The Empire Expects: On all Sides

by Issaac

The best the Empire can offer, the 22nd "Devil Dogs" Tarekith, purge the Galaxy of Rebel Scum. In a grinding trench war in Tribuna, Captain Eckell Greywillow and the Tarekith find themselves drawn a scheme that threatens the entire Empire itself. They will face enemies from without and within. Will the dogged spirit of the Tarekith prevail or will their beloved Empire fall?

1. Chapter 1

"The Destruction of the Death Star at the legendary battle of Yavin threw the entire Empire into disarray. Seeking to push their advantage, the Rebel Alliance launched a massive offensive throughout the outer-rim, quickly transforming from a haggled loose coalition of bandits and terrorists into an organized, fearsome army. Imperial control there had already been tenuous. Seven hundred systems were lost in one fell swoop. The entirety of the outer-rim had fallen into Rebel hands.

To make this all worse, the infamous mid-rim campaign was launched by the dreaded Rebel General Amrashad, famed for his brilliant use of armor and orbital bombardments. The offensive was devastating to the Empire, for before this, the Rebels had lacked a major naval presence up to this point. The defection of the 4th and 57th Imperial fleets along with the capture of several major shipyard worlds allowed them to build up their naval forces to a considerable degree, before engaging with the Empire in open space. The unprepared and disoriented Empire reeled and over ten thousand systems in the mid-rim were lost in the first year.

Even the great throneworld Coruscant was threatened under the great fist of Amrashad for a time and only the dogged defense of several key worlds on the Perlemian lanes on the road to Coruscant prevented any direct attack. Now the war was beginning to become a slog, as both sides traded blows on each other. Countless worlds burned and trillions died, but the next two years would force a stalemate.

Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, it was broken by General Maximillian Veers after he had decisively defeated the Rebel forces on their secret base on the ice world of Hoth. This placed the dreaded foe, at last, into rout. But it is here that the General fell, leaving others to carry on his legacy.

All over the Galaxy, the conflict escalated to levels never seen after the Clone Wars. In a bid to split the Rebel lines in half, Admiral Motti began the infamous Gordian Campaign. This theater of war began to make Hoth seem like a mere opening skirmish.

Here the fighting would be some of the thickest and most brutal battles were fought of the Galactic Civil War. Many legends were made: the impossible victory of 501st Legion at Arda; the genius of Captain Sloane during the subjection of Dantooine; the 1st Tapani Assault Battlegroup taking the worlds Barkhesh, Celanon, and Epsilon Eight in quick succession; the defense of the world Vaal single-handedly by the Star Destroyer Tyrant; and the dogged determination of the 22nd Tarekith "Devil Dogs" Regiment at Tribuna…"

-A Galaxy aflame: A History of the Galactic Civil War from the Imperial Perspective.