The Clouds Align For Battle
Chapter 23: Opening Salvo
I own not those situations I borrow from Disney Properties, Lucas, Mechalich or Thomas Benjamin DeMayo. This is a dramatization from my mind on a character created from the meld of table gaming and so on. Special thanks to ideas Drew Karpyshyn and Tim Lebbon fermented. Special thanks to Morihei Ushiba who formed Petre with his wisdom. Like any mind construct this is an exercise and my own work building on other ideas from the past.
This is a Zeison Sha story, set in what is known as the Star Wars EU.
Shanev
Shol'Aloun, Gitrazin
Rakjas Spaceport and Imperial garrison
Shastra, Sha Kalan Yanibar
BBA
In what was essentially a furnished cave, Jannma sat next to Ni'ko listening intently to the various battle strategies after another successful raid the night before. Then they got to the summary delivered by a Cerean data and communications analyst named Dede who had shipped in 8 months ago and allowed them even more success of late.
"We have a problem based on my slice of the message traffic and the transmit vectors." She paused clearing her throat "The data strongly suggests we are going to see a sizeable push to overwhelm us. Metadata suggests they are sending two star destroyers, mostly outfitted with assault troops as our side has a minimal fighter presence. The address tags show one star destroyer, the Victory, has travelled all the way from the Core Fleet. One is the Vengeance, which was at Gitrazin." She cleared her throat again "One frigate usually stationed at Yanibar, the Hostility is expected as the Empire gets the Moff of Sha Kalan involved." She cleared her throat one more time "And the usual arrival of the Aggressor assault cruiser bringing in new meat from Carida." She paused a bit before wrapping it all up "It looks like they want to smash us back into the mud or at least return us to merely a guerilla annoyance."
"So we are facing long odds, 1,000 to one? And two Victory Class star destroyers, including the original." Twi'Lek Major Jai'Don asked.
"Yes on the capital ships but the manpower numbers are more like 10,000 to one with an armor and fighter advantage of 500 to one." Dede said flatly.
"We need a miracle? And this is news?" Jannma asked. "Over ¾ of our forces are natives and free slaves. The Empire grows the resistance, I look at it just as more to free."
"We may have to just dig in deeper and hide this time." Jai'Don said.
"I have some good news." Dede said "The Sha who released me sent this." She held up her datapad a mural with multiple locations smoking at dawn.
Jannma's eyes closed and she began meditating on the vision before her.
Asawa Ko?
Manatiling ligtas ang aking Asawa Ko, Te Amo Asawa Ko came a response in the Force and her spirit leaped for joy higher than what was physically allowed in the cave.
A stealthed ship landed on Shanev six inquisitors and two Hostility Legion emerged.
Lt. Commander Pillin Shaw looked at the real time muster reports showing his Captain's crew was present, but like the Captain and XO, they were nursing a hangover that would be cured in two hours from final liberty which ended only two hours ago for the last detail. They had emptied out the garrison on Shol'Aloun to a skeleton crew as the High Command had FINALLY decided to end "the meat grinder" as the Army and Navy referred to Shanev.
"Commander we have emergence from the nebula."
"Sir, there was supposed to be a convoy of freighters bringing last minute supplies through pirate territory near Smuggler's Run escorted by 8 stunt fighters on that vector. But they are 9 standard hours late." The COB stated.
"They probably had a scrap on the way, send demands for authentication as they are in our range but way out of their gun range, warm up but do not deploy shields."
"Authentications good sir." the ensign said.
"What the?" the helmsman exclaimed as a huge blue ion bolt emerged from a freighter hitting the bridge and shutting down control of the ship.
"Battle Stations!" Roared the OOD impotently as the bridge went dark and all coms were out and another ion shot hit followed by TURBOLASERS?
Twenty five minutes later, the sleepy garrison watches looked when the dagger prow of a star destroyer burst through the heavy cloud cover headed straight for the base heavy weapons magazine.
A minute later the crater that used to be the Imperial Base Gitrazin, smoked in the dawn.
Above the planet the small fleet of ships jumped back into hyperspace with two detaching and taking a different trajectory.
The Rakjas Spaceport controller looked at his monitor as dawn broke at the trio of one freighter with two escorts checking their identifications to the "unofficial" daily flight plan.
"Hey Morty, that Correlian Brandy tramp freighter is arriving right on schedule."
"Awesome news, the bars have had nothing but swill the last week." Morty replied as a YV-666 flew down with a towed barge behind it as usual when the barge struts seemed to break free.
"Nooooooo the BRANDY!" Morty shouted before the container dropped to the middle of the compound and exploded flattening the entire imperial presence.
Smoke now rose from Kratovas as the sun rose.
Jasrol Mintran reached Shastra and the Imperial shuttle scheduled to take the rest of his Hostility Legion, eight other Kadil'Sha and the fifty commandos they had trained to fight and kill Zeison Sha.
"You are to capture Ni'ko Shan and Jannma Bernal, everyone else you encounter you consider dead unless they join us. Offer no quarter, accept no surrender, board and lets get this over with." A minute later a streak hit the atmosphere and Mintran got a jolt from the Force. A cyclonic Force swirl came from the odd ship attacking them. A missile pounded the spaceport disrupting their takeoff and pitching them into absolutely treacherous winds of Yanibar. Two more missiles followed and a barrage of canon fire from the craft had the pilot jinking, juking and avoiding everything so far. The Mintran felt it and braced himself in the Force as Yanibar's winds pancaked the shuttle into the Vrang crevasse 120 killometers from Shastra and a place no one ever flied except the most skilled windriders.
The windrider piloting the winged heavy attack aircraft made his way out of Yanibar's crazy summer winds to see his wingmates finish off the frigate "Hostility" as gravity pulled it down to land outside Shastra, smoking in the dawn's early light.
Imperial Captain Puig Zill of the Victory came out of hyperspace escorting the Acclimator class assault ship over Shanev expecting another star destroyer and a frigate to be in orbit bombarding suspected rebel positions. Well that the local slugs had not made it bothered or concerned him not at all.
"Launch the landing craft to prepare the LZ for the Aggressor, wish them happy hunting. Then hail the locals and ask them if they overslept."
"Yes sir!" his coms officer acknowledged.
"Sir, a set of freighters commandeered from Gitrazin just exited hyperspace, a Lt. Commander Pillin Shaw has transmitted there was some minor damage to the Vengeance from local raiders and will be along in a bit."
"Rimmers…." The Coruscant native scoffed "What ship is he on?"
"A YV-666 sir."
"Give him access, I want to chew his candy arse myself." Puig Zill savored the mental dress down he would be giving in twenty minutes.
"Sir, there is no response from any Imperial facility in the Kalat Arm." Comms officer said.
"They probably are drinking too much."
"NO SIR, the COMS HANDSHAKE is not operational! Dead Air!"
"Shields up!" The Captain shouted just one second too late as an ion canon fired from the freighter plunging them into darkness.
"Emergency power fast!" Captain Zill shouted.
Ten seconds later the second daisy cutter exploded near the main engines. Three attack spacecraft emerged from hyperspace.
"Ash to Intruder fleet, take out the armor, we have the Aggressor."
"Intruders 1,2 take em out, I have fish to fry." Jahn said relaxing and letting his natural Force free.
In the tunnels of Shanev Jannma turned to Lyi Chinwe the Twi'Lek Zeison Sha warrior with the most time on planet. "Keep Dar'n and the officers safe. I am going out with Ni'ko to lead or split up the Kadiliman the empire sent."
"Force be with you." Lyi said.
"Force be with you as well." Ni'ko said before trotting off with his wife.
In the tiered jungle some twenty klicks from their landing the Kadiliman group stopped, feeling the world wide swirl of someone searching for them in the Force. Akumi recognized it and unlike the others trying for stealth, let the Force find her and mark her.
One of the Inquisitors, a Zeltron named Verin snapped his head around. "Stupid bitch! They will find us that way."
"Beats searching for them on the whole planet."
"I and Pao will go forward looking for others!" The "Leader" a high inquisitor and strong human named Loran said "Idiot! you stay with the rest and deal with what comes!"
"I shall enjoy watching Ral Gorgon flay you if you come back at all." Said the Kadil'Sha woman with venomous spite. An explosion in the direction they had come from informed them of their well camouflaged ship's demise. "You best hurry, I bet the wind will pick up soon."
"That's that, Shandra, form up with Shay and Kae flying support, enough armor hit the ground to still make this a blood soup." He turned to two of the three droids folded up "Five, you are Copee, Six and Seven with me." And he closed the rotary bomb magazine/cockpit door before opening the bomb bay access. He in his armor and his two droids each grabbed a bag stowed for this purpose before dropping out to glide and search the woods.
