Tarkin's Fist IV: Blood and Durasteel

by AshlaTi

A generation has passed since the devastation of the Empire-Earth War. Now a new conflict rages, this time the battles are fought among the stars themselves. A new enemy rises to threaten both the Empire and Earth's very existence. New characters and old raise arms against one another for the very fate of the Milky Way

41. New Thyfeeria I

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Orbit, Kafrene Outpost, Junction of the Kuati Spur, Bloodstripe Run

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Furthest advance of the Confederate Space Force

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Slipping into single file at .01 sublight through the star lit Void, near the terminus of the Carnificial Causeway and Gallivanter Run hyper-lanes, the combined forces of the First Order's 7th Fleet of Conquest merged with the sprawling formations of 1st and 2nd Space Force Fleets.

The massed allied fleets presented a gala appearance for the departure of Akfar's Force. Well to the fore of the departing formation, sped the light cruiser Sword Art Online and five of her Naruto sisters, with the twenty sleek corvettes of Revenge Squadron 10 and Squadron 6 strung out behind her. Aft of the corvettes were the heavy cruisers Eiffel and Lady Liberty, comprising Cruiser Division 8. Then, as if building up to a theatrical peak, the Maxima-A Heavy Cruisers Kleanse and Heave surged by. At the last, the climax of the procession, the four Resurgent Star Destroyers Kill, Assaulter, Hatred and Sinister, cruised majestically coreward.

Tugs and fleet tenders pulled away to starboard. Their Earthling crews waved and cheered at their viewports. As the task force sailed past the multitude of ships of the 7th Fleet of Conquest and 2nd Space Force Fleet that were remaining at Kafrene Outpost, several warships shined beacons that formed the CEN banner.

"After a victory, tighten your helmet straps." Crisis whispered the old mantra, made popular by Darth Vader after the Clone War, to himself. The warning was being ignored by all of those around him. What a contrast the festive atmosphere of this expedition presented to the stern secrecy which had surrounded the sortie for Nal Kuat half a year ago. All the combined force needed to complete the holiday holopic was a Bith jizz wailing band and a flock of reporters from the Confederate CNN.

General Crisis stood on the Flag Bridge of the Assaulter, watching its commander, Captain Setrauss, silently stew. Crisis strode over to the senior First Order naval commander. Perhaps he felt the need to voice some of his own concerns, as his normal confidant, Commander Obota, had been left behind with the 23rd Legion aboard the rest of the 7th Fleet's warships. Akfar's Force was the Combined Strike Force, not the Landing Force, which housed his advance Legion in anticipation of this week's invasion. "Concerned about splitting our forces, Captain?"

Setrauss shrugged. "No, Admiral Jethran's overall strategy is sound. Our smaller force will draw out that big fish, the Ares, for the Fatalizer and Mizery to devour. I'm more concerned with the placement of an Earthling in charge of this task force."

The plan was simple. The majority of Space Force and the 7th Fleet of Conquest remained here at Kafrene Outpost, as the Landing Force, under the command of Admiral Jethran. They also protected the transports that contained the 23rd Legion and several Confederate Legions primed for the invasion of New Thyfeeria. On the other hand, this Strike Force was designed to draw out the remnants of the Imperial Navy for a final showdown. They would do so with an air attack on New Thyfeeria's defenses, located a galactic stone's throw from the Milky Way's largest drive yards at Nal Kuat. The Imperial Navy could not afford to leave either of them undefended.

"Admiral Akfar had to be given command of this part of the campaign. The Earthlings need to be soothed into believing the alliance is for the joint benefit of both our parties. Once Nal Kuat is in our hands, they can go fierfek themselves." Crisis vowed.

"Sure. It's all about optics with them. I get that. But did he have to choose my ship as his command ship? What's wrong with the Eiffel?" Setrauss complained and looked to the forefront of the bridge where the Earthling Admiral conferred with several other First Order and Space Force officers. Beyond them, out the foreward viewport, the swirling gas clouds of the Almuhit Maelstrom could be made out.

"The Eiffel served Admiral Akfar well during his campaign down the Bloodstripe. But the strike on New Thyfeeria is going to be carried out by First Order TIEs. The Earth vessels are merely escorts for protection when the Imperial Fleet arrives. The Assaulter has the most advanced comm gear in the task force, thus the need to set up fleet command here." Crisis explained.

"Bah, those Space Force escorts won't last long against a Super Star Destroyer." Setrauss pointed out.

"Nobody expects them to. Jethran can bring in our pair of big boys to New Thyfeeria in thirteen minutes by lightspeed from here at Kafrene Outpost."

"What do you expect to face once we get there?" Setrauss asked. "This Fulcrum source the Earthlings rely on, said the Imperial Fleet was at Onasi V. That's almost a full day's hyperjump from here."

"I conferred with Jethran and Akfar on that very matter this morning. They both trust Fulcrum and have promised a full day of clear operations against the target before the enemy's star vessels arrive. New Thyfeeria is reported to have one wing of antiquated TIE/LN Starfighters stationed there. The Imperial Navy is still rumored to have at least three, maybe four Imperial class Star Destroyers, along with at least one Interdictor, along with support vessels and escorts." Crisis listed out their enemy's perceived ship strengths.

"Along with the Ares, a kriffing Super Star Destroyer." Setrauss swore.

"If Gentis shows her at New Thyfeeria the 7th Fleet will be brought in to handle her." Crisis stated the obvious. They would smother and bury the Imperial Fleet. As soon as they had confirmation of the Super Star Destroyer's presence the First Order would bring in its Mandator IV Siege Dreadnaughts and decide the issue.

"I fear the Admirals have caught Victory Disease." Seltrauss worried. "They're overconfident, like Retimar was at New Mandalore a few weeks ago."

Crisis scowled. The loss of the Security against two Acclamators singed the First Order's pride and gave it its first losses of the war. On top of that, the Slayer and Vulgarizer had their TIE Wings savaged by the Mandalorians and were sitting out this battle for repairs back at Titan. They had both been part of the original strike force on Nal Kuat and should have been here today with their Resurgent sisters. Instead, they had been supplemented with the two Maxima A Heavy Cruisers and whatever fighters Space Force had attached to their escorts. Thus, reducing the First Order's best strike force by nearly a third of its attack power on the eve of the campaign. An ill omen that Crisis desperately tried to ignore.

"You worry too much. The Empire flies equipment your grandfather would have found quaint." Crisis reassured the warship commander.

"You're right, General. But with an Earthling at the helm, well I . . . I just can't help but have a bad feeling about this."

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Command Bridge, Imperial I class ISD Fool, Point Wish, Almuhit Maelstrom

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Admiral Banjeer had little interest in the approaching shuttle from Wadarae. Instead, both he and Captain Isoto, his newly appointed replacement as commander of the Flood, watched through macrobinoculars as the fleet oilers, Orko Skyline and Adaska Biochemical, topped off the Slash and the Quill nearby. With their attention laser-focused on provisioning the task force, the shuttle was silently guided into the Flood's hangar by a series of guidance lights and deck crewmen with orange lamp-cones. All signals were banned. The Fleet had gone silent. The enemy could be anywhere and everywhere.

"It's not too late to transfer your flag, sir." Isoto said, dropping his optics from his face. "The Quill is the biggest ship in the task force. She even served as Empress Phasma's command ship during the Battle of Four Navies."

"I'm not planning on ramming anything like she did that day." Banjeer replied as he watched the Adaska Biochemical detach itself from the Imperial II class Star Destroyer across from his ship. He had actually served aboard the bigger Star Destroyer during the last war along with Admiral Vertitas and Air Marshal Roblin, but his sentimentality ended there. He had served as Captain of the Flood for the past few years and knew her capabilities well. She would serve as a fine command ship for the oncoming battle.

"I hope not, sir. That sounds like something Admiral Vertitas would have ordered us to do." Isoto stated.

Banjeer did not take that as a rebuke. He had heard the whispers that he hadn't yet proven himself like Vertitas had at Ro-loo, though he and the Flood had been there under Vertitas's command. The Flood had led a cautious retreat down the Bloodstripe Run the past half year, helping with the evacuation of half a dozen worlds, but that did not exactly inspire headlines on the HoloNews. In the meantime, Vertitas had led two Lucrehulks to Earth in the, hopefully, first bombing of the enemy's home world. Among the Imperial Navy, it was well known that Vertitas and Banjeer had both come from the TIE Corps, the illustrious wings that had flown from the Quill in the last war. But Vertitas had been a TIE Starfighter pilot and was thought to be more of an aggressive hotshot like the Prince Consort. Banjeer was a master of the TIE/sa bomber, and though not as glamorous as the fighter jocks, the plodding bomber crews were the ones who got the job done in the end. No one ever saw a fighter pilot put a proton torpedo on target and destroy a major installation, that's for sure.

To many outsiders, the two Admirals might have appeared as rivals, but both actually enjoyed a close friendship stemming from the last war and a true sense of professionalism and sense of duty to the Navy and the Empress. Vertitas's recent illness, brought on suddenly by a bout of intestinal parasites, had sidelined the ex-fighter pilot on the eve of what may be the largest and most important battle in the history of the 2nd Galactic Empire. Banjeer had been concerned for his friend's health, but the needs of the Fleet had prohibited his visiting the stricken admiral in the quarantined medbay back at Nal Kuat.

Banjeer continued to study his task force. The heart of which were the three Star Destroyers, Flood, Slash and the Quill. But they were not alone. Sailing in formation with the large battlewagons were four small Auxilla frigates; Almak's Glory, Shu-Torun, Ringo Vinda, and Chalacta's Teeth. All four of which were brought out of mothballs from storage units and scrap yards along the coreward Bloodstripe. They sailed with newer Raider corvettes, the Actuater and the Fomenter. The newest ship in the battle fleet was the first Arquitens Anti-Airspeeder Light Cruiser, the Yutu, which was officially still on its maiden shakedown cruise. The class had only been designed and built since the war began, based off the Yutu class of ships that had been stopped after the last war due to budget concerns. On the KDY Ring over twenty new Arquiten keels had been laid in the past months to increase the fleet's strength. Banjeer knew his actions here today would decide if they ever set sail or not.

His crew strengths were greatly reduced, with each ship's complement being reduced from 9,235 officers and sailors to a mere 5,400. The missing crew had been sent off to man new ships like the Yutu and others coming out of the KDY driveyards. They had been replaced by a thousand new units of KX-series Naval Droids rapidly produced in Fleet Admiral Gentis's Naval Factory Number One at Nal Kuat. Each of the droids was meant to do the work of ten sailors, thus relieving troopers for other duties and greatly reducing the massive casualties usually associated with the loss of capital ships. Banjeer had seen some of the first droids in action at Ro-loo and had been impressed. He trusted that the droids would do their duty when battle commenced.

His force was well hidden in a large gas cloud emanating from the nearby Almuhit Maelstrom. They needed to remain concealed at all costs. They knew the enemy was coming and that they were outnumbered. Banjeer had already transferred his reconnaissance units to New Thyfeeria and placed them under the command of General Hasa of the 501st Legion along with Moff Tanax and her local defense forces. The TIE/WACs would scan for the enemy from the Vratix homeworld and alert the fleet of the enemy's position as it became known. Then and only then, would Banjeer strike from concealment, like a vibroblade aimed at the heart.

"Admiral, the Jedi envoy is here." Captain Isoto informed him, tearing Banjeer away from his concerned musings of his battle plans.

"The shuttle that just arrived? I'm not too keen on Ashla Ti's involvement." Banjeer said.

"Nor I, sir. But someone bent the Prime Chancellor's ear on the subject, and he convinced the Fleet Admiral that it was worth a blast."

"Fine, send them in." Banjeer reluctantly assented.

It wasn't a them, nor was the Jedi the Grand Master of the New Jedi Order as Banjeer had expected. Instead, a rather young, impertinent Kessurian Jedi walked onto the bridge. She wore the standard brown robes of her Order, as well as a small braid in her hair that marked her Jedi rank at Padawan. Banjeer had expected at least a Knight, if not one of the trio of Masters in the fledgling Order. This girl must have been a youngling just a few short years ago.

"Admiral Banjeer, I presume." The Jedi gave a sloppy salute. While it was true Jedi had been allowed back as officers in the Imperial military, they were no longer started as high commanders. This time around Padawans were started out as Lieutenants while Knights were made Lieutenant Commanders in the Navy. Banjeer wasn't sure what the Stormtrooper Corps did with Jedi. Hopefully, not blast them in the back this time around.

"Aye, Lieutenant . . .?" Banjeer inquired to her name.

"Lieutenant Teshlo. Padawan of Grand Master Ti. I was sent here to lend a hand with Battle Meditation. This is to serve as my Knighthood trail."

"I do not have the time to hold the hand of some Jedi pup taking a test. The lives of my sailors are at stake, as may be the very continued existence of the Empire." Banjeer countered.

"I understand. I've studied Battle Meditation under the Grand Master's tutelage. She did win at the Battle of the Crater after all." Teshlo argued.

"Not by using Battle Meditation." Captain Isoto argued, which earned him a tiny glare from the young Jedi.

"Battle Meditation is designed to form connections to those around them and transfer images, sensations, locations, and at times even simple ideas. It will aid greatly in your ability to coordinate attacks and operate a unified defense for your fleet." Tesho explained.

"Let me make one thing clear, Lieutenant. I'm not fond of the Jedi jostling the Navy's elbow at a time like this. You will under no circumstances issue any order to my pilots or sailors. You will sit on this bridge and do your sorcery, but if I detect any issues with your work, I will have one of my Stormtroopers perform Order 66, am I understood?" Banjeer warned the Kessurian.

The Padawan looked down at the deck and mumbled something that sounded like, "They can try."

"What was that, Lieutenant?" Isoto asked.

"Aye, aye." Tesho responded. "Anything I should pay particular attention to?"

"The plan is simple, at least your part of it. For the troopers fighting and dying for the Empress, that is an altogether different story. The enemy is a mix of First Order and Earthling warships currently advancing on New Thyfeeria. We will allow them to launch their initial strike. As soon as they've broken off their first attack I need all of my TIEs launched towards their fleet. We hope to catch them just as they are retrieving their first strike package and about to launch a follow up attack." Banjeer explained in as simple terms as he could manage.

"You mean to catch them all in their hangars?" Tesho asked.

"Or low on fuel and bolts. With pilots tired from the stress of combat." Captain Isoto clarified. Catching an entire strike package, let alone two aboard a single Star Destroyer would involve an immense amount of luck. Obviously, the enemy would have a fighter protection cover over their fleet. And Nal Kuat had proven the enemy employed TIEs that so far outclassed the Empire's best Starfighters.

"Do you understand your orders, Lieutenant?" Banjeer was usually amiable with the Jedi, but not now. Not with so many lives on the line.

"Aye. I'm a timekeeper." Tesho shrugged with typical Jedi arrogance.

"As long as that's understood." Banjeer turned to another nearby officer, "Ensign, find a spot in the crew pit for Lieutenant Tesho. Preferably close to FlightOps."

The junior officer took the Padawan away and set her up in a spot in the portside crew pit. Banjeer approved. It was a good spot for keeping the Force-wielder under his thumb.

"Who knows? Her Battle Meditation might help us. I remember legends about it being used successfully in the New Sith Wars, though that was over a thousand years ago." Isoto tried to be positive.

"Her assistance will be appreciated when and if it works. For now I need to focus on finding the enemy." Banjeer dismissed the idea of the Force being a factor in the oncoming battle.

"We know they're going to hit New Thyfeeria in the next rotation."

"Our knowledge of the enemy's intentions is by no means perfect." Banjeer reminded his new subordinate. "We do not know exactly when, in what strength, and from what angle the Confeds and First Order will strike."

"Nor does any Imperial, whether on Palpatine Prime, Nal Kuat or here in the Void, know where this mysterious Jethran is. Is he going to stay in the background or lead the battle from the front? Naval Intelligence doesn't know, nor can it be expected to know."

"Disturbing a thought as that is, I've heard this Jethran may have led the attack on Nal Kuat, but it was the Earthling Akfar that designed and led the assault down the Bloodstripe. The enemy has no shortage of capable leaders."

"Then we shall take them one by one. Starting today." Isoto vowed.

"A bold prediction. I hope you're right."

"Do you have any conditions for the fleet before we meet the enemy?" Isoto asked.

Banjeer knew the necessity of explaining his battle plan. If something were to happen to him it would be up to Captain Isoto, or Captains Yage and Grondarle of the Slash and Quill, to take over. "We will not come within a half parsec of Kafrene Outpost. No matter the temptation. We know that Space Force has beefed up the place, and I do not want to mix it up with planet-based aviation."

"That'll be tough. Only three light years separate Kafrene Outpost from New Thyfeeria. But we should manage it if we stay off the far side of Tanax's world."

"My plan exactly. We also must be vigilant not to permit them to draw us too far rimward that the enemy closes in with their superior space strength and clobbers us." Banjeer warned.

"Those go hand and hand with each other. Fierfek, I wish we had the Ares here."

"She continues to provide her counterweight. Without her the enemy would swarm the surviving Empire in a matter of months. No doubt the enemy expects to draw her out at New Thyfeeria and destroy her." Banjeer warned.

"The obviousness of the enemy's plan can be used against them."

"Good. Then you understand my plan. I intend to sink as many enemy ships as possible solely with TIE attacks. Nal Kuat proved the days of battle cruisers are over. But we must remember that the Empire is painfully short of Star Destroyers and trained TIE Wings, so it is our responsibility to preserve our ships if possible. Our Star Destroyers only use today will be as a mobile airfield, if too damaged to launch and recover TIEs, it is no asset in the battle to come." Banjeer pounded in his point.

"We will not go shooting after Confederate ships for their own sake?"

"My job is to keep the enemy from invading New Thyfeeria. That is quite enough to keep my mind occupied under the current circumstances. It's quite possible that we will require a miracle to be successful. Anything accomplished above and beyond that would be a bonus from fate itself."

"May the Force be with us then." Captain Isoto resolutely sighed.

Banjeer looked down into the crew pit where the Jedi Padawan was getting settled in. He recalled the last thing Fleet Admiral Gentis had told him before leaving port. "The Force or steady planning. We will be governed by the principal of calculated risk."

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Flight Line, Hangar Aurek, Resurgent FOS Hatred, 1 AU out of Kafrene Outpost

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The long lines of TIE pilots and bombardiers went through the routine of their daily calisthenics with a renewed vigor, now that the promise of combat and earned glory hung on the horizon. They sang patriotic songs from the Home Galaxy to raise their spirits and bond them together in a sense of First Order brotherhood. The dirges they sang would not have been recognized by their allies or their enemies. They had been forged during the hard years of exile in the Unknown Regions after suffering the loss of the True Empire of Palpatine.

Commander Calatran smiled as he joined his men in their exercises. They had been cooped up for far too long. Half a year on Titan without any action outside of the simulators had threatened to dull their skills, while their allies the Confederates had racked up victory after victory in their drive to overrun the rimward Bloodstripe. The pilots craved action and thirsted for revenge. Only two days ago, command had finally told them of the damage their sisters, the Slayer and Vulgalizer, had suffered, along with the sinking of the Security at New Mandalore. Though many of the Security's crew had been rescued by their Earthling allies the losses in the TIE wings of the two Resurgents had been heavy. The Hatred's TIE pilots wanted pay back.

Calatran's chrono chimed, informing him of an incoming holoimage message from the task force's air commander. Calatran snapped to his feet and called the formation to order. All around them, flight deck crew quieted their work loading energy bombs onto the parked rows of TIEs.

"Incoming message from Commander Qurna." Calatran told his pilots, who cheered for the news coming from the pilot who had led the attack on Nal Kuat last year. Since the start of the war, every time Qurna was dealt a sabacc, he had come up with an Idiot's Array, and the Commander was not a man to knock another's success.

Qurna's holoimage saluted the men. No doubt his message, sent from the hangar of the Assaulter, was being transmitted over short wave to the pilots of the Sinister and Kill, as well as the Hatred's TIE wing. "General Order Number One of the day." Qurna announced. "The combined fleet will strike Target Alexandria, better known as New Thyfeeria, today and reduce its defenses to ash. This task force will then move on and reduce the defenses at Nal Kuat. The Main Fleet will remain here at Kafrene Outpost until we have verification of the Ares's presence, or the time has come to bring in our landing forces. When the Ares arrives our whole force will be brought in for the decisive battle. We predict their arrival in two days. Once this has been decided in our favor, we will aide our ally in their drive down the Bloodstripe Run with an inevitable capture of Palpatine Prime at the end of the year. That is all."

The men cheered as Qurna's image vanished. Calatran rubbed his chin in contemplation. Those were hardly the daily orders he was used to. More of a reiteration of grand strategy. And a lot of it relied on the enemy doing exactly what the fleet commanders expected of them. So far the Imperial Navy hadn't done anything the Confederate Space Force had expected of it, which was to roll over and die after their initial losses.

There was another chime on his comlink. This one from the nearby Sinister. "Calatran here."

"Commander, its Ekthar." Calatran had expected the rapid call after Qurna's broadcast. Ekthar commanded the Sinister's TIEs and had led the second wave at Nal Kuat. "What kind of poodoo was that?"

"It was kriffing vague, wasn't it?"

"What is the order of attack? How many fighters am I to leave behind for air cover for the fleet? Why have all my Whispers had their proton torpedoes removed in place of energy bombs?" His fellow TIE commander demanded.

"It's these Earthling schuttas. Nobody wants to tell this Admiral Akfar anything, and General Crisis is keeping him on a tight leash over on the Assaulter."

"Akfar's in charge, but it's Jethran's plan. We can't let our ally get too much of the glory." Ekthar vowed.

"The Kuat System is the only thing that matters. I hear we are planning on relocating there from Titan after today's scuffle."

"So how many of us are being sent towards this New Thyfeeria place?"

"All of your fighters and half your bombers. The other half will be held back for the second strike. They'll launch as we return. Our fighters have the fuel for several attacks after we close in on New Thyfeeria's orbit. That way the two bomber groups can alternate between strikes as soon as the deck lizard-monkeys get them rearmed." Calatran relayed his understanding of Akfar's vague plan of attack. He really wished the Earthling would step aside and let a proper First Order officer command the combined fleet, but Jethran was busy leading the much larger invasion fleet here at Kafrene Outpost, while General Crisis was a Stormtrooper, not a naval officer.

"So what about our air escorts?"

"The Space Force escorts are carrying X-wings and A-wings. They'll provide air cover for the fleet while we do the real work. Besides, they can probably handle anything the Empire throws at us from New Thyfeeria. And Nal Kuat is just out of range to assist the enemy with their own fighters." Calatran assured his comrade.

"I hate relying on them, but they are providing all of the ship escorts for the mission. Their cruisers and frigates outnumber our four ships by three-fold."

"Cramped little bishwags. I'd hate to serve aboard one of them."

"Surrounded by speciest Earthlings. No thanks. I don't think anyone has ever called me an alien before we came here." Ekthar scowled at the thought of their ally.

Calatran felt the same. "The Empire calls them Near-Humans, because I heard their scientists discovered some kind of vitamin imbalance in them. Makes their food taste off, that's for sure. Too much potassium or some other nonsense."

"That's why? Hmm. Only makes me want to secure a system for us all the quicker. Let these Earthlings bleed themselves dry killing the Empire. Then they'll learn how tough an alien can really be." Ekthar laughed. There was certainly more respect toward the enemy Imperials, who were seen as the First Order's grandsires, than their ally. If only the Empire didn't worship a false Empress and protect Jedi, then maybe things might have been different a year ago. But there was no going back. Not after Nal Kuat. The First Order had made their sleeper with the CEN and now they had to lay in it.

Ekthar had continued talking while Calatran had been dwelling on their ally. "So, energy bombs only. I guess that's to be expected if we are only hitting dirtside installations. We will have to avoid hitting their landing bays. I don't want to sit my Silencer down atop rubble and get her all scratched up if I can avoid it."

"True, I expect since we are planning on occupying the place, we should leave it in some kind of operational condition." Calatran agreed. Another reason was they didn't have the repair crews to fix wrecked landing bays. Every laborer the First Order was planning on having was expected to be captured prisoners in the upcoming battle. Even Titan only had a few thousand laborers transferred up from Earth and still undergoing First Order indoctrination.

"It's too bad we didn't just go around this Kuat place. I hear the planets down the Bloodstripe are even less protected." Ekthar said. "The Anax system is supposedly within range of the Earthlings' Y-wings."

"Akfar and Jethran have set first priority on this system. Especially after the Imps hit Earth last month." Calatran dismissed the idea of arguing high command's decisions.

"Kind of poodoo to leave the Fatalizer and Mizery here. What are they going to do with those useless heavy turbolasers at the rear of our strike force?"

"I get you. If those stang Mandators were ahead of our task force, they could put their big blasters to some use at New Thyfeeria and also help with the operations of our combined fleet. I'm starting to wonder if Jethran even has the will to fight."

Ekthar spoke in whispered tones. There was no telling who was listening in on their transmission. "Do you think there is some sort of grave defect with our plan?"

"Just our commander. Kriffing Earthling only has experience with an aquatic surface fleet before the war.

"Be that as it may," Commander Ekthar prepared to sign off, "We're going to win this time, too."

Calatran chuckled. "It won't be much fun this time around, as we can't even expect the enemy to come out and play."

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Landing Bays, XXhenon City, New Thyfeeria

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"Where are the turbolaser crews?" General Hasa yelled so hard that spittle flew from his mouth and hit the pilot of the Honorable East Empire Company's freighter in the face.

"I don't know what to tell you, Mac. They stripped these blasters from the wrecks at Nal Kuat, loaded them aboard my ship and sent me out here at triple the rate for my fee. Nobody ever mentioned anything about who would be blasting them."

"Typical Navy screw up." Hasa snarled. "Just wizard. How many crew members do you have aboard your ship?"

"Three and the loadlifters. They'll have your twenty-four HVs-2 off loaded in twenty minutes. Where do you want them?" The HEEC pilot asked.

"Never mind that. I want your ship cleared as soon as it's empty. You're a liability if you stick around." Hasa told the civilian pilot. He had more than enough Vratix standing around to get the hypervelocity anti-airspeeder blasters into place.

Moff Tanax was nearby directing her drones in the construction of more defenses. The insectoid aliens all carried E-11s now and were being issued a limited amount of tibanna for their weapons. Most of the ammo was being sent to the anti-airspeeder turrets. If they didn't stop the enemy in the air, then the ground invasion was nothing more than a mote point.

As the pilot excused himself to encourage his droids to move faster, General Hasa was approached by the alien queen. "More blasters. That is wizard."

"Aye, Canir Tanax. I just wished I had more trained troopers." Hasa sighed, never taking his eyes off the work going on around them. His Legion, the 501st, had been responsible for the defense of the rimward Bloodstripe Run, and before the war had been dispersed along its length in small units as a sort of auxiliary police force in the colonies. They never had the chance to consolidate and had been overrun planet after planet. Their sacrifice had allowed millions to escape, but hundreds of thousands had been left behind. As it were, the 501st was down to just under three thousand effective troopers. The rest had been captured, wounded or killed.

The majority of his troopers were rear echelon troopers, clerks and cooks, a bunch of artillerists and transport specialists. He had some Naval gunners but not enough. He would have given his right arm for another company of Stormtroopers or even a platoon of scout snipers.

They had been ordered to recuperate on New Thyfeeria when the Confederate invasion had finally stalled at Kafrene Outpost. Little did they know, the Orion War wasn't done with them yet. Word had come from Project Amethyst. New Thyfeeria was Target Alexandria and the combined fleet of the enemy was on their way.

"Did I hear correctly? The HEEC didn't transport any crews with these new arrivals?" Moff Tanax asked.

"I can split some Naval Gunners from my other defenses, but it will weaken which ever position I rob from." Hasa deduced.

"I will deploy a company of my worker drones to the new positions. They will act as loaders and spotters for each emplacement." Tanax offered.

"That could work. I'd only have to man each anti-airspeeder blaster with a single trained gunner. Your drones will fill in the crews nicely." Hasa agreed. It wasn't like he could refuse the offer from a Moff anyway. And it wasn't as if it were a bad idea. The drones might not be warriors, but their entire culture was loyal to the last drone to the Empress. Now that Tanax had moved a Queen egg off world to ensure their species survival they would fight to the end to defend New Thyfeeria from their best police drones to their garbage compacting drones.

Hasa had been relentless since the 501st had landed on New Thyfeeria. The defenses around the capital city of XXhenon bristled with death wire entanglements and E-Webs, the hills and plains were studded with mines. Eleven LAATs were made ready to circle the city, and pick up downed pilots, and assist the ground forces with anti-airspeeder fire. The approaches to New Thyfeeria through the Almuhit had been hastily sewn with more mines of every type imaginable.

When Fleet Admiral Gentis had asked him yesterday if he received everything he asked for, could he hold New Thyfeeria, his only response was a brief "Yes, sir." Hasa had his doubts. He had personally lost more worlds for the New Empire than anyone that had come through the 'big jump' but now their backs were up against the wall. They could not fail now. His entire command, along with the Vratix Hive and their Canir, were actually eager for the Confederates to attack. They had been pushed back for six months and were confident that the combined strength of the enemy could not take this planet.

Hasa was more realistic and just wished he had more tools to do it with, and better ones too. His offensive capabilities lay in a few squadrons of obsolete TIE/IN Starfighters along with TIE/sa bombers and a wing of MG-100 StarFortresses so fresh off the assembly lines at Nal Kuat that they hadn't even been painted yet. His defensive air power was even worse with Vratix drone pilots flying some thirty-six V-wings along with fourteen ARC-170s. Where Gentis had scraped up those Clone War relics in time was beyond Hasa's knowledge. Those antiques had a habit of ground-looping. During diving tests yesterday, the material on several of his TIE/sa bombers parted company with the rest of their solar arrays and had to be mended with that miracle Earth invention; duct tape.

The V-wings were Alpha 3s Nimbus, known grimly as 'Flying Pyres' among their Vratix and human pilots. The Nimbus had been a good fighter in its day, maneuverable and easy to fly. But it had a number of flaws that made it vulnerable in an air battle, and events had long overtaken it. The First Order's Silencers and the Confederate's A-wings could fly faster level than the Nimbus could in a dive.

On top of his outdated air force woes, no plan existed for coordinating New Thyfeeria's defenses. Neither he nor Tanax knew where the Navy was other than a vague promise from the Fleet Admiral that they were nearby. Without orders he had decided to launch everything he had the second one of his scouts reported the arrival of the enemy fleet.

In order to accomplish such a task, he had been issued four of the Fleet's specialized TIE/WAC electronic warfare craft. Half the number of such craft as existed in the entire Empire. The snooper TIEs had been kept on constant patrol since Gentis had activated a full alert for the Kuat System the day before. They kept a watchful eye on the approaches through the Almuhit and Hasa had a subspace radio trooper monitoring the TIE/WACs chatter and alerts. That trooper was ordered to never be more than two meters away from Hasa at any time and currently occupied a chair just out of arm's reach of the general.

Recognizing New Thyfeeria's weak position, Hasa believed the only chance any of his troopers had of coming out alive was to catch the enemy's ships with their bombers in their hangars. That meant precise timing, a monumental dose of luck, or both.

New Thyfeeria would do its best, but Hasa knew it could not stand up under a massive Confederate and First Order attack.

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86th Wing Ready Room, newly renamed 5th Naval Wing, ISD Flood

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Lieutenant August watched the projectile's approach with an intense scowl. She pounced like a nexu, swinging her paddle across her chest and backhanding the small, white ball back across the net. Her opponent, Lieutenant Zahn, couldn't adjust for the spin she had put on it in time. His misaimed swing deflected the ball into a high arc where it landed among the rows of plush chairs filled with lounging TIE pilots.

One of them glared at the interruption to their ongoing conversation about where in the Empire their task force was exactly. No one below the Wing Commanders had the slightest clue, besides somewhere near the Almuhit Maelstrom since that could be seen outside of the ship's viewports.

August retrieved the ball and apologized to the irritated pilots. Everyone was on edge as scuttlebutt was filled with rumors that a full blown vapefight was on the horizon. Ro-loo was a mere jab, the Roblin Raid a pin prick. Everyone in the Fleet knew the biggest battles had been at Luna and Plympto Blight, and they had both been disasters for the Imperial Navy.

She returned to the table and tossed the ball to her panelman. Zahn held the ball in front of his paddle and prepared to serve. August wondered where ping pong came from and why one of the tables seemed to be in every pilot-ready room, she'd ever been in. Her father had told her the game hadn't been around when he flew in the last war. Perhaps it was another Earth game. They had a way of creeping into Imperial society in the most surprising ways. Zahn took one last look around the room before his serve. "Everyone's nerves are worn thin."

"Solars are coming, and this time I hear they've supposedly got First Order scum along for the ride." August replied.

"Oh? Fleet Admiral Gentis called you up and told you all this? Must be wizard to get a heads up from the Rhombus." Zahn yanked her tail.

"Fierfek you." August chuckled. She snapped the ball back on Zahn's serve.

"It was one thing facing X-wings. How in the Force were they able to build something to go toe-to-toe with our Interceptors in twenty years, I'll never know. But you saw the cams of the First Order TIEs when they hit Nal Kuat. Nasty schuttas." Zahn lobbed the ball back over the net.

"They can fly circles around us. That's why we need to try that new tactic I told you about. It's not like Captain Stalgis will be watching over our backs this time." August referred to their Squadron Commander.

"That's what worries me. You see how spread thin we are. Is it really the time to try out something so unorthodox when lives are on the line?" Zahn asked.

The truth was they had only recently been transferred to the Flood two days ago and nobody was used to the new shuffle yet. Fighter pilots were outnumbered almost four to one by bomber pilots as other fighter squadrons had been left behind at Nal Kuat to make more room for more assault craft. It seemed as if the Fleet Admiral wanted the strongest punch he could deliver. Each of the three Star Destroyers in the task force had been left with two Interceptor Squadrons of twenty-four TIEs. A mere handful to the larger number of bombers aboard. To make matters worse only twelve fighters had been assigned to the Flood's bombers as escorts while the other dozen were to remain as fighter cover for the Star Destroyers. Thirty-six fighters to attack the entire enemy fleet and thirty-six to fend off the entire enemy counter-strike. August did not like those odds.

"Just me and you shepherding twenty torpedo bombers. If we don't try something new those Silencers of theirs will chew them all to pieces before they can even launch their attacks." August argued.

"Fine. If it comes to it, and I find one of those bishwags on my tail. Then, and only then, will I try this new weave idea of yours. Maybe I'll even rack up a few kills to catch your three at Ro-loo." Zahn agreed.

"You've still got that Y-Wing at Wugosa." August attempted to build up her panelman's confidence.

"A partial. I share that kill with another pilot off the Slash."

"Yeah, well he was left behind, while we got sent here to the Flood. If I had to guess, we are about to enter a target rich environment." She zipped the ball across the table.

Zahn snatched the ball out of mid-air and stared at her. "Yeah? But for who? Us or the enemy?"

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Bridge of the Ryclclopper, 4.5 million kilometers from Kafrene Outpost

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"They're splitting up their fleet." Commander Galalloy announced as he raised the cloaked ship's forward sensor periscope.

"Are they all leaving, sir?" His XO, Lieutenant Sonsigo, asked.

"Here, have a look and get an exact count for Fleet Command." Galalloy stepped out of the way so that the Bravaisian 1st Lieutenant could get a look for himself. The Chief of the Boat, a sour-looking Deymasollian, activated the sensor's holorecorder and prepared to note the numbers of ships the XO spotted.

"I'm seeing four of those big First Order Star Destroyers." Lieutenant Sonsigo reported.

"Aye, they're kind of hard to miss. Latest Intel we got from New Mandalore said they were called Resurgents." Commander Galalloy pointed out.

"Signature matches four of the ships that struck Nal Kuat last year." Chief Davenspon interjected.

"Kriffing scum." Sonsigo muttered. Galolloy couldn't argue with the sentiment. "I count two Eiffels in the vanguard. Can't be sure but I think one of them might be Akfar's command ship, the actual Eiffel."

"Note that and run a passive spectrum scan." Galalloy told the Chief.

"Another six Narutos and maybe twenty Revenges. No fuelers or transports present. That can't be the entire invasion fleet." Sonsigo estimated.

"I saw about twenty Magnificients just sitting in orbit around Kafrene Outpost." Galalloy pointed out.

"Oh, I see that now, sir." The Lieutenant turned the periscope slightly in the direction of the nearby planet. "They look to be holding position. They've got an escort of minimum eighty ships over there including two massive, ugly brutes."

"The Fatalizer and Mizery. Mandators IVs, whatever they are. I know what the Fleet Admiral thinks they're doing, but what are your thoughts?" Galalloy asked his junior officer.

"I read the latest AMETHYST report. If New Thyfeeria is really the target, then I'm assuming the fleet that is splitting off and heading that way is the bait. If I was Akfar I would use them to lure in the Ares and then use those two bruisers to destroy it along with any hope the Empire still has of winning this war." Sonsigo summarized Galolloy's own thoughts perfectly.

"They ought to put you in for the next Fleet Admiral slot, Lieutenant."

"No thanks, sir. I love the Cloaked Service too much." Sonsigo replied.

"Here, here." Davenspon echoed.

"Shall I plot us a course to pursue the force heading towards New Thyfeeria, sir?" Sonsigo asked.

"No, our orders are to observe and report enemy ship movements and positions around Kafrene Outpost. Not to go gallivanting off after ship kills like the Emerald Shark did last month. Besides, our first priority is to report to Fleet Command that the enemy is on the move."

"Understood, sir. Shall I plot a course out of the local system so that we might make a sighting report?"

"No time. The Kuat System is the next system over. The enemy will be there at about the same time we are in position to make a report." Galalloy explained.

"Orders then, sir?"

"Prepare the buoy. Download our sighting report and estimate for microburst transmission and set the timer for one minute." Galalloy ordered.

"That's cutting it pretty close, sir. With our proximity to Kafrene Outpost the enemy is going to be all over us the minute that thing transmits." Sonsigo pointed out.

"I understand that. One minute will give us a nearly six-hundred-kilometer head start, and they won't have any idea what direction we headed in."

"Aye, aye, sir." Sonsigo went to work gathering up all the information from their sighting report as well as the last rotation of data on the enemy they had collected.

"Transmitter buoy is loaded, and timer set," Davenspon reported.

"Launch." Galalloy ordered, never taking his eyes off the moving ships of Akfar's task force.

"Buoy away."

"Flank speed. Turn us to course three zero zero with eight degrees up bubble." Galalloy told his crew. The buoy fell away from the speeding cloaked ship as it raced away to a new position.

The seconds ticked by as they put more distance between themselves and their transmitter. At exactly sixty seconds a short microburst of encoded information was sent back to Fleet Headquarters on Nal Kuat and Military Headquarters at the Rhombus on Palpatine Prime. At nearly the same second every First Order and Space Force transceiver in the system picked up the short burst. It was too quick for them to jam but not to prevent them from triangulating its position.

There was a bright flash of light behind the Ryclclopper that illuminated the flank viewports on the ship. Every sailor aboard the bridge raised their hands to cover their eyes and for a moment Galalloy feared his ship had been struck by something.

"One of the Mandators fired their main weapon, sir. Our buoy was atomized." Davenspon reported.

"Wee bit of overkill, don't you think?" Sonsigo added.

"Imagine if that had been us." Galalloy didn't want to make his crew worry unnecessarily but they had to know the stakes in the game they were playing.

We've got a trio of Revenge corvettes vectoring in on our position." Davenspon reported. The chief was watching over the shoulder of the sailor manning the subspace radio. "CommScan is picking up over a thousand new signals. Sounds like the First Order and Space Force ships in the vicinity are arguing with each other."

"We really kicked open a piranha beetle nest. But none of that is going to matter if we can't avoid that schutta right there." Galalloy shouted and pointed at the Europe class frigate that had just turned head on into their current course. "Hard turn to port."

"What angle, sir?" Sonsigo asked, pushing the helmsman away from her station and taking over.

"Any angle! Kriffing move!" Galalloy hissed.

They passed within three hundred meters of the Europe frigate. Her shield and thruster baffles shook the Ryclclopper like an aak dog with a new chew toy. Galalloy braced himself by holding onto one of the handhelds in the short ceiling above him. Davenspon was forced to one knee to retain his balance.

The frigate charged towards the area from where the buoy had transmitted. About two kilometers aft of the Ryclclopper the larger Space Force vessel started dropping seismic charges. She launched a batch of ten of the deadly seismic charges in her wake. Each one waited several seconds before exploding in a perfect disk of blue energy.

Even with the growing distance the Ryclclopper was putting between herself and her pursuers, the seismic charges were still nearly powerful enough to shake Galalloy's teeth loose when their sonic waves struck his cloaked ship. Sailors were knocked out of their stations and electrical sparks rained down in areas where equipment had been shaken apart.

"What is the cloaking device's status?" Galalloy demanded.

"Still holding, sir. Shields at fifty percent and climbing." Davenspon reported back. "Enemy is still focusing on the buoy's last position but they're starting to widen their search pattern."

"Understood. Bring us to the edge of the system with zigzag changes every two minutes. We will resume our reconnaissance on their main fleet from there." Galalloy ordered.

"Aye, aye, Commander."

"Sir, that was some risk we took." Sonsigo had given the helm back to the regular helmsman and returned to the Commander's side.

"We didn't have time to waste getting out of SigInt range. FleetCom needs to know those breakaway ships are on their way." Galalloy stated. He was right. The Ryclclopper was an insignificant sacrifice to the Empress in the name of victory. In the end, the Empire needed to be saved no matter the cost.

Sonsigo nodded. "It's in the Fleet's hands now."

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Hangar Deck, ISD Slash, Imperial Task Force, Almuhit Mealstrom

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1st Lieutenant Bastion watched the droids loading his TIE/sa Bomber carefully and muttered to himself. "Man, they weren't kidding. Times really have changed."

"Sir?" His bombardier, Senior Airman Tonks, looked at Bastion strangely whenever he caught his pilot talking to himself.

Bastion pointed at the two KX droids loading his airspeeder's bomb bay with energy explosives. "It's the droids. Last time I was on a Star Destroyer, the Purgatory, it took five deck crew to load the bombers."

"It takes fewer droids than beings to load bombs, and the clankers can do it in half the time." Tonks said.

"Just something to get used to. Hangar feels like a ghost town with half the flight deck missing." Bastion added. He had been too young to serve in the Empire-Earth War and had spent his time in the TIE Corps ten years after the war. After five years of duty, he transferred to the reserves and worked for the HEEC. Nal Kuat had changed all that. He had reenlisted before he got conscripted again and sent back to flight school on Anoat Minor for a refresher course. He'd barely completed his training when he had been assigned to the Slash just before she departed Nal Kuat for the Void. One of the few beings he really knew aboard the ship was Tonks, and that was only because they had been assigned together as a crew a few weeks before graduation.

"Look alive, here comes the CO." Tonks warned.

Sure enough their Bomber Wing Commander, High Colonel Seedash, was heading their way. The senior bomber pilot had four junior TIE crewman following in her wake. She held the blue and white Navigator Helmet tucked under her left arm and exchanged salutes with Bastion. "Lieutenant Bastion. I hope you're settling aboard alright."

"Yes, ma'am. We were just making sure the tinnies loaded our bombs correctly." Bastion nodded to the two KX droids underneath his assigned bombers.

"Yes, they're a new addition to the Slash's complements. As for the bombs, most of the TIEs in my Wing will be carrying the standard thousand kilo bombs. Because you are the section leader of the last three bombers in the launch racks you have the most room to build up speed and will carry some of the two thousand kilo bombs. These troopers will make up the rest of your section."

"Aye, ma'am." Bastion couldn't argue against the merits of going into battle with untested panelmen. Not when everyone in the fleet knew contact with the enemy was rapidly approaching. He looked over at the new TIE crewmen. Two Rodians and two humans who stood at attention behind the High Colonel, they all looked like they had been pulled from the Academies and shoved straight into TIEs. They all had to have been born in the colonies, as there was no way they were old enough to have come through the 'big jump'.

"I'll leave you to get acquainted. Remember we are on yellow alert. Be prepared to launch at a moment's notice." Seedash saluted once more and then was gone, barking orders at deck crew and TIE crew alike as she walked down the flight line.

It turned out the Rodians were the pilots while the two human crewmen were their bombardiers. They introduced themselves with names Bastion was sure he'd learn if he had more time. "We're not supposed to use call signs until we are out in the Void, but I'm Star Scream."

"I'm Ghest and this is Khardax." The more vocal of the two Rodians gave their call signs. Bastion made it a point to remember that. In the next day it was more likely he'd be talking to them over comm channels than face to face.

"You boys just out of the Academy? You can't be more than twenty life days."

"Nineteen, sir." Ghest replied. "But yeah, we both graduated from the Martian Academy last year and spent the past eight months on Koodan. We've both got over two hundred hours in Void flight time."

"You guys ever try this climb and dive-bombing stuff FleetCom suddenly has a bug up their shebs about?" Bastion asked his new panelmen.

"We only heard about it three weeks ago. The Mandalorians said it worked at New Mandalore. They took down an Imperial class Star Destroyer with it." Ghest said.

"They also said the First Order uses it." Khardax added. "Yes, sir, we've been practicing it in the simulators. Don't know why it's so much better than level bombing yet."

"Yeah, skip-bombing might have worked against the solars in the last war. But we're in a Void fight now."

"Your first, sir?" Ghest asked.

"Yep. I just climbed back from the reserves. Did my time as a buckethead ten years ago, after the last war was already settled. Then worked for the HEEC." Bastion explained. Both of the younger pilots scowled at the thought of not flying TIEs for the Navy. Well, wait until they have to experience the poodoo regulations that come with it. Give them a year and they'll be itching to fly for themselves in the private sector. Hopefully, the war will be over by then. Even more hopefully, they'll survive the war.

"You really believe the scuttlebutt, sir? That the First Order is coming out with Space Force this time?" Ghest asked.

"I don't know. I guess we will find out when we find out. Just remember to do one thing."

"What is that, sir?" The two pilots asked together.

"Stick on my shebs. No matter how crazy it gets out there." Bastion worried it was going to be worse than anything anyone could imagine.

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Bridge, Revenge class corvette Ragnarok, Kuat Sector, Akfar Task Force

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Just when he thought things were finally settling down for his crew, the sailors of the Ragnarok were dealt another gut punch just before sailing with Admiral Akfar's advance strike force.

The entire Space Force had been slapped in the face with the Roblin Raid. Nearly every Confederate News Network anchor asked again and again where had Space Force been and how they had allowed the small raid on Earth to happen. Never mind that the material damage and loss of lives had been relatively minor back on their homeworld, people were afraid, and reputations had been tarnished and destroyed.

President Harris had pushed up the second phase of the war's offensive. At least he had pressured the First Order and their larger warships to join the fight this time. Already they had loaned their blasters into the siege of New Mandalore with reports that they had sunk nearly five Acclamators from the rogue state. And now their main force had come to Kafrene Outpost in an effort to draw out the remaining Imperial Fleet, including the monster Ares. It was a ship the Ragnarok's captain knew all too well, for he was the only commander in the Allied Fleet to have ever walked her decks. He had once aimed her main weapon at Mars and ended an entire war.

Hours before they had set sail, a massive cyber-attack had been launched back on Earth. Centering on data storage, it had gutted some of the Earth's largest social networks. Mallory's Space Force email had survived, but the personal one he had held since he was in grade school had been wiped out of existence, along with his Amazon, Instagram and several other app accounts. Suddenly, other than a few physical photos his mother still had, his entire childhood and teenage years had vanished into the galactic ether. The only things that still remained were the CNN articles about his involvement in the last war and military records in Space Force. For many billions more back on Earth, it was like they never existed.

The emails were the first and worst thing he noticed. Many of his sailors were stressed that they couldn't keep in contact with friends and family back home. Many had lost all contact with lifelong friends and had no way of reconnecting without their socials. However, the war could not be halted, and when Akfar ordered the task force to set sail, a complete communication blackout with Earth fell upon the entire fleet.

"How are you doing, Commander?" Mallory asked Commander Romano when his executive officer returned to the bridge for the next watch.

"Restless. I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Kids?" Mallory asked, knowing the answer already.

"Aye. My wife is all over me. Confederate Child Services Geo-tags their every move through Tik-Tok. Now that it's suspended until further notice, she's worried they'll wander into a 3rd Classer neighborhood. There is a large one outside of Naples and crime there is out of control." Romano said, stationing himself behind the bank of sailors manning the sensor arrays.

"Not much you can do about it out here. Besides, one day the President wants to ship all 2nd Classers out to the colonies. You'd feel better if they were back on Kafrene Outpost?" Mallory joked. Kafrene was a frozen slush ball of a planet. Its few inhabitants, the Talz and Boosodians, liked the cold as much as they hated the CEN. Most had fled their colony when it had fallen to the Confederacy, but a few had fled to the obsidian mountains and used blizzards to cover guerilla raids on Space Force's buildup and construction sites.

Romano scowled at the idea. He had been keen on the tropical islands of Ro-loo before the Empire had raided them and nearly blown up the parked Ragnarok there. Instead, he changed the subject. "Is this new Fleet Op Order from the Assaulter correct?"

"Aye, it came from Admiral Akfar and that General Crisis themselves. Some kind of invisible ship sent a comm signal almost from the heart of Jethran's docked main fleet."

"So the rumors out of the Cendret System were correct." Romano said. Though CNN didn't report it there was scuttlebutt that several ships had been destroyed back near Cendret by an unknown aggressor. The ship didn't appear on any sensor and wasn't able to be spotted by the naked eye. Though to be fair, with the distances involved, spotting anything in space was tough.

"Yeah, the Empire has some kind of submarine-like-spaceship out there. Could be the same one from Cendret or they could have more. I heard Admiral Akfar asked Jethran about it and the First Order jerk just clammed up." Mallory gossiped.

"They know more than they're telling. Some ally. But this invisible ship though, sounds like we're going to have to do the Battle of the Atlantic all over again." Romano pointed out.

"Nobody alive from back then to show us how. We just have to keep vigilant. The Op Order stated they don't know if the ship that sent that signal is following us or still stalking the Main Fleet. The Revenges back there are claiming they got the bastard with seismic mines."

"There would be wreckage proving it, wouldn't there?" Romano asked.

"I would assume so. Even if they didn't destroy its Klingon-like cloaking device, they would have still blown pieces off of it if they had clipped it. No, that ship is still out there."

"Just waiting for its shot. And you boys are our eyes and ears if he's around." Romano slapped the shoulders of the sailors at the sensor monitors. They narrowed their eyes and took their duties very seriously.

"How is the task force doing?" Romano asked.

"Good, we just passed out of the Kafrene System. That big swirling gas cloud up ahead is the Almuhit Mealstrom, but somewhere in that half parsec wide hole in the front lays New Thyferria with Nal Kuat somewhere beyond it." Mallory explained. He looked at the navigation display. The Ragnarok was still in position as the furthest port ship in the screening line of Revenges. Nine other corvettes were arranged in a perfect line to their starboard side stretching out nearly two hundred kilometers away from the Ragnarok. The larger Eiffel and Naruto cruisers followed the center Revenges closely stewarding the four large Resurgents Star Destroyers that made up the teeth of their attack force. Following the Star Destroyers were two more First Order vessels, the two Maxima-A cruisers surrounded by the remaining Revenges of the task force performing rear security. More firepower than they had wielded at the battles of Plympto Blight or Luna within the last six months.

"I see you sent out the Moxxis" Romano observed.

"Yeah, we needed the extra eyes once we arrive in the Kuat System. A couple of the other Revenges have done the same." Mallory admitted. His two X-1s could do a lot more good flying patrol than strapped to the sides of the corvette. And this way Lieutenants Moon and Mallory got more flight hours.

"You don't believe the official reports? That the enemy fleet is gathering near Onasi V?" Romano joked. They both had doubts about official reports by this point.

"Until I see it with my own eyes, I'm going to act like the Imperial Navy is just over the horizon." Mallory said.

"There aren't any horizons in space." Romano replied.

"You know what I mean. Out of eyesight then." Mallory looked at the navicomp. "Bring the crew up. I want all watches manning their stations. Place the ship on Yellow Alert."

"General Quarters?"

"Not just yet. But we're getting close. Have the galley secure for action and serve the crew one last cold meal. In fact, have the whole ship secure for action."

"Aye, aye, Captain." Romano agreed and started issuing orders of his own. Within seconds klaxons roused the Ragnarok's sailors to their battle stations as the corvette prepared for action.

It wouldn't be enough to save them.

The sailor manning the FOD Radar was the first to spot the danger. "Unknown object. Three-four Mikes forward. It's magnetizing to us."

"Mine!" Romano shouted. "Shields to full."

"Hard to port!" Mallory shouted at the helmsman. He knew it was futile. At .07 sublight the Ragnarok would cover the thirty-four kilometers between the starship in the mine in just over a second.

The Imperial booby trap collided with the ship at over half the speed of light. The shields were the only thing that prevented the mass of the object from ripping through the titanium and durasteel armor like a cannonball through plywood. A ripple of purple-blue lightning arcs encased the ships for several seconds as the device exploded in a cloud of ionized energy.

On the bridge the lights went out, instantly pitching the entire ship into darkness. The environmental controls cut off causing Mallory and Romano to float away from the deck as artificial gravity vanished. The rest of the crew were strapped into the chairs at their stations, but Mallory could see by the emergency lights on several consoles that his sailors' hair was standing on end. They all looked momentarily like the bride of Frankenstein. Mallory felt a metallic taste in his mouth. "Fuck me, if that wasn't an ion mine."

"Had to be. Get Lieutenant Doggle up here from Engineering right away." Romano told a runner. The sailor saluted and floated away.

"Is everyone alright? What is still up?" Mallory demanded.

"Engines are down. Same with weapons."

"Shields are powered down."

"Environmentals are shot. Going to need a restart."

"Sensors need a reboot."

"Navicomp is offline."

"Comms at fifty percent." A sailor reported, which made some sense since they were hardwired against EMP attack away from the rest of the ship's systems.

Mallory floated over to the comm station. "What do you still have up?"

"Just LOS short wave. I'm still patched through with Moxxi Flight, but everything long range and ship intercoms are all down, sir." The sailor reported.

"Pull in Moxxi Flight. Let them know what happened and that it might be a while before we can retrieve them."

Lieutenant Doggle drifted onto the bridge and reported to Mallory. "Sir, I've got bad news and more bad news."

"Give it to me, kid." Mallory replied. This wasn't the time to mess around, they were still drifting forward, and the temperature was going to start dropping soon.

"The power loop converter blew and needs to be replaced. On top of that the Energy Converter scrambled its code. I've got the chief working on a reboot right now. The rest of my engineering team is pulling out the power converters and we need to pull their replacements out of storage." Doggle reported.

"How long will it take to get us back online?" Mallory asked, fearing the worst.

"If we were back in port with access to shipyard facilities I could do it, no problem. As it were I'd guess half a day to get the Rok back up and running."

"I'll give you eight hours." Mallory told the Engineering officer.

"Aye, Captain." Doggle turned himself about and propelled himself off of the bridge.

Mallory turned to the sailor at the handicapped communication station. "Better let the Admiral know. Get me on the horn with the Fleet Commander."

The sailor handed Mallory an old-fashioned telephone receiver plugged into the comm's monitor. With the damage they had received it was about all that still worked. "Ship-to-ship channel open."

"Assaulter, this is Ragnarok." Mallory announced on the phone.

"Ragnarok, Assaulter here. What happened over there?" An officer with that annoying British accent the First Order all seemed to have had answered. Mallory was positive it wasn't Admiral Akfar or Captain Setrauss he was talking to. Probably not even that golden armored General Crisis guy. The First Order loved its layers of authority between high command and its troopers and sailors. Mallory hated it. That type of bullshit cost time and lives.

"We ran into an ion mine. Most of my ship's systems are down. We are enacting repairs now."

"Acknowledged. We performed a full sensor sweep after you hit it. There are at least a dozen more of those objects on our port flank. Luckily, they didn't hit anything important. The Admiral is turning the fleet onto a new course now." The dispassionate bastard aboard the Assaulter replied. Nothing important? If he ever met that guy in the officer's club back on Kafrene Outpost he'd show him what was important and what wasn't, with his knuckles.

"My engineers think they can get us back up and running in half a rotation. We can probably get impulse power to our engines in an hour. We shall turnabout and make our way back to Kafrene Outpost as soon as we are able." Mallory reported.

"Belay that. Landings on Target Alexandria are scheduled to start tomorrow. Its expected surrender is predicted within one hour of initial landings by First Order forces. You shall proceed at impulse and repair your ship at Alexandria." The Assaulter ordered.

"Understood." Mallory didn't like the extra hassle of continuing on. Kafrene Outpost had a much more secure repair facility. Who really knew what waited for them ahead at New Thyfeeria.

"One more thing, Ragnarok."

"Go ahead, Assaulter."

"Dispatch your two escorts to the Lady Liberty. They will augment our scouting force during predicted enemy contact within the next three rotations." Assaulter ordered again. The First Order only took, they never gave unless it suited their own purposes, Mallory thought.

"Copy that, Assaulter. We shall send Moxxi Flight to the Lady Liberty for reassignment." Mallory obeyed. He hated the thought of his sister, Emma, being out there on her own, with battle around the corner. Thank god an Earthling was in command of the operation. The First Order would have liked nothing more than to throw more Confederate lives on the Imperial fire.

"Good luck, Ragnarok. We shall see you when you reach Target Alexandria. Assaulter out." The Resurgent signed off. They had dismissed their smaller escort like a cockroach on the sidewalk, Mallory thought.

"Contact Moxxi Flight and tell them to report to the Lady Liberty." Mallory ordered the comm sailor.

"What's the news, Captain?" Romano floated over to his side.

"We're to make our repairs as best we can, then proceed on to New Thyfeeria." Mallory said.

"We're going to miss the big show."

"Well, that mine had other plans for us. Sounds like the First Order doesn't mind leaving us out here deaf, blind and dumb. They're taking away Moxxi Flight." Mallory informed his executive officer.

Romano looked worried, as he had every right to be. They were free floating next to an Imperial mine field after all. He looked out of the forward cockpit windows where the rest of the assault force was fading away to starboard. "They abandoned us?"

"Aye, and if we're not careful some bogeyman out here is going to snatch us right up."

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TIE/WAC Herf, Patrol Zone Zerek-Six-Six, Border between Kafrene and Kuat Systems

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Chief Bakoosta commed their young ensign piloting the spy craft to keep the nose of their clumsy-looking TIE/WAC pointed rimward, while his clear violet eyes scanned the majestic arc of the passes through the Almuhit along the border between the two systems. Bakoosta and his crew were on regular patrol flight out of New Thyfeeria in the general direction of Kafrene Outpost. As the electronic warfare craft droned on at .06 sublight, gaseous clouds within the Almuhit were at a minimal in this patrol sector allowing near limitless visibility for their sensors. If anything were to be seen in this sector, these TIE crewmen should see it, and if they did not they could not blame it on a passing meteorite field or radiation cloud. For conditions were perfect, and the rotation was still young. A glance at his chrono told Bakoosta the time was about 0900.

He and his crew had rolled out of their bunks that morning at 0300. After the usual breakfast of Ronto Morning Wraps, Iktotch toast, Garto omelets and caf, they attended the early morning briefing of the five TIE/WAC reconnaissance mission. Along with the other twenty-nine crewmen, the most Bakoosta had ever seen in one place during his career, they were informed by General Hasa himself as to the probability of an invasion of New Thyfeeria.

However, no one had said anything about the extent of Confederate Forces or the disposition of friendly Imperial Forces. So Bakoosta had no idea what they might run into, if indeed he might run into anything at all. But he knew something was going to pop somewhere around New Thyfeeria soon.

"Stay alert at your stations." He cautioned his crew, of which he was most proud. They continued to do this most willingly, even though they had been flying over fourteen hours standard per rotation for a week now.

The Chief's eyes swept the long-range scanners with particular care, for along with the possibility of sighting part of the Confederate Space Force, he was also thinking of the imminent danger of being spotted by the Earthling Y-Wings flying out of Kafrene Outpost. The Y-Wings had already badly mauled two TIE/WACs and Bakoosta had no intention of becoming the third.

Disappointment bit into Chief Bakoosta as he bent over his navicomp and sensors. They were now six hours out of New Thyfeeria, at the end of their outward search leg, and the crew had not yet spotted a Confederate patrol Y-Wing, much less a starship. Reluctantly, he prepared to notify the pilot that the time had come to turn into the dog leg.

Under normal circumstances, no TIE/WAC crewman in his right senses would be disappointed because he did not have to try conclusions with a Boeing Y-Wing, but on this particular mission something new had been added. The previous evening, some newly arrived MegaFortress crew had met with Bakoosta's troopers, and loudly sang the praises of their new MegaCaliber explosive tibanna bolts.

"If you hit the enemy with just one of these blue bolts," Airman Dodger had assured Bakoosta, "It will blow the whole Y-Wing up."

To Bakoosta and his eager crew, this sounded like just what the med-droid had ordered. Their assigned patrol was pointed toward Kafrene Outpost, so the crew believed the chances were good, or bad, depending on the point of view, of encountering Confederate patrol craft. These wonder bolts would go far to evening the odds and perhaps give them a chance to avenge their injured buddies. The Herf's crew promptly traded or borrowed six of the bolt cartridges and placed three of them in each chin cannon.

"Chief, can't we stretch the sector another ten minutes?" Pleaded Airman Foxtrain from her station at the forward subspace radio. "I'm sure we'll spot a Solar airspeeder."

Bakoosta commed the pilot in the cockpit module. "Ensign, how's our fuel?"

"We've got enough to handle an extra twenty to forty minutes safely, Chief." Ensign Lars replied. Just like everyone else in the crew Bakoosta was just as eager to try out those new blue bolts.

"Ensign, just follow my navigation. I'll give you the time to turn and I hope we do find something before we do turn." Bakoosta replied. He not only liked the idea of dishing out a surprise to the Kafrene Outpost Y-Wing patrol, but he still hoped for a glimpse of Confederate ships. So he approved the first ten minute extension, and when that expired fruitlessly, he went on for another ten. Then, deciding that further search was useless, he started to activate the pilot comm in his bucket's HUD to order the Ensign to swing into the cross leg to reach the homebound line back to New Thyfeeria.

Just as he did so, Airman Dodger sat straight up in his jump seat, causing Bakoosta to look over the trooper's shoulder at his SigInt station. Dodger looked back at Bakoosta to make sure his Chief was seeing what he was seeing. At first Bakoosta thought they were dirty spots on the sensor monitor. He stayed on the original course, then did a quick double take and shouted to the rest of the crew, "By the Seven Hells, aren't those ships over there? I believe we hit the jackpot."

Airman Foxtrain activated the craft's electrotelescope and trained it on the distant specks, sending the feed to each of the crew's individual stations. Yes, those were ships Dodger had sighted. Then, within seconds, Ensign Lars shouted over the comm. "I've spotted starships dead ahead approximately seventy-five to eighty thousand kilometers."

Bakoosta shouted to Foxtrain. "Send this message to base: Sighted Main Body. Bearing two-six-two, distance seventy million."

Foxtrain did as she was ordered, but seconds later reported. "New Thyfeeria wants us to amplify search and verify report."

That was nice, however TIE/WAC Herf was not yet in a position to amplify anything. The ships were at a considerable distance, and he needed a clearer view before he could determine their number and type. So, after he verified the ship's direction, coreward into the Kuat System, he had Ensign Lars cut their ion emissions and skim-drift as the fleet sailed past. Afterwards, they turned rimward for five minutes on a perpendicular right angle with the enemy vessels, Then Bakoosta guided their course onto a coreward heading and flew just out of sensor range of the mysterious starships for twenty minutes.

In the meantime, New Thyfeeria was getting impatient. Foxtrain turned back to Bakoosta. "It's General Hasa himself this time. He is demanding we amplify our earlier report."

Chief Bakoosta could feel the stress emanating from the distant world. No doubt General Hasa and Moff Tanax had brought their strike bombers to alert. If Herf confirmed the ship's identity, then Hasa could launch his main attack before the enemy launched their own.

About twenty more minutes elapsed before he could comply. By that time Ensign Lars had gingerly nosed their TIE/WAC within eight thousand kilometers. Bakoosta gave Foxtrain another message to encode. "Four large vessels in column. Unknown Star Destroyer class. Two Battlecruisers, four to five cruisers or equivalent. Fourteen plus smaller escorts."

Foxtrain was so scared she could hardly read back the report. But she got the report off, no doubt exasperating its recipients at New Thyfeeria. Bakoosta could hardly believe the report he had authored. Those looked like those new First Order ships he had been briefed about. They had finally come out to play with their Confederate ally.

Within three minutes they received new orders. Foxtrain announced Hasa's message. "Give type, course and speed."

Bakoosta accepted the prodding with good-natured resignation. He knew that they could have made a more comprehensive report of the enemy invasion force from a closer distance. But he also wanted to keep from the enemy the fact that they had been sighted, and he was trying to see as much as possible without being seen. He was sure those Star Destroyers carried scores of fighters for cover. If a keen-eyed watch saw them and sent out an A-Wing, his bulky TIE/WAC would have no more chance than a porg against a hook-hawk.

With no cover, their only hope was to play a nexu and womp rat game, changing direction frequently and keeping as close to gas clouds from the nearby Almuhit as possible. Moreover, Bakoosta wanted to remain astern of the vessels, for not only could he get a better sweep of view from the rear, but the ion baffles of a great ship are also often visible before the vessel itself to advanced sensors. Then, too, he wisely reasoned, enemies bent on invasion would be more likely to look for a patrol airspeeder in front of them than on their stern.

After observing the mixed column of First Order and Space Force ships for a few minutes, Bakoosta had Ensign Lars take them closer to cover near a protruding Almuhit gas cloud and sped coreward into the Kuat System for another million kilometers. The TIE/WAC was now well behind the enemy fleet, with an impressive array of hostile durasteel standing between them and any possible assistance from New Thyfeeria in case of trouble. This course of action required an unusual combination of imagination, cool calculation, and physical courage, all of which the TIE/WAC crew had in abundance. Now they just had to rely on the will of the Force.

Once more Chief Bakoosta changed their course, switching from galactic coreward to system coreward, continuing in this direction until he picked up a group of ion baffles trailing the vessels. This time Bakoosta could make a careful count of the main ships, which he ran through the latest targeting computer update from FleetIntel, and Foxtrain encoded another report to New Thyfeeria.

"Eight capital ships including thirty escorts course 090, speed .07. Including four Resurgents, two First Order heavy cruisers of unknown type, two Eiffel cruisers, and many light-cruisers, frigates and corvettes. Herf requesting instructions." Foxtrain transmitted.

Up to this point, these young TIE crewmen had been much too interested and excited to comprehend exactly what their position was. Now, suddenly, it swept over them in a ripple of reaction. Bakoosta leaned forward and quietly asked Dodger, "What do you think of your explosive blue bolts now?"

"I just looked at those bolts, Chief. They've turned yellow."