Star Destroyer, the vessels size and grand bulk was often a deterrent enough for any kind of enemy onslaught, and even when it came, orders were often simple enough to ensure victory.

Despite this, there was nothing Telos or anyone could do against the diminishing prospect of obtaining fighter superiority. The good captains pale blue eyes watched the blinking display as the green blips which represented Imperial fighters were slowly extinguished. They had gone too far from the protective screens of the escorts, Telos saw it now, entering into the destructive range of the corvettes which even now prayed specially upon the lead fighters of the battlegroup. “Commodore, order the fighters to return to a one kilometre range around the Star Destroyer, have them hold a defensive pattern while the corvettes are dealt with.”

Pacing uncomfortably the captain watched as the green blips dramatically broke away from combat hurtling back to the relative protection of the groups point defence guns. “Captain, enemy fighters are keeping their distance, traditional rebel tactics would dictate that their preparing to make a bombing run.” Telos glanced at the massing red blips on the holomap as his second in command remained exceptionally close for further orders.

“Give me the range of the corvettes Commodore?”

“Their holding at four hundred kilometres sir.”

The captain held his tongue for a moment thinking, slowly on the various responses. “Order the bow dropped fifteen degrees, full turn thirty five to port and order the main batteries to target the closest corvette with a full volley.”

The commodore relayed the orders with a significantly greater amount of decorum than his master.

The star outside changed positions as the Star Destroyer turned clumsuly to train all of her guns upon the enemy corvettes. Quickly the Challenge opened fire utilising the saving grace of her long range targeting computers. If the rebellion were going to halt the good captains incursion, they would have to come closer. . . .

The Crusade Expedition Fleet of Apostle Vigilus of the Isan Empire burst into the area, and on seeing the two forces fighting so brutally, the ships headed straight for the battle. The weapons and shields were powered up and the fleet started to float around the battle, taking care for the attention not to be diverted to them. The waited for the battole to stop or something, hoping that they can help these poor souls who wished to fight with one another.

The Republic fighters, working in tandem with the corvettes, quickly mopped up the enemy TIE fighters that remained after Telos ordered them to retreat. Captain Le'erk quickly realized what he was going to have to do. The captain of that Imperial Star Destroyer was a good warrior; he had given the choice of either coming into range of his guns, or staying back and being forced to find another tactic. Le'erk knew he could let that happen; they had some momentum with the destruction of the ties, and this gave them an edge. However, the Y-wings would be ripped apart if they couldn't take care of those Carrack-class cruisers. All in all, this was going to be a difficult battle. He could only hope that reinforcements were going to arrive soon.

"Very well; I have to take a risk. War isn't without risks after all." He turned to his comm officer. "Tell the corvettes and gunships to make a run for the leftmost cruiser, and have the X and Y-wings follow behind. As they distract the cruiser, the X-wings are to engage any remaining TIE's and the Y-wings are to make a run on that Destroyer. We will lead the charge. Let's move people!"

The Rebel ships shuddered and then began to turn towards the left Carrack cruiser. The corvettes and gunships prepared themselves and then launched towards the cruiser. The ISD, as planned by Telos, opened up on the Rebel ships as they came into range. They were running a gauntlet and they knew it. The cruisers opened up as well, and the Rebels fired back, but they kept their fire only on the cruiser they were heading for. The fire from the Imperial Star Destroyer was merciless, hammering away at the shields of the Rebel ships, especially the corvettes. They continued the fire on the cruiser, and finally the shields collapsed, the energy bolts, concussion missiles, and proton torpedoes filling space between them slamming into its hull. Hullplates blackened, buckled, and then shot into space as jets of escaping air shot from the wounds inflicted on the ship. The barrage continued unabated, quiet moments filling the time as the weapons waited their necessary cooling time before firing again. It was not long before the cruiser finally buckled and died, an explosion ripping it in half.

However, they did not take their own wounds as well. The Challenge's weaponry, although commanded by a not-so trained crew, were still plenty to deal with the threat currently facing them, and they had locked onto one of the corvettes. It wasn't long during the skirmish between the cruiser and the rebel battle group that the shields buckled, and it wasn't long before the corvette became an expanding nebula of debris shards and gases. The fighter wings of the Rebel ships were hurting too, the cruiser had devoted some of its firepower aimed their way as they crashed against the TIE squadrons who had remained around the fleet, and with the combined fire of the Challenge, a significant number of their X and Y-wings were hammered into non-existence.

Now, however, the rest of the Imperial ships were in trouble. The TIE's had been all but obliterated and the rest of the Rebel task force turned its attention to the Challenge. Their weapons fire traced at the ships powerful shields, and it responded in kind. The Crystal Light[/u] shuddered as another barrage of the ISD's guns slammed into their shields, and Captain Le'erk gripped the console in front of him. "Keep it up! We can win this! We can drive them from our-"

What he was going to say was cut off by the horrified look of his sensor officer. "Sir....look." He turned his eyes to the viewscreen, and about halfway between the planet and their fight, pseudo-motion flickered and an Imperial battle group shot into view. The Captain's eyes bugged out; this has been a trap! They had been lured away by this paltry attack force, although an ISD was nothing to shake a stick at, and they would hit the planet. He whirled to face the gunners. "Get more fire into that ISD! I want it dead yesterday!"

***************

Captain Rosul was aboard the Acclamator II-class Assault Ship, the [i]Incinerator, and he gazed out the viewport at his ships. Three Lancer-clas frigates, two Acclamators including his own, two Carracks, and a Dreadnaught. Quite a force, for such a small system, but Thrawn wanted pressure, and it was pressure he would get. His attention was diverted, and fate changed, when the sensor officer called his attention. "Sir, sir! I have something you should see." He looked down in annoyance. What could it be besides the Rebels? He sighed; he wished he could have a more veteran crew than this, but times were tough.

"What is it, Ensign? Show me on the viewscreen."

"Yes, sir."

He watched as the picture of the Imperial Star Destroyer and its lone Carrack escort, the other in mangled ruins, desperately fighting off the Rebel battle group. His jaw almost dropped before he caught himself, and he had to keep in control of himself not to voice his shock and anger. What in blazes were they doing here? Whoever was in command had put an ISD in a very vulnerable position. He doubted Thrawn had them here for his operation, he doubted he had sent them at all. But if it was him, he had to admit it helped. The planet was kept bare as they fought his force. He brought his arms together and shouted orders.

"Very well. Have the frigates and the Coruscan come with us as we engage the enemy and find out what is going on. Have the rest of the ships go to the planet and begin the invasion."

"Aye, sir."

"Deploy all TIE squadrons as well; I want those X-wings and Y-wings dead."

All but the two frigates, a Carrcack, and his Acclamator II pulled away towards the planet, while they began to head for the Rebel fleet. All the while, they deployed TIE squadrons, which screamed out to go engage the embattled Republic ones facing Captain Telos. This was turning out to be quite the interesting series of events.......