Chapter 13

Orbit of Grostme VI, Grostme System

Captain Gorden Gorky of the Imperial Navy sighed as he took another swig of caf. It was another boring day in command of the old Dreadnaught Class heavy cruiser Virgha, a ship that was even older than him. With heavy armor and many old (but still powerful) weapons emplacements, cruisers like the Virgha had served the Judicial Forces, republic navy, Imperial Navy, planetary defense forces and pirates for almost a century. Thousands had been built, and many still served in the Imperial Navy and independent governments like the Corporate Sector Authority, though they were steadily being replaced by newer designs and had been mostly relegated to remote and less important posts.

Gordon had served with the ship for years. When the Clone Wars had begun he had been a recently commissioned junior officer aboard a younger version of the ship. It had been the flagship of the Garnizon Guard, with his older brother Zut in command of the ship.

When the war began he and a number of others attempted a mutiny to bring after word reached them Garnizon had left the republic and joined the confederacy. It had been a failure, with the survivors such as himself forced to escape to the planet's surface in escape pods. By then a civil war was in full swing across the planet as pro republic and pro sepeartist forces clashed. Men and women who had once been neighbors, friends and comrades fought one another in the name of ideological zeal. It was not the first, and certainly not the last time this would happen.

As the planet fell to the superior pro seperatist forces, Gorky and others escaped and were offered commissions in the newly formed republic navy, a force that was lacking a substantial officer corps. By the end of the war, he had been promoted to Captain and commanded an Arquitens Class Light Cruiser.

The Virgha had been docked at the Seperatist shipyards above Garnizon when the world was retaken by the Empire. It had been under refit to modernize many of its hopelessly outdated systems such as it's fire control as well as reduce it's required crew complement from over 16,0000 to about 2,000. The ship was unable to defend itself due to it being in port, and the crew surrendered without much of a fight. The refit would continue after the ship was seized by the Imperial Navy, and it would be recommissioned into it shortly thereafter. Several years later Gorden was promoted and became its Captain.

But a number of factors prevented him from ascending past that rank, or even gaining command of any other ship. His brother's position as a former separatist admiral and current resistance leader certainly played a role. His political views were also a major factor, as he had been openly critical of some Imperial policies and reluctant to heavily condemn the rebellion, especially on speciesism throughout the Empire. There was no denying he was a competent officer, however, so he had been placed in command of the Imperial space assets in the Grostme system, which was the last occupied system before wood space.

He had spoken with Moff Illustrious of the neighboring Tibannas sector, and she had offered him command of a newer Vindicator class heavy cruiser at the least, and potentially a Star Destroyer at most. She did not care who his brother was and believed that who he was should not play a factor in where he was assigned to, and she shared some of his political views about some Imperial policies. And she led one of the most prosperous sectors in the outer rim, no in the entire galaxy outside the core. He would be transferring there in about a month, but until then he still had the Grostme system to defend.

His assets included the Virgha, a more modern Strike Class Medium Cruiser, an Arquetens light cruiser, two Nebulon B frigates, and six CR90 and Raider corvettes. This was backed up by half a dozen sublight IVP1 Systems Patrol craft, a class of small fast patrol ships that lacked a hyperdrive and were meant to be carried to systems attached to larger freighters. There was also a Cardan I space station in orbit around the world, which held 4 fighters. This augmented the 72 others aboard the two frigates and the Dreadnaught. Not an insignificantly sized force for the remote region of space it was in, and larger than the ones in the nearby planets.

He knew all too well why this was. When Imperial expeditions for Earth had set out, they always had from here. And none had returned alive. While most believed Earth would not dare to go on the offensive into Imperial space, it was better to be prepared for the possibility. And this system would be first in the line of defense if that attack was to happen.

Privately Gorky was not sure if he would be able to hold off an attack. When the Empire had first found Earth, they had over 50 ships. That had been a year and three months ago. Who knew how many they had built since then, since they knew the Empire had hostile intent against them.

Snapping back to reality, he stared at the bridge crew going about their duties. There was nothing for him to do unless something showed up or needed attention in the next three hours. Looking over at Commander Hess Ygalo, the ship's new XO. She had only recently been assigned to this ship after only a few years out of the Anaxes War College, but had already proven to be a skilled officer. Her dark skin and green eyes looked as bored as he was feeling.

Suddenly an alert popped up on the screen of the sensor officer. No multiple alerts. Something was going on.

"Report. What is going on Lieutenant?" He asked.

"I have 41 contacts inbound. None can be identified at this range." He replied.

"Begin transmitting this data to the sector headquarters at Garnizon." Gorky ordered the comms officer.

"Sir I can't get through, these ships must be jamming the transmission." He said in a worried tone.

"Bring weapons and shields online, and order the other ships to do the same. Launch the alert TIEs and send them to investigate the unknown ships. Notify the ground forces."

"Sir I'm getting a hail from one of the unknown ships, should I put it through?" The comms officer asked.

"Do it." He replied.

"To all Imperial assets in the Grostme system, stand down and surrender and no harm will come to you." A voice said over the bridge speakers.

"Who the hell are you and what gives you the right to ask ships of the Imperial Navy to surrender?" Gorky replied.

"The fact that you are completely cut off from reinforcement and that we outnumber and outgun you." The voice paused.

"As for who we are, I am Admiral William Johnson, the Director of Naval Operations for the United Nations Spaceborne Navy of Earth and commander of Operation Vengeance. And if I don't see your ships powered down in one minute you will be reduced to molten slag." Johnson said.

Gorky looked at Commander Ygalo, his second in command.

"What do you think?" He asked her.

"What choice do we have?" She replied. The fact was that they didn't.

"Alright Admiral, you win. I am signaling all the ground and space forces to stand down." He said glumly.

"Good, we can avoid needless bloodshed like civilized people. You and your XO are to come over to my flagship unarmed in a shuttle. We will discuss matters there."

Several minutes later he laid eyes upon the mysterious flagship of William Johnson. It was a large ship, at least 200 meters longer than an Imperial class but somewhat thinner. It appeared to be bristling with weapons, and had a large hangar on each side of the ship that his shuttle soon entered.

Unlike the hangars of Imperial vessels, it had less clear space for launch and retrieval of fighters and more space dedicated to maintenance and service of the small craft. The fighters were unlike any he had ever seen, sleek and grey and slightly longer than a rebel X wing, but with folding wings that when folded gave the ship the width o fighter. Dozens of flight deck personnel were milling about, performing various duties. Each branch of hangar operations wore a different color uniform, making them easier to see than their Imperial counterparts (he would later learn this had been a practice developed on waterborne aircraft carriers.)

Five armed men were waiting for them as they exited the shuttle, rifles held firmly but not pointed at them. But based on the looks on their looks, that could change easily. They were patted down for weapons, but none were found and the men sent to escort them looked pleased.

"Come with us Captain, Commander." The lead man said firmly. The two were led down a number of corridors and turbolifts. Other crew members of the ship looked suspiciously at them, but said nothing.

Finally they reached their destination, the ship's bridge. It seemed typical of any other warship command center, with banks of computers and monitors being manned by the best of the ship's crew, with the senior officers congregated on one end of the room, watching a display. They turned, and Gorky saw a face he was sure was dead.

"Drofa Haffard you son of a bitch. What the hell are you doing here." He exclaimed as everyone looked at him.

"It's a long story. A very long story that I will tell you in another room." Haffard replied, as he and two other figures led both Gorky and Ygalo into a wardroom on the side of the bridge. The guards did not follow them in, but he saw that all three of his captors had holstered sidearms.

"Allow me to welcome you two to the Revenge. I am Admiral Johnson, this is Captain Haffard and this is Commander Sing." He motioned to the man and women besides him.

"You two already knew each other?" Sing asked Haffard and Gorky.

"I was assigned to his ship as a junior tactical officer as my first post out of the academy. He was basically my mentor in my first years of my service. Influenced my views in a lot of matters. I can vouch that he is far from a fanatical Imperial and has even openly opposed some Imperial policies. Very few are brave enough to do such a thing."

Johnson looked at Gorky. "I assume this is the truth."

"Indeed it is. My distaste for the Empire was growing to the point I was considering retirement or transfer to another sector. In fact I had already spoken to Admiral Illustrious of the Tibannas sector about being transferred there. She shares many of my political beliefs, and is more concerned with the prosperity of her sector than the rule of some faraway tyrant." He said.

"That is good to know. We might have someone you might know of." Johnson pressed a few buttons on a central holotable and a hologram appeared.

It was his long lost brother, Zut Gorky. Leader of the rebel group known as the Free Confederacy. Several times Gorden had considered defecting to his forces, but had rejected the idea due to the fact he had no idea where his brother was! He was a master at staying hidden, and he had done so despite the best efforts of the Imperial Sector Forces.

"Gorden, it's been a long time." Zut said.

"Too long." Gorden murmured. He was still shocked that he was seeing his long lost brother. Everyone stood for a few moments in silence, letting the two men have their moment.

"So what are you going to do with us?" Ygalo said.

"We are going to give you the full story of how Earth got itself into this position." The four officers explained everything from Earth's first discovery of the outside galaxy to Operation Vengeance, as well as some of what was going on with the Free Confederacy. The two captured Imperials were amazed at what happened.

"As for you and your crews, we have defined protocols for what to do with members of the Empire. With some exceptions such as yourself, they will all go through a several month long re-education course to remove the Imperial brainwashing and propaganda they have been exposed to. Then they will be evaluated and have the chance of becoming a civilian on Earth, or joining the fleet under probation."

"Isn't that just brainwashing of a different form?" Ygalo said.

"No, it's unbrainwashing." Johnson said. "We are simply resetting everything so that they are not brainwashed.

"What are you going to do with my ships?" Gorky asked. "And me."

"They will be crewed by new Earth crews for the time being until their crews have finished their re-education." Johnson said. "Then we will see. As for you, you won't need to undergo re-education and will revive a commission in the Earth fleet in command of your old ship. There will be a probationary period of course, but you have already shown a lack of loyalty to the Empire, which is a very good thing."