Here comes a long chapter. :) Thanks for everyone whos been reading so far.
As the Star Destroyer fleet entered Corellian space, High Admiral Sian, aboard The Velocity, assessed the situation. Two corvettes, two Mon Calamari cruisers and ten squadrons of X-wings held the Corellian space. Sian watched as the X-wing squadrons turned towards the threat of the eight Star Destroyers that had entered the system. At first, it had looked as if the small fleet was going to attack, but suddenly, the X-wings turned around as the four other ships turned away from Sian's fleet. "All Star Destroyers, move forward at full velocity! Release your Tie-fighters and destroy those Rebel scum!"
"This is The Oppulant. We're opening fire now." Sian watched as The Oppulant pulled ahead of The Velocity, all of it's ion cannon batteries firing. Suddenly, The Stallion bolted past The Oppulant on the other side, approaching the Rebel fleet very quickly. Admiral Arden's Ties were pulling ahead of The Stallion and started firing on the X-wings. One by one, the five ship squadrons were decimated by the nine ship squadrons.
"High Admiral Sian, this is Admiral Hassan of The Momentum. I have begun to commense fire on the Mon Calamari ships. Please fire all of you ion cannon batteries on the Mon Calamari cruisers when you have gotten into firing range."
"Admiral Hassan, I have commensed fire on the Mon Calamari cruisers for you. Please fire on the corvettes before Admiral Arden's fighters are wiped out."
"High Admiral Sian, I have already destroyed the corvettes." It was Arden. "My bombers have destroyed the engines of the lead Mon Calamari cruiser. The shields of the lagging Mon Calamari cruiser are down, and it's begun to break apart. We've won, sir!"
Sian stared at Arden's wonderful progress, both with envy and jealousy. Soon, with the combined power of the four lead Star Destroyers (The Stallion, the Momentum, The Oppulant, and The Velocity) the two shieldless Mon Calamari cruisers were destroyed. Sian stared at the burning wreckage of the cruisers, grinning. "All Admirals, report to my ship immediately," he said, the smile obvious in his voice.
Within ten minutes, the other seven Admirals were on his bridge, standing in a line in front of their High Admiral. "Admiral Arden of The Stallion would you please step forward." Arden stepped forward, his face seeming to fill with his old lightly tan color. "I don't believe I've properly introduced you to rest of your fleet." Sian turned away from Arden to look back at the other six Admirals of his fleet. "Step forward, down the line, starting with you, Admiral Hassan."
A short, chubby, rosy red cheeked man stepped extending his hand to the much taller Arden. "Admiral Hassan, of The Momentum. I believe we had a short conversation a few hours ago." Arden nodded. Admiral Hassan stepped back.
Next in line was a very tall, skinny black man, who stood over Arden by atleast three inches. He also extended his hand. "Admiral Laghn of The Wrangler. Pleased to meet you, Admiral Arden." Arden returned the handshake.
Then, came forward a man of about Sian's stature, with a thick stubble. "Admiral Gartrich of The Oppulant. Good work out there today, Admiral Arden." Arden smiled at the man, shaking his hand.
Next, was another man about Sian's height, fat with a bald head. "Admiral Jenkins of The Yanker." He quickly shook hands with Arden and stepped back.
Afterwards came an old, skinny faced man, much taller than Arden and Laghn. My god, he must be around 7 feet tall. "Admiral Kahn of The Tyranny," came a sofisticated voice. He shook hands with Arden, smiled a forced smile and stepped back.
Finally, came a woman with long black hair and a 'girl-next-door' kind of look. "Admiral Kate Ulick of The Kleeko. Very pleased to meet you, Admiral Arden." She shook his hand lightly, flashing a pretty smile. Arden returned the handshake and smile as she stepped backwards to rejoin the line.
"Very nice to meet all out you," Arden said, standing up straight, smiling at the six other Admirals in front of him.
Sian cleared his throat, putting his hands behind his back. "I'm sure the six of you saw Admiral Arden's impressive actions against the Rebel fleet today. Not only did I bring you here to meet Admiral Anthony Arden, but to congratulate him and take pride in your new addition to our family. Unfortunately, you gain something good, you lose something good." Sian paused for a moment. "I am of course referring to Admiral Nekkly, our now deceased second-in-command and old Admiral of The Stallion. Although we gained a great ally, none shall ever replace Admiral Nekkly's will and courageous actions."
Sian turned towards Arden. "I am glad to have you in our fleet, and I'm sure we shall have more battles like these won much quicker thanks to your actions." Arden smiled gleefully at him. "As a reward, I shall be adding one more extra engine to The Stallion, and as for the rest of you, after tomorrows ground assault is won, you may have the week off to spend with your friends and family. I'll have more information for you tomorrow after the ground assault is successful."
Admiral Gatrich cleared his throat, and stepped forward. Sian stared at him with his friendly eyes. "High Admiral Sian. Why add one more engine to The Stallion? Why not add it to your own ship?"
Sian grinned. "Because, Admiral Gatrich, after tomorrow, this will no longer be my flagship. After tomorrow, I will be purchasing a Star Destroyer II. Once all of you leave, I will be annoucing this to my crew so they will be prepared for the transfer in two days."
Admiral Jenkins stepped forward in protest. "High Admiral Sian, why would you do this? Usually, you are the one who never participates in the battles. We are the ones who usually pull ahead and win the day."
Sian's grin dropped into a frown, but his eyes still contained their friendliness. "Admiral Jenkins, you have no need to worry. When I obtain my new flagship, there will be no more of me lagging behind. My ship will be faster than all of yours, save for The Stallion. Not to mention, I'll be sporting much more firepower than all of your ships." Sian paused, and saluted the Admirals. "You are all dismissed."
An hour later, Sian found himself in his quarters. He was once again checking over the battleplans for tomorrows ground assault, which he would have to provide AT-STs and all of his stormtroopers. Soon, a knock was heard on his door. "Come in, Corporal." Sian turned around to watch Corporal Evan Sachine, a stormtrooper on his ship he had bonded with entered his quarters.
"High Admiral Sian." Evan saluted him. His eyes stared at Sian's, trying to read what he was thinking.
"Evan," Sian stated, letting him know that it was fine to call him by his informal name for now. " Welcome. I'm glad I was able to catch you before you went to sleep for tomorrows assault." Sian stood up, returned the salute, and hugged his old friend. Evan returned the hug, patting the slightly taller Sian on the back. "So, are you going to be ready for tomorrow," Sian asked when their friendly embrace ended.
"I hope so, Sian. I really do. Why is that I have to go? Why do any of us have to go," Evan asked, the wonder clear in his sturdy voice.
"Evan, it's like I told you and the rest of the stormtroopers earlier. The ground assault is going to have a shortage of AT-STs and infantry. I must supply these important units for the battle tomorrow," Sian replied, gesturing for Evan to sit down.
"I see. Sian, I'm afraid. All of us are. We've heard rumors that Corellia is heavily defended against our inevitable retake of Corellia." Evan whiped his forehead. "I just think that, if you have to supply troops for the battle, that all of your ships should. It will increase our numbers and our probability of a victory!"
Sian waved away his plea. "Evan, Moff Jerjerrod requested that one of the ships in the fleet to volunteer their ground force to aid in their assault on Corellia. I was the only one willing to lose my ground force for the benefit of the Empire."
Evan sighed. "I understand Sian. If I come back, I'll tell you all about it then," he said, his voice sad and quiet.
Sian frowned as Evan stood up. Sian embraced Evan in another friendly hug, this time much harder. He heard Evan's soft sobs. Without knowing, Sian was sobbing softly too. Whiping away the tears as the embrace ended, Sian spoke. "You shouldn't be a stormtrooper," he joked with a smile.
Evan returned the smile, the tears resting in his eye sockets. "Goodbye Sian. Like I said, if I come back, I'll tell you all about it." With that statement, Corporal Evan Sachine saluted High Admiral Sian Labrith, turned away and walked out the door.