A/N: Sorry for the delays, this is taking longer than I anticipated. Inserting new chapters without completely destroying my original story line completely is taking longer than i originally intended.

Chapter Eleven

Colony (Year 3, Day 41, 1140 hours)

Devark was going over the latest reports from the multitude of recon probes, and the detailed scans made by the new AutEx automated exploration ships. While Devark had been part of the security contingent under Koth when they set out from their original galaxy, his position had changed to that of adviser to the head of the city council, Kaden Hylar. Kaden had invited him into his home as he would a brother after the loss of Devark's wife and daughter three years ago. Kaden was a man of his word, and had treated him like family. Kaden's wife had helped talk him through his pain and grief, and helped him come to terms with the loss. Kaden's two children, asleep in their rooms not far away, had latched onto him as they would an uncle, often physically latching onto his legs making it impossible for him to move.

Returning from memory to the present, Devark continued reading the reports, finally finishing the recent recon droid data. With over five thousand recon probes currently in service, going through the raw data would take him decades; however, the report summaries were fairly short and detailed enough to give him what he needed. Each summary listed number and class of each celestial body, mineral content, radiation type and levels, gravity signature measurement, and either a positive or negative listed under plant or animal life.

The reports from the AutEx ships first deployed last week were much more detailed. They should be considering the time and effort put into their creation and deployment. The design was a result of the combined efforts of Admiral Nera, Feth Te'vos, and Tonin Suros. Together they had spent a month planning out what they needed the ship to be able to do. The ship brought about from their collective efforts was based on the Lambda shuttle design. Instead of room for cargo and people, every bit of space was taken up by high powered scanning equipment and two additional power generators. The only part of the ship not packed with gear was the cockpit, which normally it had room for two crew members.

The new design removed both pilot and co-pilot chairs completely, as well as most of the controls and displays a living pilot would need. Instead, five astromech droids were bolted down and data cables from the ship's systems were directly routed to each droid, bypassing the need for instruments and controls normally used by a pilot. Each droid could handle the function of the entire ship, however, having five instead of one allowed for a reduced workload for each droid as well as being a redundant feature to prevent loss of the ship.

Another change was the removal of all weapons, to make room for the installation of sensors. This meant the ship had more power available for the shields and engines. The Lambda shuttle had never been built for serious combat, and the weapons normally installed were not a match for most current fighters. The power boost to the engines and shields, however, would give the new AutEx ships a much better chance of escape from whatever may threaten the ship.

The AutEx reports peaked his interest almost immediately. Of the ten systems being used as a field test, eight showed ruins of some kind, and three currently had sentient life. Looking closer at the images sent back with the reports, Devark noticed evidence of sentient humanoid life. He saw images of cultivated fields, artificial structures, and herds of livestock. Smoke from cooking fires was visible, as well as huts made from animal skins.

There was also evidence of recent fighting on one of the planets, although most damage was several years old. A fairly decent sized city in ruins, with burning buildings and partially collapsed walls. Devark could tell the fighting had been particularly bad, but recognized the signs of guerrilla warfare evident in the images. He also noted the AutEx sent to this system had been driven off by a group of small fighter sized craft and a much larger ship. Skipping ahead to the images of the pursuing craft, he recognized the shape and coloration of the hostile forces. Admiral Nera had fought one of these ships nearly three years ago.


Several hours later, the town council was reviewing the information received concerning the hostile ships, and the recorded activities over the planet Devark had briefed them on. A more detailed report on the incomplete scans of the planet showed over ten thousand humanoid life signs on the planet. Scattered readings of small power sources across the city were evidence of power generation beyond that of a primitive society. Enhancements of the images also showed what looked to be energy weapons discharge and active combat in several locations. The five members of the council were currently discussing what action, if any, should be taken.

"It looks like their civilization was wiped out for the most part. Not as bad as Topwara, but they wont recover any time soon." General Koth commented.

"I noticed that as well." Kaden agreed. "I assume some of the life signs on the planet are the hostile forces, so around ten thousand survivors from what looks to be a city of over two hundred thousand people."

Admiral Nera spoke up. "I can have a fleet there within twelve hours. But what then? Say we take out any hostile ships and ground forces, what do we do then? Unless you want to station a fleet there permanently, there is nothing stopping another hostile fleet from arriving."

"That is a definite concern." Dera seconded. "We have the resources to feed a much larger population that we currently have. And we could help them rebuild, but without some defenses, they would be easy targets."

""If I might offer a suggestion?" Feth Te'vos said. "There are several options available. The first option, and one I do not agree with, is that we do nothing. The second is we drive off or destroy the hostile forces and help them rebuild. The third is we help them evacuate the planet and move somewhere else."

"Unless we are committing to defending the planet for them, evacuation would seem necessary. Problem is we do not know where to take them. There is no evidence they had space flight." Admiral Nera added.

Kaden was silent for a moment before speaking. "We could bring them here. The first step is to take out the hostile forces. So we need to move quickly. Anyone object to Admiral Nera taking a fleet there immediately?"

Murmurs of agreement came from the rest of the council. "I will be en-route within half an hour. I would appreciate General Koth bringing some of his troops as well. We may lose some droids, but once their ships are gone, we should be able to clear the hostile ground troops."

"Agreed, this would be a good test of their capabilities. After the last engagement inside the hostile ship three years ago, we have upgraded their combat programming. Ten Wampa assault landers should be enough. I will co-ordinate with you from the ground once we arrive." General Koth stated as he stood. "Let me go get the droids loaded."

Kaden also stood. "Good luck to both of you. And may the force be with you as well. Let me know once hostile forces have been eliminated. I will send one of the freighters with relief supplies in case they wish to stay and rebuild."


Unknown planet (Year 3, Day 41, 2300 hours)

Dropping out of hyperspace, Admiral Nera's fleet appeared not far outside the orbit of the three hostile ships. Within moments, emerald and azure energy streamed away from the assembled fleet under her control. Centered around her ISDIII command ship, her fleet was larger than anything she had taken into combat before. Flanking the ISD III were forty Ingot IIs, and forty Lancer frigates, while the six Nova-D carriers hung back behind the formation.

Immediately upon exiting hyperspace, nearly twelve hundred Tie-D fighters poured out of the carriers, splitting into two groups. Half headed to act as a fighter screen for the capital ships, while the other half streaked ahead to attack the enemy fighters closer to the planet. The ISD III deployed it's fighter sized craft, which consisted of one hundred sixty Tie-DB that came forth from the massive ship to arc in three formations toward the enemy behemoths.

As the three massive ships of the enemy reacted to the sudden arrival and weapons fire of such a large fleet, their slow turns made them very large targets. Without the presence of shields, there was nothing stopping the combined firepower of forty one capital ships, who's turbolasers and ion cannons impacted the purple and blue hulls and burned through armor and decks. Explosions rocked all three massive ships, burning atmosphere, bulkheads, and flesh.

The ion cannon impacts had a different effect. Instead of shorting out circuits and computers, they caused the organic ships to go into seizures. Overloading the central nervous system of one of the three ships, all functions of the ship began to flicker on and off. Loss if life support would take time to have any real effect, however, the loss of control over other systems was apparent. The engines went wild, and when combined with the severe damage done by the turbolaser and heavy turbolaser fire coming from the massive fleet, the ship ripped itself apart. The explosion created as it lost structural integrity created a massive energy wave which added to the damage already done to it's sister ships. In less than three minutes, they were nothing more than a cloud of expanding debris.

The battle was not yet over, considering there were still over a thousand enemy fighters both in space and down on the planet. With the three capitol ships no longer involved, they began attacking with suicidal fervor. Tie-Ds swarmed over them, spraying bolts of emerald death. Having their targets destroyed before being able to engage, the Tie-DBs began unloading their payload into the enemy fighters that approached the fleet. Blue missiles in the hundreds came forth littering the black of space with tiny but brilliant explosions in a massive wave of destruction.

With the destruction of the enemy capital ships, and the elimination of most of the fighters that still posed a threat, the role of Admiral Nera's fleet changed. No longer on the offensive, the fleet moved out of their current formation. The ISD III, with a dozen Ingot IIs and Lancers, moved into a defensive position five hundred kilometers over the city. Smaller groups of capital ships split off creating a defensive umbrella around the rest of the planet.

As the threat of space diminished, nearly half the Tie-D fighters turned toward the planet. Upon entering atmosphere, they began hunting in groups of eight for any remaining enemy fighters. They cleared the air for the ten Wampa landers to touch down and deploy their cargo of a thousand Droidikas.


General Koth was happy with the programming upgrades that had been made to his 'troops'. The droids moved together as real troops would. After landing in a field close to the large upright ring, identical to the one he had seen before, his troops established a well defended temporary perimeter. Within moments, groups of five droids began rolling out, with instructions to target the hostile aliens that had been encountered three years before. These hunter-killer groups were heading to locations the ships in orbit had found as enemy encampments and strong points. Between the droid troops, and scans made by the orbiting fleet, the green skinned humanoids didn't stand a chance.

Within three hours, scans showed no remaining enemy forces. Over two thousand enemy casualties for the loss of one hundred eighty droids. The inert droids, while not technically destroyed, would require massive repairs due to the weapons they had been hit with. The blue bolts fired at them had shorted out the shields, and also nearly every internal circuit. It would likely be easier to build more than to repair the ones lost in this engagement. Since it wasn't a good idea to leave them laying around, they would be recovered and sent back to the factory to be recycled into raw materials for new droids.

Once the hostile forces were removed from the ground, only two hundred droids remained with General Koth. The rest were sent back up to the ISD III along with their landing craft. Only two Wampa landers remained on the ground. Shortly after the fighting on the ground was ended, the freighter with relief supplies entered the atmosphere to land in the large open area inside the defended perimeter. Once settled, the engines powered down as several ramps opened from the freighter allowing worker droids to unload the food and medical supplies. A dozen of the worker droids were set to assemble a pre-fab medical building and temporary kitchen. They two new structures were not very large, and were completed within an hour.

The lack of weapons fire combined with the noise of the freighter landing in the city did have some effect on the surviving population of the planet. General Koth noticed first the few scouts of the native people, men and women in armor or uniforms as well as weapons of some sort. Unfortunately, none of the locals spoke any language Koth recognized. He was glad Kaden had reminded him to take several translation droids with him on the shuttle. To reduce the tension and hopefully begin to earn the trust of those in hiding, he removed his helmet and weapon and placed them in the ground next to the ramp of one of the landers. One of the translation droids followed him as he then walked toward the scouts not far outside the perimeter made by the combat droids.