"Uggh. Some party." said Miles, barely refraining himself from belching, while leaning back in the comfortable chairs in the meeting room. He looked to Cayel, Tororro, Frey, Lomeir and ultimately Thrawn leaning back into their chairs. They looked pretty recovered after the ordeal which included severe vomiting after drinking five cases of special Vorkosigan wine they confiscated from the fifteen cases count Vorkosigan sent as a gift to the newly weds, and as a diplomatic message of friendship. This was certainly the nicest assigment he was granted as a Lord Auditor.
"I concur." said Frey with a cough.
"Didnt know the Zabrak knew to party like that, or I would have organized this before." Torroro added smugly, but ruined his smug expression with a fit of coughs.
"The wine helped. Good stuff admiral Naismith." Lomeir piped in.
"Call me Miles when we are off-duty." Miles said, and the others hastily agreed and stated their own names, only Thrawn just nodded, but didnt state his own name.
As Torroro started to speak, something beeped, and Cayel took out his datapad to read the report. His face paled as he read it.
"Captain?" Thrawn said, his glowing red eyes slits of red light.
"My lord, Center has recieved report from one of our patrols that a Yuuzhan Vong assault fleet is in route for Almania!" he said, as every person in the room straightened in his chair. Thrawn brought his hand down on the comlink on his wrist.
"Thrawn to bridge, red alert! Bring us up to battle readiness, and alert the Fleet deployed here at Iridonia to set course for Almania!"
* * *
"This is the captain speaking to all Imperial forces in the area. The Yuuzhan Vong are estimated to arrive here in less then an hour. Center estimates about twenty to fourty warships, by the looks of it they shattered Belkadan just to get another shipyard, which means there are more Yuuzhan Vong warships being comissioned as we speak. I know we are outnumbered, but there will be no retreat. The Yuuzhan Vong threaten all the Empire stands for, they threaten our order, our children, our families, our very future. I trust that you will all agree with me, because no matter if we retreat or not, people will die, and we will fight the Yuuzhan Vong sooner or later. I'd like it to be here, where we can protect the innocents of Almania. Therefore, we shall not retreat." captain Thompson spoke, and cut the transmission. Captain Gallear next to him, nodded with approval.
"You did the right thing captain." Gallear remarked.
"I hope so. Any news on reinforcements?"
"The Grand Admiral is due to arrive in less then two hours. The rest of the fleet is spread out in the Cron Drift and the Tion Cluster."
"What about the 'Scythe of War'? What defenses do we have available?"
"Well, the 'Shadowfox' has arrived three standard hours ago, plus three dreadnoughts from Kessel, and with the 'Lord Vader' deployed, that gives us three Star Destroyers, and nine minor starships to work with. The 'Scythe of War' is still not finished, but moff Frey reports that the turbolaser cannons and batteries will assist in defense, should any hostile starships come within range."
"Which Frey is here? I know of at least six or seven Freys in the Empire."
"Former captain Frey's clone. The original is on Iridonia with the Grand Admiral, I presume he is on his way as well."
"Ahh. Alright, heres the plan. We have to give time to the Admiral to arrive, we will deploy the Star Destroyers in a cone a click from the primary shipyard, with the 'Lord Vader' being the center of the cone. The other side of the shipyards has two Golan II defense platforms, but with the 'Scythe of War' being built in that area, we already have some amount of protection there. The other starships will be spread out in a sphere around the shipyards, with the 'Shadowfox' taking position behind the Star Destroyers, in order to have some protection until it deploys its starfighter wings. Any suggestions?"
"No captain, it looks logical, but wouldnt the Star Destroyers do more good protecting the shipyards?" Gallear cocked up his eyebrow.
"And risk damage to the shipyards? No captain. We must draw the Yuuzhan Vong fleet to us, and hold them busy until the Admiral arrives, if we cannot defeat it." Thompson said grimly.
"With all due respect captain, we will do more good near the shipyards. Even if they do take damage, it wont be as costy as the loss of three Star Destroyers."
"What about ground defenses? The Yuuzhan Vong will shurely commence a surface assault." Thompson argued.
"The 'Lord Vader' has ample amounts of AT-ST and AT-AT transports for ground assault, plus thirty detachments, each counting a thousand troopers."
"Very well. Are they being deployed on the planet?"
"Yes, the mech transport barges are going up and down around the clock, but we wont be able to unload all of them."
"Shit. How many wont be deployed?"
"Half a division of AT-AT transports and two divisions of AT-ST transports at the least."
"That means we will have to improvise a bit. Is the planetary shield operational?"
"Yes. Should I order the activation?"
"No, inform the garisson commander to activate it as the Yuuzhan Vong transports are passing through the breach point, with a bit of luck the shield will take out several transports."
"Alright. Anything else?" Gallear said as he forwarded the orders via his datapad.
"Now, we wait." Thompson said, and turned from the holographic display of surrounding space to look through the viewpoints, counting the distance between Almania and Iridonia, and Almania and the Yuuzhan Vong armada.
"Yes captain. Now, they are racing." Gallear said grimly.
"I concur." said Frey with a cough.
"Didnt know the Zabrak knew to party like that, or I would have organized this before." Torroro added smugly, but ruined his smug expression with a fit of coughs.
"The wine helped. Good stuff admiral Naismith." Lomeir piped in.
"Call me Miles when we are off-duty." Miles said, and the others hastily agreed and stated their own names, only Thrawn just nodded, but didnt state his own name.
As Torroro started to speak, something beeped, and Cayel took out his datapad to read the report. His face paled as he read it.
"Captain?" Thrawn said, his glowing red eyes slits of red light.
"My lord, Center has recieved report from one of our patrols that a Yuuzhan Vong assault fleet is in route for Almania!" he said, as every person in the room straightened in his chair. Thrawn brought his hand down on the comlink on his wrist.
"Thrawn to bridge, red alert! Bring us up to battle readiness, and alert the Fleet deployed here at Iridonia to set course for Almania!"
* * *
"This is the captain speaking to all Imperial forces in the area. The Yuuzhan Vong are estimated to arrive here in less then an hour. Center estimates about twenty to fourty warships, by the looks of it they shattered Belkadan just to get another shipyard, which means there are more Yuuzhan Vong warships being comissioned as we speak. I know we are outnumbered, but there will be no retreat. The Yuuzhan Vong threaten all the Empire stands for, they threaten our order, our children, our families, our very future. I trust that you will all agree with me, because no matter if we retreat or not, people will die, and we will fight the Yuuzhan Vong sooner or later. I'd like it to be here, where we can protect the innocents of Almania. Therefore, we shall not retreat." captain Thompson spoke, and cut the transmission. Captain Gallear next to him, nodded with approval.
"You did the right thing captain." Gallear remarked.
"I hope so. Any news on reinforcements?"
"The Grand Admiral is due to arrive in less then two hours. The rest of the fleet is spread out in the Cron Drift and the Tion Cluster."
"What about the 'Scythe of War'? What defenses do we have available?"
"Well, the 'Shadowfox' has arrived three standard hours ago, plus three dreadnoughts from Kessel, and with the 'Lord Vader' deployed, that gives us three Star Destroyers, and nine minor starships to work with. The 'Scythe of War' is still not finished, but moff Frey reports that the turbolaser cannons and batteries will assist in defense, should any hostile starships come within range."
"Which Frey is here? I know of at least six or seven Freys in the Empire."
"Former captain Frey's clone. The original is on Iridonia with the Grand Admiral, I presume he is on his way as well."
"Ahh. Alright, heres the plan. We have to give time to the Admiral to arrive, we will deploy the Star Destroyers in a cone a click from the primary shipyard, with the 'Lord Vader' being the center of the cone. The other side of the shipyards has two Golan II defense platforms, but with the 'Scythe of War' being built in that area, we already have some amount of protection there. The other starships will be spread out in a sphere around the shipyards, with the 'Shadowfox' taking position behind the Star Destroyers, in order to have some protection until it deploys its starfighter wings. Any suggestions?"
"No captain, it looks logical, but wouldnt the Star Destroyers do more good protecting the shipyards?" Gallear cocked up his eyebrow.
"And risk damage to the shipyards? No captain. We must draw the Yuuzhan Vong fleet to us, and hold them busy until the Admiral arrives, if we cannot defeat it." Thompson said grimly.
"With all due respect captain, we will do more good near the shipyards. Even if they do take damage, it wont be as costy as the loss of three Star Destroyers."
"What about ground defenses? The Yuuzhan Vong will shurely commence a surface assault." Thompson argued.
"The 'Lord Vader' has ample amounts of AT-ST and AT-AT transports for ground assault, plus thirty detachments, each counting a thousand troopers."
"Very well. Are they being deployed on the planet?"
"Yes, the mech transport barges are going up and down around the clock, but we wont be able to unload all of them."
"Shit. How many wont be deployed?"
"Half a division of AT-AT transports and two divisions of AT-ST transports at the least."
"That means we will have to improvise a bit. Is the planetary shield operational?"
"Yes. Should I order the activation?"
"No, inform the garisson commander to activate it as the Yuuzhan Vong transports are passing through the breach point, with a bit of luck the shield will take out several transports."
"Alright. Anything else?" Gallear said as he forwarded the orders via his datapad.
"Now, we wait." Thompson said, and turned from the holographic display of surrounding space to look through the viewpoints, counting the distance between Almania and Iridonia, and Almania and the Yuuzhan Vong armada.
"Yes captain. Now, they are racing." Gallear said grimly.
