Star Wars STAR WARS: INTERVENTION (A story-telling style OT starfighter game)---Always taking new players!

IC: Havah Jeth / Glove / Pic
Space, The Tuneless Void

Glove dutiful in it's purpose and mission statement already had the transmission software set up to redirect all in coming comms to him. The latest atrocity to pass through its circuits was being faithfully recorded for possible use. Although this did present a problem, Fress was actively checking his masters status and unless something was done he would have to disturb his master, a direct violation of present standing orders. Which left only one option, sending a directed pulse sequence he opened short range communications with Pic in the crafts storage compartment.

[Warning, possible invalidation of orders determined imediate threat recognized. Need assistance to cover for Master's silence. Recomendations sought.]

{Acknowledged. Processing. . .processing. . .processing. . .. Solution discovered, feed vocal translation through comm system.}

[Working. . .working. . .parameters established. Awaiting transmission body.]

{Sending.}

[Relaying.]

Crackling over the comms would come the cleaned up comm traffic that one would normally hear from their master. "Shut that lesson in slow torture off and keep your focus where it belongs, until we figure we are clear we remain, and then return to new ship." The whole of the comm transmission was taken from approximately seventeen point two words spoken in the correct inflections and then put together with machine accurate spacings. Hopefully it would cover for their Master now.

TAG: Falcon, Ninja

 

IC: Fress Colias
X-wing patrol

"There has got to be a better way to wake someone up rather then give them nightmares about llamas. This is about as bad as some of the childrens songs that I heard being song growing up. I decided it was best if I didn't learn them...as they annoyed me then. What are your scans showing you? So far, Buddy and I have a clean slate out there. What about you?"

Fress heard Kasumi chuckling. She shook her head as she thought about it. “I think this song is a bad joke then anything else, or making fun of said children stories. The feeling died down shortly after the freighter jumped. I keep thinking something else is out there but my Force sense isn’t jumping. I’m getting nothing on my scanners. It’s a clean slate. That freighter was most likely just here to pick up the Imperials,” she paused for a second as her personal comlink went off. “Firecracker speaking.”

“Fress, this is Cody. Do I have your permission to take your headhunter and meet with you aboard the SOJ?”

”Oh? Did you change your mind about going aboard the Delinquent?” Fress questioned with a frown. “I don’t mind at all. There’s no astromech.”

“I noticed, yeah got a feeling,” Cody answered.

“You’re not going Jedi on me, are you?” Fress teased with a smile.

“No, just can’t shake the feeling,” Cody answered with a frown.

“It saves me from having to leave her there. Why don’t you join us here and I can get you the meet up coordinates. The SOJ already jumped,” Fress explained with a frown as she rattled off the coordinates.

“Got them, thanks Fress. I’ll see you shortly.”

I wonder what caused Cody to change his mind? She shook her head not worrying about it now.

"Shut that lesson in slow torture off and keep your focus where it belongs, until we figure we are clear we remain, and then return to new ship."

Fress frowned as she heard Jeth’s voice but she didn’t buy it. It sounded like him but she heard some usual static in the background. She had others pull this stunt on her, and she wasn't born yesterday. “Saber, is this fixed?”

Saber beeped causing her to look down. //My scanners indicate that this is a 99.9% voice recording. It’s fixed. Glove is not allowing you to make contact, is he?//

“No he’s not,” Fress agreed with a frown. “Is Jeth still napping or is he really awake?”

//Vital readings indicate he’s still asleep,// Saber answered.

“Glove, I can see you’re not letting me through. I’m going to draw the line now. If Jeth feels this tired, he should meet up with the SOJ and get some sleep. Someone is meeting us out here with my headhunter shortly. If the Imperials jump us all of a sudden, it can take someone as long as five to seven minutes to get his bearings from waking up, and I don’t like the thought of pulling this job from dead cold fingers. I’m more strict about these things then I’m letting on. In case you’re wondering how I knew about Jeth napping, Saber scanned his vitals five minutes ago and has just informed me he’s still napping.”

Tag Mitth Coffee,

OOG: Yeah so if anyone has figured this out yet, Fress is peeved.

 

OOG: If I have missed any tags, please let me know. Thanks! Have to log out before posting again tonight. Sorry for the double post (if I get it up in time tonight)...


IC: Ler
Hanger Bay, Johnny Boy


“Don’t worry about it, I’m Cody. Has the SOJ jumped yet or is there meet up coordinates?”

Ler was dagging a piece of spaceframe from a starfighter back across the deck on a holo sled when he interrupted the Wookiee from responding.

"You better get going, Cody. Or your going to miss your flight. The SOJ is holding station at the coordinates, but the Johnny Boy is leaving as soon as we can. So you better get going!"

As the droid walked past, the Wookiee looked at the Clone Trooper, "Yep, he has emotional stress! Where is Sydney when I need him!" The Wookiee roared, shook his head, and got back to work on counting and storing supplies in the under-the-deck storage.


Tag Falcon

 

OOG: Please see the Rocketjock for more information regarding this username.


IC: Darth Vader
Bridge, Devastator, hyperspace, nearing Christophsis


Chriistophis wasn't their destination, but what lay beyond Christophsis, was their destination, in Grid 18-R...










....was. While known to various public agencies as a scientific project on the discovery of a planetary phenomena that just happen to be in the middle of a Imperial Navy live-fire training area. Access was restricted to those check-and-balance agencies and the new reporters. Everything ran like clock work under everyone's noses. The appearance of Beast fleets engaging Imperial forces were passed off as either drone ships for firing practice or long-lost pirate fleets that had become ravages. The story switched each day, depending on the commanding officer's mood.

So, the Empire's biggest top secret project, more secret then the "Top Secret" Death Star project, was right under everyone's noses and no one even knew about it. A course, it helped that the Imperial controlled media very rarely broadcasted anything over the holo-net involving the nicknamed "Planet Phenomena".

For now, Darth Vader watched the blue swirling tunnel of hyperspace consume the six Star Destroyers. The Central Red Rock Processing Unit was hanging in the hanger bay of Vader's Star Destroyer. It was rumored that Hilick Soal had finally completed his task and had captured the last two pieces of Red Rock. Vader had heard that his Master, Emperor Palpatine, had killed the Imperial Investigator for his failures, only to bring him back to life as a slave.

A slave that Vader felt like at times as well.

It ended today. Padme Amidala, his long dead wife, had been resting on Naboo. Had been was the key word or at least it would be. Once Vader reached Project Zero, he planned on using the Red Rock on himself. It had been his deepest, darkest kept secret and one that he was wise to hide from the Emperor and his spies. If it worked, then this mechanical body could be done away with, the Emperor's control over him would be done, he would topple the Emperor and name himself Emperor...and the galaxy would see true peace, as he had told Padme that day in the fields outside of her secret retreat house on Naboo before the start of the Clone Wars. Finally, the galaxy would know peace. No more lies from the Jedi or the Emperor.

Peace, as Anakin Skywalker had envisioned it before Obi-Wan betrayal and his transformation into Darth Vader.

Peace and order. And maybe, if the wicked old Emperor's promise was even remotely true about using the Force to bring Padme back to life...maybe this Red Rock was the vehicle to do it. But, Vader would test it on himself before disturbing his late wife's remains. The moral debate of whether there were souls or not, life after death, or any other post dead stories was pushed back in Vader's mind. This was as close as he had gotten to reclaiming his true identity of Anakin Skywalker and having the life he should have had with Padme and their future children.

And no one was going to stop him...


TBC

 

IC: Cody/Fress Colias
Headhunter patrol

"You better get going, Cody. Or your going to miss your flight. The SOJ is holding station at the coordinates, but the Johnny Boy is leaving as soon as we can. So you better get going!"

​

Cody raised an eyebrow after he contacted Fress for information. He better get going but that droid needed an emotional overhaul.

"Yep, he has emotional stress! Where is Sydney when I need him!"

“He’s on the Delinquent,” Cody answered with a frown. “Transferred over. That droid needs an emotional stress overhaul,” he walked over to the headhunter and climbed up. When he settled into the seat he pulled the helmet over his head and brought the engines up. The engines purred like he never known before. He grinned, Fress babied this thing, and he never heard engines run fairly quiet before. Or maybe that much has changed but he remembered how noisy the X-wings were. “Shadow to Control, open the hangar doors.”

“Copy that, Shadow, the meet up coordinates have been downloaded into your nav computer,” someone answered.

Cody looked down and noticed coordinates for a twenty-minute jump, that\’s what Fress meant about meet up coordinates. “Thanks control,” he pushed the headhunter out of the hangar bay and headed towards where Fress said the others were. She had a habit of pulling people who were sleeping behind the stick off and asking someone else to join the small group on patrol.

Cody tuned into a comlink frequency and heard the tail end of the Llama song. Someone must’ve fallen asleep on her out here and he highly doubt it was Kasumi. He frowned, wasn’t Jeth supposed to be over seeing Fress’s training, not napping? He patched through on Fress’s comlink and to him she sounded angry, it sounded like she was telling a droid off.

“Shadow to firecracker, where do you want me?” Cody questioned.

“Good of you to join us, Shadow,” Fress’s voice sounded relieved. “I want you in Spook’s spot. It’s the X-wing to the left. I believe he has a jump to make.”

Oh yes, someone has pressed her buttons. Not a good sign. She didn’t usually kick them out but if someone prevented her from waking up the person, that just irked her. Usually the droid was programmed not to bother the occupant. Cody suddenly felt bad for the current squad leader, he had no clue where Fress’s strictness ran. “Are you sure?”

”I’m sure,” Fress answered in a tight tone. “Glove, take Spook to the SOJ and make he gets some real sleep. That’s an order.”

Cody pulled up behind the X-wing waiting for the droid to get the point. You don’t mess around with stuff like this. Fress was brought up military style in the Jedi Temple and was a padawan learner for a while. She tolerated a lot but sleeping behind the stick wasn’t one of them. He waited for the X-wing to move.

Tag Mitth, Coffee, Bravo

 

IC: Lieutenant Zotoman Conference Room Two, the Authority


“It is my solemn duty to inform you, that we did not break you out of an isolated, heavily-defended, deep-space Imperial prison facility out of the goodness of our hearts.”

The lieutenant doubted that he would have heard a pin drop, but the room was pretty drokking silent now.

“We, that is, the Kingdom of Jod, as well as our allies, the Mercs, are fighting to save this galaxy from imminent threats such as the Empire that incarcerated you. And we find that we have need of you.”

A lone voice piped up that he should not start a sentence with “And”.

“Why?” Zotoman challenged, aware that he was in danger of going off topic, but willing to let the briefing flow. Just a bit.

“Uh. Er. Miss Tuttle said. She taught Basic when I-”

“Shut the frag up!” A less patient ex-inmate told the T.A, and indicated their Jod host. “Let the abo speak.”

“Thank you.” The abo continued gravely. “So if anyone does not want to continue, please line up by the door, and you will be allowed to go back to your sleeping area to gather your things. You can keep the bedding and clothes we gave you. We will arrange for you to cross to the Javin Bucket to arrange passage to your respective homeworlds.”

Nobody budged, to the Jod’s relief, but a lone hand went up from the rows of seats facing the lieutenant, and he pointed to the limb’s owner. “Yes?”

“What is the Javin Bucket? Something to do with water?”

“She's a very big ship, where spacers go and...do stuff. You would call her a shadowport, I guess.” The liaison officer managed to convey a facial shrug.

This must have sounded reassuring, as, to his chagrin, about sixteen people, in various combinations of spare Jod or Imperial clothing, stood and moved to the doorway.
Leaving just shy of a hundred and twenty souls, Zotoman reckoned. He could now crack on with the rest of the briefing.

“Er,” One of the humans by the door turned to face him, “how are we supposed to arrange passage; we have no money…”

“Listen, oxygen thief!” A seated prisoner roared, this one a heavy-set humanoid with a scar across one flaccid cheek, “He and his friends got you off the Block, and not only are you going to spit in their faces, but now you want them to pay you for the privilege?”

The Jod felt that was a bit strong, but forced himself not to step in. He signalled the guards, and the sixteen were led out of the chamber.

He hit a couple of buttons on his open datapad, and behind him, as the chamber dimmed, the holoprojector sprang into life again, projecting an image of the entire interdictor far over his head, her wider stern and command tower to the audience’s right, and her slim tapered nose to their left.

“This will be your home for at least the next month.”

“Err, that looks worryingly like an Imperial ship.” Someone pointed out.

“Very much like an Imperial ship.” Sounil confirmed, her lekku rasping the floppy collars of her Kings Army blouson in worry.

“A stolen Imperial ship, I assure you.” Zotoman smiled. “A stolen Immobiliser 418 cruiser. 600 metres in length. 300 wide. 100 high. Fourteen decks within the main hull, an additional seven within the command tower.”

Getting in his stride, Zotoman quarter-turned on his heels to look sidelong up at her image. “Class 2 hyperdrive, backup Class 8.”

He turned his head slowly to face the gathered ex-prisoners.

“She needs a crew.”

To be continued…

---

IC: Corporal Loretta, Private Tom, Delicate Delinquent

Main Hangar

Standing in the Sentinel-class landing craft's cockpit, elbows resting on the heradrests of the two pilot chairs that she leaned in between, Loretta chatted goodnaturedly with the two pilots, giving them their new orders from the sergeant, and gently extricated herself from the conversation.

She backed out of the cockpit, made her way to the exit, and stepped down the ramp onto the hangar deck, where she spied two Go Team members had joined Vestor and the Palso character.

The latter and the two soldiers seemed to have taken charge of the weapon-laden trolley, trying to shift the heavy thing towards the exit. It would be easy once they got it moving, but the first step looked like being the hardest.

She stepped over to give them a hand.

Tom introduced himself to the civilian, who responded in kind:

"Jim," The smuggler looked at the two soldiers, "Let's divide our resources. You two get the weapons where you need them, I'll head to Deck Three to work with the droids."

"Copy that." Tom nodded, putting his weight behind the trolley, as a young woman in the uniform of a Naval Guard turned up, and with just a silent smile, joined in. "Thanks. I'm Tom."

"No problem," She said. "Loretta." The load started to move, then got much easier to shift. "Where are we putting these?"

Behind them, a change in the air pressure more than anything really, told them that the shuttle was lifting, and if they had turned to look, they would see the finned craft reversing through the magcon field.

"Any room on this deck that we can designate the armoury, until we find the real one."

The doors to the corridor, already open for Palso, stayed open as their cargo passed through, giving Loretta her first look at somewhere new within this cruiser as she looked left up the hallway towards a bank of turbolifts, and right, towards...

"There is a laser emplacement sat in the middle of the corridor," she noted.

"So there is." Tom agreed, spying the back of the 2.8m-tall black laser dish facing the front of the the ship, manned by Kings Army soldiers. He assumed it was there for a reason.

Tag: Palso

OOC: Dish size from SW wiki. Those lifts near the hangar will only serve Decks One to Fourteen. They won't go to the Command Deck.

 

OOG: Lots of detail storytelling. This is the background of what the SOJ and crew will be getting into when they reach the Kingdom of Jod.

I have yet to define what the rules of time are for the Kingdom of Jod. It's a mix / hybrid between a Star Trek movie that escapes my memory on title when the Next Generation crew lands on a planet and gets younger and my own imaginations and thoughts on alternate areas of space and time that can be located in various sci-fi stories including Babylon 5, Star Wars, Star Trek, and others. I'm leaning more and more towards a time zone that allows the Kingdom of Jod to be stuck in the same Middle Ages, Renaissance, Revolutionary War, American Civil War cultures and backgrounds, while maintaining a quicker storyline (per days, weeks, etc.) then the "Outside Galaxy" while in the KOJ, but always be stuck that above mentioned culture and backgrounds. If it doesn't make sense, it's okay. But there you have it, my thoughts. Scary, I know. I'm still trying to make sense of it myself.



IC: High Admiral William B. Fulken
Command Deck, Prime, High Orbit over Planet of Jod


High Admiral William B. Fulken was as loyal as they made them; a career officer with over forty years of service to the Kingdom's Navy, his family line of service to the navy extending back to the days of the Red Rock Kingdom and the naval academy there, where his family had an academy instructor, an instructor in ship command tactics to be precise, that started the whole family legacy from there. Now, here he was, in charge of the Kingdom's Navy of the Kingdom of Jod, the successor state to the Red Rock Kingdom.

Here he was, aboard the Prime---an Alliance Station Class 5---the central Navy Command Headquarters of the whole navy. Everything with the navy ran from here; yes, they had "offices" and command staff officers planet side, but that was to please the government officials and have a Plan B in case this station ever fell to enemy hands. Which was unlikely...until today. And the enemy was from within, not from without.

William never thought it would ever come to this. Ever. Civil war! The pride of the Red Rock Kingdom and it's legendary navy and starfighter pilots had rested firmly without fault in the Kingdom of Jod for thousands of years now...and now this, in the span of 2 weeks, unresolved internal problems among the people and the government had exploded into war. While a man of his rank was privy to all information, and he had personally reviewed Vaska 3, his personal opinions that this civil war was the doing of someone from within the Royal Court had been all but ignored except by his most loyal aids and fellow officers.

With the King dead and the Queen left alone on the throne, this "civil war" had the fingerprints of a man bent on the Royal House's destruction written all over it. Only a fool wouldn't be able to see it, with a "war" to dethrone the Queen less then 2 weeks after the death of the King. The Kingdom's Navy had stayed loyal to the Royal Palace, as it should, through the first week. Aside from a few hot heads and the recent defection of the Light-class Destroyer Space Wind yesterday, where the loyalist crew were left on a nearby colony moon, the navy had stayed together. But, with half of the 24 King-class Battleships that were usually guarding the home system and the Planet of Jod itself away with the late King's Outer Galaxy quests, a lot of support vessels normally not assigned to the home system and home world were patrolling her space lanes.

The "war," if it could be even called that yet in it's first week, had started suddenly and boldly. A infantry division under the direct command of Lord William P. Aragaunt in the Southern Region declared it's succession from the King's Army and the Royal Palace a month after the death of the King (tensions had already been tight between the Queen and the noble houses with the King's long trips with military forces away from the home world before the death of the King for many months; also it didn't help that many men thought a woman wasn't fit to be in a governmental position of such power, royal blood or not). Rallying supporters to the now moral vocal Truth Movement, the sole division grew in size within 48 hours with young 20's military defectors, volunteers, and others; the tight tensions between the Royal House and the noble houses was about to break. Soon the "division" had grown to almost 2 divisions. The Royal Palace dispatched two King's Army divisions supported by a Queen's Guards' brigade to negotiate the withdraw and surrender of arms from the Southern Region traitors. For those 48 hours where the Southern Region's military might grew, things stayed at a stale mate, with the new named "Loyalist" forces forming a blockade of all the major trade routes---land, sea, and air---leaving the resource rich Southern Region, known as the "Bread Basket of the Kingdom".

During that time, the local and planetary media supported the Royal Palace. The Royal Palace marched with the tune of defending the Southern Region's civilians from the traitors military forces and upholding the right of the government to protect itself against any and all threats; Aragaunt and his media labeled "Confederates" marched with the tune, from months and years of tensions between the nobles houses and the Royal House to back them, of a new government from the stale, old, and corrupt Royal Palace, a new military structure that did away with the mandatory enlistment of all men when they turned 18 years of age for 4 years of service with the promise of government office to all---not just those who had served---a stronger sense of home and pride in defending the home world and it's colonies---instead of outreaching to the "Outer Galaxy"----upgrading the military to deal with the threats of a modern Outer Galaxy and from Beast attacks, ending the war with the Beasts by military might, bringing new trade and technology to the Kingdom of Jod by opening it's boarders to the Outside Galaxy for trade and ending it's thousands of years of isolationism, and defending the Southern Region from the "Loyalist Murderers".

The Truth Movement, a group that took advantage of teenagers and young twenties and thirties men and women's---both in the military and not in the military---knowledge and freedom of thought at such a young age in the recent period of knowledge expansion in the arts and sciences in this "renaissance" era to advance it's own anti-government agenda. Fulken wasn't an idiot; this "Truth Movement" had the fingerprints of the failed coup d'etat of a decade prior; the House of Royal Intelligence had determined that the exiled nobles, generals, and admirals from the coup de'etat had mysteriously vanished from their frozen planet of exile some months ago---the prison guards all slain. A course, being Intelligence, they didn't bother to tell anyone until more information was found, as to not let anyone panic within the government or military ranks. Well, the House of Royal Intelligence found it's answers with the death of the King and now the defection of Lord William P. Aragaunt and his military forces: Aragaunt had been the one behind the vanishing exiles, or so evidence seemed to point that way at least for now, who had mysteriously stayed well hidden from the House of Royal Intelligence---an extremely hard thing to do for anyone. Someone was helping them from the inside and the inside was Aragaunt; but the question was, how deep did the betrayal go within the Royal Court? It was doubtful that Aragaunt had the courage or the resources to do it alone, even with all his hatred towards the Royal House with the handling of the war between the Beasts and the Outer Galaxy policies by the King over the last several years.

It seemed it would be a quick flare up at first: a bunch of hot heads and young people out to "change the galaxy"; such a fancy thought would be crushed by the government and order would resume, with the Queen taking over the decision making, their daughter's birth and location safely hidden away from all but the most inner circle of aids and others in the Royal Palace.

The fancy would turn into a nightmare when the Southern Region, motivated by Aragaunt's and other noblemen promises' to change things for the better, succeeded from the Kingdom of Jod. With a country of their own to defend, the Confederates added defending their new country from the "Loyalist Invaders" among their list of why they had a standing army to defend them. Meanwhile, the Queen enraged supporters on both sides. Her secrecy during the King's long away trips, stale decision making that seemed scripted when the King was gone, her withdraw from the public eye since the King's death, and now her inactivity to end the Southern Region's disobedience and allow it to grow for a whole month, which cut off 50% of the Kingdom's food supplies for the home world during the blockade and had people paying high prices for what they could get for food, had her own supporters angry at her; on the other side, Aragaunt and his supporters were angry at the Royal Palace's bold move to effectively blockade in their new country and hurt the greater Kingdom of Jod because of refusal to leave the throne to allow change to help the Kingdom of Jod for the future.

Although resignations were common place for soldiers and sailors alike who lived in the Southern Region and went back home to defend their houses, the Royal Palace had ordered that soldiers and sailors who chose such path should not be punished, in the thought that this "flare up" would be done and a forgotten memory sooner then later. While the few infantry units and space units who stayed in the Loyalist rank and file from the Southern Region were watched closely, nothing else was said by anyone. This was supposed to be done and over with soon and forgotten as the Kingdom returned back to normal.

Then, it all went to hell. A week ago, the Western Region declared it's independence from the Kingdom of Jod and joined the Southern Region, effectively forming a united "Confedearacy". The Western Region, whose loyal support in the Royal Court, came to an sudden end when the nobles said that,

"For the sake of our people, the inactivity of the Queen and the silence of the Royal House must be answered for. If the proper government channels will not answer our questions, then an armed force---only that is necessary to discover the answers to the inactivity of the Queen and the silence of the Royal House and to help protect our people, both on home world and in our colonies---will be established by the Western Region and join the forces of that of the Southern Region, forming the Confederate Regions of Jod. Such an armed force will be immediately disbanded by the Western Region once the safety and health of all our people are restored and the answers to our questions of the Queen and Royal House are resolved. Whether the disbandment of our armed forces comes at the continuation of the Royal House and the current form of government or at the start of a new government, we leave God to answer such questions and not man."

The Western Region was the power house of the Kingdom; new technologies and the height of the renaissance could be found there, as well as the height of health, Jod culture, and the extremely wealthy noble houses. The fracturing of the King's Army was expected; with whole companies, regiments, and even brigades sometimes made up of soldiers from the same region or even town and county in companies and regiments, loyalty was usually to home and family, rather then government and Queen. Whole divisions, once forming the background of Jod planetary security, broke down into in-fighting as units turned on each other. While some of the initial fighting was brutal, the tempest of battle trickled out---for now---as units went to their home regions. The Central Region (on par with the Western Region for Jod culture) and Northern Region backed the Royal Palace, while the Eastern Region gave loyalty to none and some to all; with some in the Eastern Region loyal to the late King's recent policies that turned the industrial region around for the better, many more still had harden hearts forwards the Royal House's for the death and wounds that their sons and daughters received in the military for a government that never really did anything for the poor region for generations. The colonies away from the home planet and on other planets, asteroids, and even space stations all held various forms of loyalty; for now, it seemed, the colonies were more concerned about the Beasts after Vaska 3, then they were about home world in-fighting.

The good news, for now, was that differences were put aside in the military in the colonies and Front Line Defense Force for the sake of protecting the greater Kingdom of Jod against any Beast advancements.

The Kingdom's Navy had seen far less trouble then the King's Army; aside from half of the King-class Battleships, whose crews were solely made up of Central and Northern Region crews, most of the navy's crews were all the regions mixed together. Also, unlike the King's Army, the Kingdom's Navy had a rich, deep, and powerful history dating back to the glory days of the Red Rock Kingdom: loyalty was expected in the navy, not asked for, like that in the army. But, Fulken was no fool either: when one's home was threaten, the depth of one's loyalty to crown and Queen was a matter of debate. Add in the mix extended families, close friends, etc, and you had various soldiers and sailors looking at their loyalties very differently then they once had.

In the week of hell so far, the King's Army, the "Loyalists," marched on the Southern Region with their two divisions and horse mounted Queen's Guards at the Queen's command using all forces attacking on all fronts at once, in hopes of pushing the enemy back on all points of contact; what should of been a rout for the Loyalists turned into a withdraw of their forces from the defending Confederate forces---whose despite a solid unit knowledge among each other as the Central Region units did, were just as well trained as regular infantry soldiers and were defending their home land. The Loyalists would push again with a fresh division from the Central Region the next day, aiming a solid strike up the middle to dislodge the enemy force holding the major trade route from the Southern Region to the Central Region. Marked with moderate success, the Loyalists' single division held the ground for the remainder of daylight and the Confederates retreated. Loyalist reinforcements were coming quick and would arrive early morning hours to continue the attack to finish this foolish war. At night, however, two fresh Western Region infantry divisions attacked the lone Loyalist division, inflecting heavy causalities on the Loyalist side and ensuring an all-out retreat. Total destruction was saved off by various units of the horse mounted Queen's Guard brigade that had fought the previous day, covering the retreat of he division.

The next early morning hours, saw 3 infantry divisions of Loyalist reinforcements, with adequate artillery support, from the Northern and Central Regions, coupled with two more horse mounted Queen's Guard Brigades and 3 horse mounted Army Calvary Brigades, made a push up the central trade route. While the battered infantry and Queen's Guard forces from the first and second days of battle blockaded all other trade routes and possible escape routes, the Loyalist reinforcements pushed their advance. The two Western Region infantry divisions fell under the onslaught after heavy artillery, a push by one of the divisions up the middle, and 2 of the Army Calvary Brigades flanked them. With artillery nipping at their retreat, the Western Region divisions fell into an all out panic. Despite a Southern Region infantry division coming up in support with artillery and a horse mounted cavalry brigade late in the morning, the withdraw was all but in full force by the time one of the other Loyalist reinforcement infantry divisions joined the battle. Forced from the "frontier" towns and market places, Confederate forces withdrew to the larger farms, some even aiming for the far ports and didn't stop retreating. But such escapes to the ports was cut off by another Loyalist infantry division doing a beach landing and securing the ports late in the morning.

Defeat and an end to the war seemed all but certain by early afternoon for the Loyalists; the war would be over by the third day. But, flanking the over extended Loyalists forces, a Western Region infantry division supported with horse mounted cavalry struck from the west, two Eastern Region infantry divisions from the east. The pincher attack cut the Loyalist reinforcements off from their battered route blockade brothers, who were currently holding their own. With the Loyalist reinforcements' retreat cut off, Confederate forces marshaled what they could and went after the bulk of the Loyalist reinforcements in the large farming area. Aided by local civilians and farmers who knew the land well and joined the battle, Confederate forces quickly encircled and forced the retreat of the Loyalist forces. With over a month worth of a march to the sea ports, where the beach landing still held, the Loyalists withdrew back the way they came, fighting through Western and Eastern Region reinforcements. The Confederates forced the Loyalists on an all-out retreat and deployment to the Central Region as a Western Region infantry division and two Southern Region infantry divisions supported by artillery and a division worth of horse mounted cavalry had sneaked past lightly defended guard posts between the Central and Western Regions and begun an attack in the Central Region later that afternoon.

The Confederate surprise attack in the Central Region would drag on into the late hours, until friendly fire incidents became increasingly common place on both sides of the conflict with the same uniforms and no yet identified friendly/foe call signs. The battered Loyalist blockade route forces and the tattered and broken Loyalist reinforcements would be able to gain the upper hand later that night, despite being chased by Confederate forces who had attacked them earlier, by knowing the land and being able to catch the very advanced ends of the Confederate surprise attack and slow their own enemy forces to their rear.

By early morning of the fourth day, Loyalist forces were pinned down between two Confederate attack fronts (one from the West, the other from the South); while the Central Region defenses seemed to fair better, the Loyalist reinforcements and block route divisions were pinned between the two Confederate forces and running low on ammunition. Despite a strong attack from the surprise Confederate forces from the West that morning that forced Loyalist forces to retreat further, the Southern attacking Confederates only pushed moderately against a determined Loyalist reinforcement force to hold it's ground. Now, almost completely surrounded by both Confederate forces, the Loyalist reinforcements were saved late on the fourth day by a whole division of horse mounted Queen's Guardsmen supported by a horse mounted Army Cavalry brigade and two infantry brigades (with supporting artillery) that broke through the surprise Confederates' flanking attempt, turned their flank, and forced the Confederates' flank into disarray.

The fifth day saw all currently fielded units attack and counter, gaining and losing little ground on either side for most of the morning; by afternoon, Loyalist forces begin their retreat across the Central Region to the Royal Palace. A bastion of defense with two armies worth of infantry defense, multiple brigades of horse mounted Queen's Guardsmen and Army Cavalry, and artillery support, the battered Loyalist forces withdrew to the foothills of the Northern Mountains to set up a defense there. Resupplied, refitted, and reinforced by infantry units from the Northern Region, the newly named Loyalist Army of the Northern Mountains dug in for defense.

Seeing the Royal Palace a bastion too strong to take at the moment, Confederate forces left a small rear guard to watch the Loyalist forces at the Royal Palace and continued onward after the retreating Loyalist forces. Reinforced later that day by two new infantry divisions from the Eastern Regions, a division of cavalry from the Western Region, and artillery from the Southern Region, the Confederates pushed their rag-tag forces to just miles before the foothills by the end of the seventh day of fighting.

Now all eyes turned to the Kingdom's Navy. The King's Army had shown it's hand and through several rag-tag battles of various unit sizes, had pushed and shoved back and forth. But, no force seemed to have the upper hand and most likely wouldn't for a while. With the Royal Palace a bastion of defense, taking it would mean eliminating the Loyalist Army of the Northern Mountains first, then turning on forces on the Royal Palace. For the Loyalists forces, eliminating the Confederates meant taking the newly named Confederate Army of the West, then marching on the West, East, and Southern Regions' defense forces. Once again, no easy task. While both forces had recruits signing up daily to form new units, any real resolve to this conflict was months away.

Fulken was right to assume that the Navy would sway the war in any one direction sooner then any ground battle would. As he sat in his command chair, looking out at the strong energy shield that defended the Planet of Jod and was the sole responsibility of this station to operate, he looked at his own forces mentally in his mind. Before this conflict, the Kingdom's Navy consisted of 157 warships:

30 King-class Battleships
50 Light-class Destroyers
36 Bastion-class Frigates
40 Strike-class Corvettes
1 Royal-class Carrier


While the King-class Battleships formed the command ship and light carrier core of the navy, it was the Light-class Destroyers that formed the backbone of the navy. At 450 meters long, the cone shaped tip of the bow that elongated into a thick rectangular section that then melted into a central octagon (both higher and lower in depth then the two sections before it and after it, including the engine array) that formed the core of the ship, then melted down into a shorter and double as thick shorter elongated rectangular section that ended in a bulky array of three circular engines in a straight line by each other contained in one massive square housing; the Destroyer was fast, adequately armed, and had excellent sensor and communication strength and equipment. Weaker armor then most warships her size gave her the added speed to act as a anti-pirate vessel, patrol vessel, and as a quick screening escort to the King-class Battleships and perform other fast-paced warship requirements; her strong shields gave the Destroyer a chance against anything it's same size or slightly bigger, while it's one squadron of 12 starfighters, 2 shuttles, 4 landing craft, 400 King's Army Soldiers, and 175 Navy Guards gave the Light-class Destroyer respectable support and ability to perform various mission types. Weapon emplacements included 4 turbolasers (two top octagon, two bottom octagon), 24 laser cannons (8 bow, 8 aft mid section between octagon and engine array, 8 aft/engine array), and 8 forward bow mounted heavy laser cannons and ion cannons (4 laser, 4 ion).

The Bastion-class Frigate, at 300 meters long, looked like a inverted trapezoid shaped bow connected to two elongated trapezoids that formed the mid-section, one on top of the other, with a short elongated rectangular section connection to a single square engine array. The slowest ships in the navy, the frigates featured heavy armor and shields, excellent sensors and fair communications; they boosted 17 turbolaser cannons (4 bow, 8 mid-section, 4 aft short rectangular section, 1 aft above rectangular section), 6 all-purpose mass driver cannons (3 port mid-section, 3 starboard mid-section), and 3 heavy forward facing laser cannons (3 bow). Support craft included 6 starfighters and 3 shuttles; 125 Naval Guard provided the only ship security and or landing / assault force. The ships were designed for heavy ship-to-ship warfare and as heavy escorts to the King-class Battleships; the ships were often used in deep space patrols in heavy pirate and smuggler areas with two Strike-class Corvettes in support, where it's 6 starfighters could come in handy in a pitched battle. Often times, the frigates could also be seen on patrol alone, where their heavy weaponry and armor provided protection to escape faster enemies and where their starfighters provided excellent support.

The Strike-class Corvettes were the fastest ships in the fleet at 150 meters long; they looked like a C without the curve at the end of the C's ends and with the C's end extended straight forward; two square engine blocks protruded from either end of the C's top and bottom ends. Fast and extremely agile, the ships boasted respectable armor and strong shields for a ship it's size; designed for scouting, long range patrols, escort, and anti-pirate and smuggling operations, the Corvettes also boasted state-of-the-art sensors, communications, and state-of-the-art newly developed fuel efficient and energy signature reducing engines. The Corvettes came with a single shuttle for support in a small hanger directly under the bottom-side of the middle of the ship's C. Weapons included 8 laser cannons on either of the C's elongated ends (4 port---2 top, 2 bottom; 4 starboard---2 top, 2 bottom) and 6 forward facing heavy laser cannons (3 on each end of the C).


TBC

 

IC: Havah Jeth / Glove / Pic
Space, the annoying frontier

Receiving the transmission Glove processed for a minute what it was ordering, compared it to it's logic clusters and came to an annoying conumdrum. As temperary Flight Leader Fress had an albeit momentary rank equal to Havah's. With conflicting orders and only having memories up to five days, seventeen hours, twenty eight minutes, and thirteen seconds, it did what it could do in such a situation. It sought a second opinion.

[Pic? Transferring situation.]

{Situation received. Understood. Area of needed clarification?}

[Response to orders of temporary equal Merc's ranks.]

{Relay my coming transmission.}

[Prepared. All systems standing by.]

{Proceed.}

Soon a data line would be sent to the Flight Leads (Fress') craft, and to the craft currently trying to dislodge them from their position. II Attention! Authority does not extend to perceived parameters. Supposition is not acknoledged as fact. Decision is based on flawed data and inaccurate information with a species and training bias that does not add up. Proceed with mission and contact upon completion. MERC 1 Over. II Transmission ended.

TAG: JediFalcon , Coffee_Ninja , Bravo

 

IC: Fress Colias/Cody
X-wing and Headhunter

II Attention! Authority does not extend to perceived parameters. Supposition is not acknowledged as fact. Decision is based on flawed data and inaccurate information with a species and training bias that does not add up. Proceed with mission and contact upon completion. MERC 1 Over. II

“He’s not making this easy,” Fress muttered under her breath feeling her frustration rise.“And last I checked, being temporary leader puts me in the same rank as Havah,” she switched comlinks and linked herself directly to her headhunter. “Shadow, do a fly by. Something is not adding up, check visually to see if Havah is nodding off or not.”

“Will do, lead,” Cody answered as Fress watched the fighter pulled back and looped directly beside the X-wing. “Lead, Spook has nodded off. Head is in a sleeping position.”

“That’s it, Glove. I have visual confirmation that Havah has nodded off. Get him out of here now and that’s a direct order overriding command code twelve or I will have the X-wing towed and I will do a partial memory wipe and reprogram you myself,” Fress growled angrily. She was feeling frustrated and angry. She lost two good men to drinking and sleeping, she was not about to loose another. Jeth was beginning to show signs of alcohol abuse. She could smell it on him earlier. She shook her head sadly.

Memory

Fress couldn’t figure out why five and eight’s droids were answering her instead of Kyle and Red. Either they were avoiding her or just didn’t want to bother answering her considering it was slow and nothing really going on.

Fress looked off to the side as her scanners screamed at her. Pirates had jumped in system and were powering up their weapons. “Lead to flight, pirates at twelve o clock and possibly hostile, power up weapons and get ready for evasive manauvres, click your comms twice to copy,” she relayed back to the men under her lead. Responses came from two out of four men with her. She frowned as she powered up the weapons on her Jedi Star fighter as she noticed five and eight not responding as quickly. “Saber, give me a vital readings scan on five and eight.”

Saber beeped as his scanner came out as she went into evasive manoeuvres attempting to keep close to the other two. The vital scan showed they were asleep.

”What? How could they be asleep behind the stick? Lead to R5 and R6, wake them up now, that is a direct order overriding command code twelve,” Fress commanded as the droids flew the fighters trying to avoid laser blasts. “Do you copy?”

//Waking up now,// R5 reported just as Blue eight exploded taking Blue five with him.

Fress dropped in behind the tail of the fighter that her men out. She unleashed a volley of laser fire striking the cockpit directly and watched as the fighter expanded into a ball of flames.
----------------
Fress landed the star fighter on the deck and climbed out of the cockpit. She leaned against the fighter and closed her eyes. How could they have fallen asleep on her out there? The droids were ignoring her command about getting through to her pilots. They answered and Saber recorded everything coming back. She planned on upgrading Saber’s programming to detect fake transmissions and be able to pick up vital scans better. She turned around and hit the fighter hard. “Damit!”

“Fress, are you okay?” Anakin questioned as he walked up beside the fighter. “It’s not your fault, those two developed a drinking problem and I should’ve warned you sooner. Maybe you should read up on the signs of alcohol abuse.”

Fress nodded as Anakin hugged her. “They were two of my best men and I trusted them.”

“I know. You’re doing a good job and there’s a song I want you to hear,” Anakin answered as he stepped back. “Make sure you don’t try and prank me with it.”

”What song?” Fress questioned with a frown as Artoo rolled up beside them.

“Show her, Artoo,” Anakin said with a frown.

This song about a Llama played causing her to smile. “That’s slow torture. Artoo, send it to Saber.”

Artoo beeped as Saber beeped in acknowledgement. “Next time, I’ll have the fighter towed if I have too.”

“You have command over them and the droids should’ve listened to you. It’s not your fault. Okay?”

Fress nodded feeling sick on the inside. It wasn’t her fault but if she was more observant, their deaths could’ve been prevented.

End memory

Fress gripped the stick tightly. She didn’t want to lose anyone due to falling asleep behind the stick. She couldn’t lose anyone else like this.

Tag Mitth Coffee Bravo

 

OOG:

Loading of Civil War era musket (and firing of it) taken from Look Away (1995), p. 166, 167, 168.


IC: Jason Lasso
At the base of Frozen Path Pass, Northern Mountains, daytime, Planet of Jod

MUSIC: When Johnny Comes Marching Home (Pandora Celtica)
Note: Ignore the clapping, not part of the music I wanted.


Lasso dug into his black cartridge box as he stood in the front line of the two line regiment, near the right flank of Company J. For the moment, Jason ignored his frozen hands. The snow fell around them, the gently falling fat snow flakes covering the frozen green and brown earth and starting to accumulate on the trees now. Lasso's own breathe, like many others around him, escaped his lungs only to be frozen in front of him by the frigid air. Behind them, the opening to Frozen Path Pass, around them a frozen forest and about four regiments worth of Loyalists; most of the soldiers were out of Jason's view to either side aside from the squads nearest him. The double deep lines stretched on and were hidden by the falling snow, trees, and the cold white air that denied much view. In front of him, a Confederate force stood their ground, likewise brigade in size, and aside from the shouting orders and muzzles flashes, Lasso couldn't see them, although he knew the enemy soldiers were not much further then 100 yards or less away. Although denied an enemy to see, soldiers around him would suddenly be struck and a sickening pop mixed with a fleshly entrance would be heard, then a soldier would fall. While the blaster bolts themselves could be seen, they traveled much too fast for any one man to simply leap out of the way. Anyways, any such notion was quickly dismissed by the Sergeants, file closers in the rear, and officers shouting orders.

Retrieving a cartridge shaped paper, Jason stuck the paper inside his teeth and tore it open. He then emptied the contents of the cartridge into the musket's barrel that he held with his left hand in front of the middle of his body, stuffing the paper in after the contents of the blaster capsule. He then drew his ramrod, twirled it over his head, and shoved the ramrod into the barrel if the musket until it rested on top of the blaster capsule. Then, with two strong shoves, he forced the ramrod down into the barrel, ramming the energy mixed powder and blaster capsule down the length of the barrel. Withdrawing the ramrod from the barrel, he twirled it above his head again and secured it back under the barrel.

With the left hand that had been gripping the barrel, Jason raised the rifle until the trigger and hammer of the rifle was just above his black cap box. With thumb and forefinger of his right hand, Lasso dug into his cap box and withdrew a small copper cap. Jason then gave the cap a slight pinch to squeeze it together and keep it from falling off of the cone; Jason then pulled back the hammer to the half-cock position, flicked the expended cap off the cone of the lock and placed the new cap on it.

Jason then shouldered his musket, bringing his rifle up and into the space between his body and his right arm, holding the rifle by the trigger guard with his right hand. Jason then brought his rifle to his shoulder, rested his cheek on it's stock and sighted down it's long barrel; Jason steadied the musket and discharged his weapon towards the invisible enemy to his front.

A flash issued from the barrel and Jason lowered his rifle to repeat the process as fast as he could. To the left of him, stood Fred, Lawrence, and Martin, repeating the same firing process as he had just done. To the right of him stood the Sergeant Major, a Lieutenant to the right of the Sergeant Major who shouted orders with his infantry sword drawn...


TBC

 

OOG: Sith, I think I have the layout of the cruiser correct; so I hope my character is heading the right direction.



IC: Jim Palso
Hanger Bay, Delicate Delinquent


Jim and the Jod crew members parted ways after the laser emplacement in the middle of the corridor as Palso headed right. Reaching the turbolifts, he took the ride down to Deck Three. Once there, the turbolift doors opened to two King's Army Soldiers flanking the turbolift exit; the two soldiers turned around and sized up Jim. Then, both of the musket looking rifles crossed each other in front of the smuggler.

"Halt there stranger," Said one of the soldiers, "What's your business here?"

Jim looked between the two soldiers, "Well, either I'm a wandering spacer from the Javin Bucket, a Imperial spy dressed like a smuggler ready to kill you all, or I'm part of this little Merc and Jod journey down the yellow brick road. Now, which one do you think it is?"

Both soldiers looked at each other, "We ain't told of anybody coming down here," Responded the other soldier.

"Ah," Jim said, "So, who's in charge here?" Both of the soldiers pointed to the other, "Well, that explains a lot."

"About what?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it, it would probably fly right over your heads."

"What would fly over our heads?"

"My point exactly," Jim responded.

"Will you two bantha for brains let the man through already!" Stormed up a bulging mid-sectioned Royal Engineer.

"But we were told someone got on board without going through the proper channels."

"Yea! What...ah...he said."

The Royal Engineer, mid thirties, shook his head and parted the two soldiers' muskets, "I don't care if this man is Darth Vader! I need someone who understands Droid Speak and I was told someone was headed this way immediately. Now, if you want to argue with me about it, fine, go ahead. But you'll do it from outside of an air lock while I'm looking at you from inside of the bloody air lock! Now, step aside and deny entrance to someone who looks Imperial looking!" The Royal Engineer shoved both soldiers aside and drug Jim in by the arm, "Name is Bill. Sorry about that. This young soldiers get so jumpy about the smallest things. But please tell me you are the droid language guy? I don't want to find myself locked up for disrupting a soldier's duty."

Jim smiled, "No worries Bill. I'm that 'droid language guy'. Jim."

The Royal Engineer sighed as the two stopped, "Good. Here it is," Bill said, waving a hand out towards the different makes and models of droids, hundreds of the droids inter mixed with Jod Royal Engineers, then a slowly growing line of droids off to the side by the wall; Bill pointed towards that wall, "Those droids are finished. We just need someone who understands droid speak, so we can understand if they understand where we need them to go."

"No problem."

"Good man. I'll be back to check on you later. Thanks!"

As the Royal Engineer hurried away, Palso withdrew his comlink, "WL? Bugger?"

"Yes, Captain?" Came Walking Library's reply.

"Once the ship is secure, I need both of you down to Deck Three. I need help with translating droid speak."

There was a series of beeps and whistles on the other end of the comlink, "Bugger asks if you plan on trading us in for other droids?"

Jim chuckled, "No, Library, I'm not. But I need both of you down here ASAP," Clicking the conversation off, Jim turned and walked towards the line of patiently waiting droids; one of the very first droids, a artoo unit of all things, sported off a question; Jim understood the beeps and whistles well enough to understand the basics, "No, I'm not your new owner. But I do need you guys to help the crew find their way to their quarters and show them around the ship."


TBC (Tag Sith?)

 

IC: Zieleb-Xan Macja
Hanger Bay, Johnny Boy

“Mac from Delinquent. Please can you try to get visual footage of the damage for us? Something that we can show our Royal Engineers? After that, come under the ship, and you will find a square aperture, in the lower hull, which will give you access to two hangers. Probably doesn’t matter right now, which one you land in. Report to Sergeant Vestor in the Main Hanger for possible assignment. Delinquent out.”

“ROGER WILCO* Delinquent. Mac out.” He reached down and switched his comms to internal. “Alright Navi, you heard the bridge, fire up the holo-recorder so we can take some pretty pictures for the Engineers.”

Josch spent a few minutes recording as much footage as he could from every conceivable angle and making several passes from multiple directions. When Navi tweeted that she was sure they had enough, Josch flew under the Immobilizer and headed for one of the hanger bays.

Once he touched down and ensured that his fighter was completely shut down, he helped Navi out by lowering her to the deck with the Force through MOVE OBJECT. Fidget jumped down from the cockpit, landed on Josch’s shoulder, and crawled his way into the back pouch on his companions utility belt. The trio then moved to the center of the bay and called out, “Where is Sergeant Vestor? I was told he had an assignment for me.”

TAG: Sith-I-5 & anyone who is in the Delinquent’s hanger bay

OOG: ROGER WILCO. I know that "ROGER" and "WILCO" are redundant, since WILCO includes the acknowledgement of ROGER, and that you should never hear "ROGER WILCO" on the net. However Josch does not have any formal military training, other than what he has picked up since joining the MERCs, so to him this sounds correct, even though it is not.

 

OOG: I am learning more and more about not posting when I'm half asleep. I know this may destroy my own desires for Jason Lasso, but I caught a mistake of mine and I must fix it. Below is nothing short then a massive Game Master void and edit of my own post, as to avoid accidental god-moding for future events in the storyline.

In short (see in detail below), from the Southern Region through Central Region on foot or wagon train would take you 5 months (150 days) from the Southern Region boarder, through the Central Region, and to the foothills of the Northern Mountains (Northern Region boarder). This is assuming, a course, you only stop for food and rest and the journey is perfect (no sudden bad weather, etc). So, I'm going to have to rewrite parts of the post from my Intervention username, posted on October 02, 2012 (Tuesday at 11:08 PM).

Below is what I am editing:

---BREAK----


Below is the rewrite/edit.


William never thought it would ever come to this. Ever. Civil war! The pride of the Red Rock Kingdom and it's legendary navy and starfighter pilots had rested firmly without fault in the Kingdom of Jod for thousands of years now...and now this, in the span of 6 months, unresolved internal problems among the people and the government had exploded into war. While a man of his rank was privy to all information, and he had personally reviewed Vaska 3, his personal opinions that this civil war was the doing of someone from within the Royal Court had been all but ignored except by his most loyal aids and fellow officers.

With the King dead and the Queen left alone on the throne, this "civil war" had the fingerprints of a man bent on the Royal House's destruction written all over it. Only a fool wouldn't be able to see it, with a "call to reason" to dethrone the Queen less then a week after the death of the King. The Kingdom's Navy had stayed loyal to the Royal Palace, as it should, through the last 6 months. Aside from a few hot heads and the recent defection of the Light-class Destroyer Space Wind yesterday, where the loyalist crew were left on a nearby colony moon, the navy had stayed together. But, with half of the 24 King-class Battleships that were usually guarding the home system and the P,lanet of Jod itself away with the late King's Outer Galaxy quests, a lot of support vessels normally not assigned to the home system and home world were patrolling her space lanes.

The "war," if it could be even called that yet in it's first 5 months, had started suddenly and boldly. A infantry division under the direct command of Lord William P. Aragaunt in the Southern Region declared it's succession from the King's Army and the Royal Palace a month after the death of the King and over 3 weeks without a response to Lord William P, Aragaunt's "call to reason" statement in the Royal Court. Tensions had already been tight between the Queen and the noble houses before these events, with the King's long trips with military forces away from the home world before his death for many months; also it didn't help that many men thought a woman wasn't fit to be in a governmental position of such power, royal blood or not.

Rallying supporters to the now moral vocal Truth Movement, the sole infantry division under Lord William P. Aragaunt grew double in size within 48 hours with young 20's military defectors, volunteers, and others. King's Army and Queen's Guardsmen units in the Southern Region refused to engage in any military conflict with "Aragaunt's Rogues," citing that such actions could turn the local Southern Region populace against the Royal House.

The tight tensions between the Royal House and the noble houses in the Royal Court grew as Aragaunt's defience grew with his rogue troops and others who flocked to his side; the Royal House, a month into the now historical "Aragaunt's Call To Reason" statement in front of the Royal House, had done nothing but uphold Royal policy and "keep observations on such developments," stating in a official media statement release to the public: "...the situation will dissolve itself with attention to wisdom and common sense."

Shortly after the Royal Palace's now equally famous "Call to Wisdom and Common Sense," The Royal Palace dispatched a collection of troops numbering two King's Army divisions supported by a Queen's Guards' brigade from various outposts and forts along the Central / Southern Region boarder to negotiate the withdraw and surrender of arms of Aragaunt's Rogues. When the newly nicknamed "Loyalist" forces under the Royal House's allegiance arrived in the Southern Region, they quickly worked with Queen's Guards' units already stationed in the Southern Region and already station Army soldiers (of who would follow orders and not abonden their post) to set up a military blockade of all the major trade routes---land, sea, and air---leaving the resource rich Southern Region, known as the "Bread Basket of the Kingdom".


During that first month of "Aragaunt's Call to Reason," Aragaunt's Rogues, the Royal Palace's "Call to Wisdom and Common Sense," and then the Royal Palace's dispatch of military forces to the Southern Region, the local, planetary, and whole of Kingdom of Jod media supported the Royal Palace. The Royal Palace marched with the tune of defending the Southern Region's civilians from the traitors military forces and upholding the right of the government to protect itself against any and all threats; the Royal Palace also marched with tradition and loyalty to our forefathers' sacrifices and wisdom.

Aragaunt and his media labeled "Confederates" (Aragaunt's Rogues officially for the time being still) marched with the tune, from months and years of tensions between the nobles houses and the Royal House to back them, of a new government from the stale, old, and corrupt Royal Palace, a new military structure that did away with the mandatory enlistment of all men when they turned 18 years of age for 4 years of service with the promise of government office to all---not just those who had served---a stronger sense of home and pride in defending the home world and it's colonies---instead of outreaching to the "Outer Galaxy"----upgrading the military to deal with the threats of a modern Outer Galaxy and from Beast attacks, ending the war with the Beasts by military might, bringing new trade and technology to the Kingdom of Jod by opening it's boarders to the Outside Galaxy for trade and ending it's thousands of years of isolationism, progressing the Kingdom of Jod's culture and sciences to improve life overall, and defending the Southern Region from the "Loyalist Murderers".

The Truth Movement, a group that took advantage of teenagers and young twenties and thirties men and women's---both in the military and not in the military---knowledge and freedom of thought at such a young age in the recent period of knowledge expansion in the arts and sciences in this "renaissance" era to advance it's own anti-government agenda. Fulken wasn't an idiot; this "Truth Movement" had the fingerprints of the failed coup d'etat of a decade prior; the House of Royal Intelligence had determined that the exiled nobles, generals, and admirals from the coup de'etat had mysteriously vanished from their frozen planet of exile some months ago---the prison guards all slain. A course, being Intelligence, they didn't bother to tell anyone until more information was found, as to not let anyone panic within the government or military ranks. Well, the House of Royal Intelligence found it's answers with the death of the King and now the defection of Lord William P. Aragaunt and his military forces: Aragaunt had been the one behind the vanishing exiles, or so evidence seemed to point that way at least for now, who had mysteriously stayed well hidden from the House of Royal Intelligence---an extremely hard thing to do for anyone. Someone was helping them from the inside and the inside was Aragaunt; but the question was, how deep did the betrayal go within the Royal Court? It was doubtful that Aragaunt had the courage or the resources to do it alone, even with all his hatred towards the Royal House with the handling of the war between the Beasts and the Outer Galaxy policies by the King over the last several years.

It seemed that Aragaunt's Rogues would be a quick flare up at first: a bunch of hot heads and young people out to "change the galaxy"; such a fancy thought would be crushed by the government and order would resume, with the Queen taking over the decision making, their daughter's birth and location safely hidden away from all but the most inner circle of aids and others in the Royal Palace.

The fancy would turn into a nightmare when the Southern Region, motivated by Aragaunt's and other noblemen promises' to change things for the better, succeeded from the Kingdom of Jod a little more then a month after Aragaunt's Rogues had formed. With a country of their own to defend, the "Confederates" added defending their new country from the "Loyalist Invaders" among their list of why they had a standing army to defend them.

Meanwhile, the Queen enraged supporters on both sides. Her secrecy during the King's long away trips before his death, stale decision making that seemed scripted when the King was gone, her withdraw from the public eye since the King's death, and now her inactivity to end the Southern Region's disobedience and allow it to grow for over a whole month---which cut off 50% of the Kingdom's food supplies for the home world during the blockade and had people paying high prices for what they could get for food----had her own supporters angry at her; on the other side, Aragaunt and his supporters were angry at the Royal Palace's bold move to effectively blockade in their new country and hurt the greater Kingdom of Jod because of refusal of the Queen to leave the throne to allow change to help the Kingdom of Jod for the future.

Although resignations were common place for soldiers and sailors alike who lived in the Southern Region and went back home to defend their houses now, the Royal Palace had ordered that soldiers and sailors who chose such path should not be punished, in the thought that this "flare up" would be done and a forgotten memory sooner then later. While the few infantry units and navy units who stayed in the Loyalist rank and file from the Southern Region were watched closely, nothing else was said by anyone. This was supposed to be done and over with soon and forgotten as the Kingdom returned back to normal.

Then, it all went to hell. Two weeks after the Southern Region's succession, the Western Region declared it's independence from the Kingdom of Jod and joined the Southern Region, effectively forming a united "Confederacy of the Regions". The Western Region, whose loyal support in the Royal Court, came to an sudden end when the nobles said that,

"For the sake of our people, the inactivity of the Queen and the silence of the Royal House must be answered for. If the proper government channels will not answer our questions, then an armed force---only that is necessary to discover the answers to the inactivity of the Queen and the silence of the Royal House and to help protect our people, both on home world and in our colonies---will be established by the Western Region and join the forces of that of the Southern Region, forming the Confederacy of the Regions as a independent civilian government from the Kingdom of Jod with it's own armed military force to protect itself from invasion and retaliation of any kind and to answer the above questions and accomplish the set statements already set forth by this document above. Such an armed force and civilian government will be immediately disbanded by the Western Region once the safety and health of all our people are restored and the answers to our questions of the Queen and Royal House are resolved. Whether the disbandment of our armed forces comes at the continuation of the Royal House and the current form of government or at the start of a new government, we leave God to answer such questions and not man."

The Western Region was the power house of the Kingdom; new technologies and the height of the renaissance could be found there, as well as the height of health, Jod culture, and the extremely wealthy noble houses. The fracturing of the King's Army was expected; with whole companies, regiments, and even brigades sometimes made up of soldiers from the same region or even town and county in companies and regiments. Loyalty was usually to home and family, rather then government and Queen, in such cases of the King's Army. Whole divisions, once forming the background of Jod planetary security, broke down into in-fighting as units turned on each other. While some of the initial fighting was brutal, the tempest of battle trickled out---for now---as units went to their home regions. The Central Region (on par with the Western Region for Jod culture) and Northern Region backed the Royal Palace, while the Eastern Region gave loyalty to none and some to all; with some in the Eastern Region loyal to the late King's recent policies that turned the industrial region around for the better, many more still had harden hearts forwards the Royal House's actions that caused the deaths and wounds that their sons and daughters received in the military for a government that never really did anything for the poor region for generations. The colonies away from the home planet and on other planets, asteroids, and even space stations all held various forms of loyalty; for now, it seemed, the colonies were more concerned about the Beasts after Vaska 3, then they were about home world in-fighting.

The good news, for now, was that differences were put aside in the military in the colonies and Front Line Defense Force for the sake of protecting the greater Kingdom of Jod against any Beast advancements.

The Kingdom's Navy had seen far less trouble then the King's Army; aside from half of the King-class Battleships, whose crews were solely made up of Central and Northern Region crews, most of the navy's crews were all the regions mixed together. Also, unlike the King's Army, the Kingdom's Navy had a rich, deep, and powerful history dating back to the glory days of the Red Rock Kingdom: loyalty was expected in the navy, not asked for, like that in the army. But, Fulken was no fool either: when one's home was threaten, the depth of one's loyalty to crown and Queen was a matter of debate. Add in the mix extended families, close friends, etc, and you had various soldiers and sailors looking at their loyalties very differently then they once had.

By the end of the second month, the Queen had finally given King's Army, the "Loyalists," marching orders to stop the Southern Region's dangerous decisions (for some reason, the Western Region was left alone for now; maybe because this "war" was being viewed as short and being over soon. With their two divisions and horse mounted Queen's Guards, all forces attacked on all fronts at once, in hopes of pushing the enemy back on all points of contact; what should of been a rout for the Loyalists turned into a withdraw of their forces from the defending Confederate forces---whose despite not having a solid unit knowledge among each other as the Central Region units did, were just as well trained as regular infantry soldiers and were defending their home land. The Loyalists would push again with a fresh division from the Central Region the next day, aiming a solid strike up the middle to dislodge the enemy force holding the major trade route from the Southern Region to the Central Region. Marked with moderate success, the Loyalists' single division held the ground for the remainder of daylight and the Confederates retreated. Loyalist reinforcements were coming quick and would arrive early morning hours to continue the attack to finish this foolish war. At night, however, two fresh Western Region infantry divisions attacked the lone Loyalist division, inflecting heavy causalities on the Loyalist side and ensuring an all-out retreat. Total destruction was saved off by various units of the horse mounted Queen's Guard brigade that had fought the previous day, covering the retreat of he division.

The next early morning hours saw 3 infantry divisions of Loyalist reinforcements, with adequate artillery support, from the Northern and Central Regions, coupled with two more horse mounted Queen's Guard Brigades and 3 horse mounted Army Calvary Brigades, made a push up the Central Trade Route. While the battered infantry and Queen's Guard forces from the first and second days of battle blockaded all other trade routes and possible escape routes, the Loyalist reinforcements pushed their advance. The two Western Region infantry divisions fell under the onslaught after heavy artillery, a push by one of the divisions up the middle, and 2 of the Army Calvary Brigades flanked them. With artillery nipping at their retreat, the Western Region divisions fell into an all out panic. Despite a Southern Region infantry division coming up in support with artillery and a horse mounted cavalry brigade late in the morning, the withdraw was all but in full force by the time one of the other Loyalist reinforcement infantry divisions joined the battle. Forced from the "frontier" towns and market places of the Southern Region, Confederate forces withdrew to the larger farms, some even aiming for the far ports and didn't stop retreating. But such escapes to the ports was cut off by another Loyalist infantry division doing a beach landing and securing the ports late in the morning.

Defeat and an end to the war seemed all but certain by early afternoon for the Loyalists; the war would be over by the third day. But, flanking the over extended Loyalists forces, a Western Region infantry division supported with horse mounted cavalry struck from the west, two Eastern Region infantry divisions from the east. The pincher attack cut the Loyalist reinforcements off from their battered route blockade brothers, who were currently holding their own. With the Loyalist reinforcements' retreat cut off, Confederate forces marshaled what they could and went after the bulk of the Loyalist reinforcements in the large farming area. Aided by local civilians and farmers who knew the land well and joined the battle, Confederate forces quickly encircled and forced the retreat of the Loyalist forces.

With over two months' worth of marching to the sea ports, where the beach landing still held, the Loyalists withdrew back the way they came, fighting through Western and Eastern Region reinforcements. The Confederates forced the Loyalists on an all-out retreat and deployment to the Central Region as a Western Region infantry division and two Southern Region infantry divisions supported by artillery and a division worth of horse mounted cavalry had sneaked past lightly defended guard posts between the Central and Western Regions and begun an attack in the Central Region later that afternoon.

The Confederate surprise attack in the Central Region would drag on for the next four months, the Loyalist reniforcements and orginal blockade units retreating and redeploying in various small battles against the Confederates as each tried to out maneuver the other. During these four months, battered Confederate forces pushed their attack from the Southern Region, while the fresh suprise attackers from the Western Region battled local small King's Army and Queen's Guards units from town to town, local civilians, and the redeploying / retreating Loyalist forces who were pinned between the two Confederate forces. Towards the end of the 4 months, the combined Loyalist forces during the retreat and local units from small towns along the way were pinned down between the two Confederate attack fronts (one from the West, the other from the South); while the Central Region defenses seemed to fair better, keeping the Western Region's suprise attack forces from flanking the nicknamed Loyalist Reinforcements, the Loyalist reinforcements and block route divisions were pinned between the two Confederate forces nonetheless and were running low on ammunition. Despite a strong attack from the surprise Confederate forces from the West one morning that forced Loyalist forces to retreat further, the Southern attacking Confederates only pushed moderately against a determined Loyalist Reinforcement force to hold it's ground. Now, almost completely surrounded by both Confederate forces, the Loyalist Reinforcements were saved late that same day by a whole division of horse mounted Queen's Guardsmen supported by a horse mounted Army Cavalry brigade and two infantry brigades (with supporting artillery) that broke through the surprise Confederates' flanking attempt, turned their flank, and forced the Confederates' flank into disarray. The confusion on the Confederates' Western flank caused the Southern flank to withdraw as well, in fears of their escape route being cut off. The Loyalists would later withdraw past the nearby Royal Palace---where a bastion force of more then a army's worth of infantry, cavalry, and artillery guarded the grounds (along with the Queen's Guards) and no enemy force would dare assault---and to the foothills of the Northern Mountains. There, the Loyalist Reinforcements prevented any enemy force from taking the Royal Palace from the rear or surrounding it and protected the resource rich Northern Mountains in the Northern Region.

The next day the Confederates---with supply trains stretching and supplies taking longer to get to them---tried one final push against the Loyalists in hopes of ending this war quickly. Despite the plan, when the Confederates approached the Loyalists, the Loyalist withdrew from the foothills to deeper into the mountains, but where their artillery still covered the approach to the Royal Palace and their cavalry could quickly respond to any threats that way. Unable to contuine any more offensive tactics until reinforcements, food, and other supplies arrived, the Confederates prepared for winter camp between the Northern Mountains and the Royal Palace...out numbered and outgunned 3 to 1. Confederate reinforcements would be arriving soon, trickling in one brigade or division at a time over the next few days...then more Confederate reinforcements would arrive in the most unexpected of ways.

Meanwhile, the Queen did nothing with her bastion force but wait in a defended castle, whereas her combined forces of the castle and Northern Mountains could have crushed the Confederate forces quickly.

A battered Loyalist Reinforcement force in the Northern Mountains would see much needed reinforcements and supplies from the Northern Region and a new name: Loyalist Army of the Northern Mountains.

 

IC: General Perez, Commander Hilton, Yavscout, Bridge Officer Bob, Sergeant Vestor, , the Authority, and the Delicate Delinquent, respectively.


General Perez was in a foul mood as he departed the Captain's rooms and headed for the hangar.
"How dare he threaten to space us!" He groweled, glowering with a set jaw, while Hilton tried to keep pace. "Is that how the man runs his ship, with death threats to his crew?"

"Not usually." The Commander admitted, not exactly pleased himself with Stakes' style, "This assassination, and situation back home has probably got him scared."

"Threatening me; it's damn insubordination."

"Well it would be if you were an Admiral, General," Hilton reminded, lest the senior officer say something he later regretted, "but you are Kings Army. Aboard a naval vessel where the captain is traditionally regarded as the highest authority. If we were anywhere apart from a navy asset, you'd out-rank his choob, but since we are..." The commander braked as the General stopped suddenly in front of him, and stared back.

"I have to kiss his choob?"

Hilton shrugged apologetically. "I have some jaquira fruit-flavoured lip-paste if we need it."

* * * *

Delicate Delinquent - pressure tube

Yavscout recognised several Johnny Boy crew members ahead of him as he headed across the Javin Bucket's deck to the pressure tube entrance that promised to return him to the Imperial cruiser he and the Go-Team had half-inched (pinched).

He was lightly packed, having gotten his Guardian Squadron flight jacket, and a neatly folded grey shipsuit, in Merc grey.

"So it's spare, is it?" He had asked the crewer who had handed it to him. "So why wasn't it spare when I needed something to wear after the 'Haze mission? And who is-" He had spotted the red-on-black name patch on the chest. "-Tono?"

"Tono died when the Johnny Boy got its wing shot off; he got sucked through the breached hull."

"Good-oh. I'm getting deceased crew hand-me-downs now, am I?"

"Look, is it in your size or not?"

"Yeah, yeah."The elf had sighed, "But this sucks."

Several hundred metres along the pressure tube, where it emerged inside the Interdictor cruiser's dome shell, Bridge Officer Bob rolled his eyes as one of the triplets decided to stop on the no-room catwalk to chat to him.

"Sir, we are here for a "lift" so to speak as our original transportation left without is. That being said, we each have our specialty."

Bobob just gaped silently at the man, switching his gaze between the speaker and the growing line of Mercs behind him

"So, if you have a place where we can temporarily store out items, we would be happy to help you. Circuit can program or fix anything mechanical you can think of, C.T. is a master at decifering codes, and me, well, lets just say I am the best at defense."

Being liaison officer to Outlanders had taught Bobob to think on his feet, perhaps more than was appreciated by his peers aboard the Sword of Justice.

With the Mercs coming through the airlock tube in one solid stream, the ones towards the back, could see where the ones in front of them went, so there was really no need for him to stand here.
He could accompany this first lot of brain trusts to the the staging area that he had just described.
"Alright, fine." He responded, turning from them to lead them towards the light like a Pied Piper of Felucia. "This way then." Bobob hugged the inside of the dark metal wall on the right as he clanked along the hollow-sounding metal catwalk. "I am Bridge Officer Bob. We have immediate use for Circuit's skills down on Deck Three, then, helping the Royal Engineers. And you sir," he glanced back at the one who said he was good at defense, "what sort of defense?"

The catwalk reverberated to the sound of a dozen Merc footfalls in his wake as Bobob reached the brightly lit oval that marked the route to the rest of the ship, and shaded his eyes as he stepped through.

* * * *

Delicate Delinquent - Main Hangar

Vestor was quickly learning to multi-task. He was watching Loretta and the two Go-Team soldiers push Palso's trolley out of the hangar, and it disappeared from sight, along with the smuggler himself.

At the same time, he had a hand cupped over his right ear so that he could hear what that slip of a girl on the bridge was telling him.

A Merc starfighter was coming in, followed by a shuttle from the Authority, which would be bringing in and leaving some fighter simulator equipment for his consignment of engineers to sort out.

Then she mentioned that there was a flight of five ARC-170s requesting permission to land.

"No. No." Vestor responded, turning to keep an eye on things, noting, sure enough, a one or two-man starfighter coming through the magcon field, and skimming to a halt against the far wall. "Unless they are having an emergency that means they need to land, keep them out until we have completed all the shuttle runs."

The starfighter pilot, clad in a green flightsuit, and a tan flak vest, in stark comparison to the sergeant's own navy-blue-and-gold semi-armoured gear, climbed from his ship, and moved into the centre of the bay, where he proceeded to call out, “Where is Sergeant Vestor? I was told he had an assignment for me.”

"Okay, your pilot is here, Bridge. Send the next shuttle in, but warn them there may be someone standing in the middle of the deck. Gotta go." Vestor waved at the newcomer, "You Mac? I am Sergeant Vestor of the Kings Army. Okay, I have more jobs to do, than people on the ground to do them, so which of the following best suits your skill-sets? Meet-and-greet, tractor beam operator, or exploring?"

Vestor privately hoped that the pointy-eared lad would plump for the first choice, which would free him up to oversee things from Flight Control, but he waited for the pilot's answer.

Tag: Captain Timothy Stakes, Herc / Circuit / C.T., Mac

 

OOC: Sorry, I forgot about this tag

IC: "The Professor" (PRF-1299), "Simone" (SIM-0702), Captain Sard, the lounge of The Crusader, and the planet Ord Pardron, respectively.


Simone smiled to see the youngster's discomfort at her gratitude. And heck, just seeing anyone displaying emotion was quite the balm to a young female in Imperial armed service.

Everyone, male and female, thought they had to be cold, stony-faced and aloof, and that went double when you worked with stormtroopers; triple with space-troopers.

"So, you are taking us to meet an Imperial ship? Do you know the name? You can call me, 'The Professor', by the way." Her studiously-named colleague enquired, getting straight to business.

The sub-adult nodded, "I am Atin, we are taking you to a frigate, the Hard Eight in the Ord Pardron system. I am sure my father will be back here soon to fill you in."

Simone smiled at that, while her two male team-mates high-fived each other. "Yes! The captain came through for us!"

She looked askance at them in surprise. This was the most emoption she had seen from them since she had known them. Maybe the thought of being trapped in hostile territory on what had apparently turned into a suicide mission, had shaken their stormtrooper implacability.

"Ord Pardron?" Simone echoed, thinking about the name, "That is a long way from here."

"Is it?" PRF-1299 looked across the table at her.

"Yes, it's..." She hesitated, realising she did not have the knowledge about star sectors and stuff to back up her first stream of consciousness thought. "...a long way from here."

She almost released a grateful sigh at the sudden arrival of another Mandalorian, this one choosing to keep his helmet on, just the usual T of transparisteel to suggest this was an organic rather than a mechanical.

"ImpInt went through alot of trouble to get you off that bucket."

Simone raised an eyebrow while the others were shocked into silence, also staring at the newcomer.
Did he, did he mean Imperial Intelligence?

"Name is Taab. I haven't had an Imperial contract for a long time, so what makes you four so important?"

SIM glared surrepticiously at the quietest member of her squad, seated between her and the Professor, attempting to telepath at him: Hopefully the ability to resist asking you how it feels to be named after a beverage.

PRF-1299 frowned back. "Imperial Intelligence? We got more intelligence off those drokk-wits who sliced our freq, than anything that was part of our mission. The cruiser that you picked us up from had been abandoned, like some kind of ghost ship. My platoon went aboard to see what had happened to her and her crew, and encountered a small team of pirates or Rebels or something."

"But too small a team to have waxed the crew."

"Waxed? I ever tell you, I love it when you talk 'street'?"

Simone felt her face warm at the sideways compliment. "Well, I wasn't always a spacetrooper." She admitted to him, then turned to Taab and Atin. "We cannot imagine anyone apart from the commander of the Hard Eight, Captain Sard, caring enough about our fate to send you two after us. We certainly don't know of any connection to Imperial Intelligence or ISB, or anything like that."


* * * *

The planet Ord Pardron

With a stormtrooper in tow, Sard had gone on an archeological hike while his crew and the locals at the backwater repair facility where they had set down, got on with setting his ship to rights.

She had been badly damaged in the two abandoned starship investigations that he had undertaken since agreeing to work Ysanne Isard.

As he huffed his way up the cracked and pitted sunbleached steps of the statue ruins overlooking the repair facility, he half-rued the day he had met the Intelligence director at that party.

The other half of him though, was still pleased. As it had gotten him noticed.

They said their was always someone watching, but in a space fleet as vast as the Empire's, it was easy, too easy, to get overlooked.

Though there was a risk that the Admiralty might not look too kindly upon his investigating incidents that they chose to ignore, the act of getting their attention outweighed the negatives.

Civilians had a saying. No such thing as bad publicity. Or something like that.

Sard wiped a sleeve across his perspiring face, and stopped to look down at the parched plains stretched out beneath him, his mind turning to the squad he had been forced to leave aboard the Delicate Delinquent.

He hoped his people were alright.

Tag: Bardan

 

IC: Havah Jeth / Glove / Pic
Space, the struggling frontier

Glove listened to the incoming transmission and it knew, even from a conference with Pic that they had to do it. The situation now warranted the awakening of their Master. The situation demanded it now, and it had to be done. Although Fress' use of threats might of provided an excuse with Glove's updated programing to open fire on her, they both knew that doing such would merely make their master lose his home.

Odd that. Home. Although Glove had merely been active for a standard week after his program updates post memory wipe, it knew that that was what the Merc's were for his Master, and Pic confirmed that it had been the longest since childhood that Havah had stayed in one place and with a single group. So it was decided.

Opening up the power sequencers to the speakers in the cockpit the droids softly played chimes to awaken their Master. Pulling him back from the depths of his own mind that gave him solace from the feelings of wakefulness.

Havah awoke to find himself slowly looking at the monitor with his droids text summing up the matter in a quick short hand. He activated the comm and hit a key to acquire target lock on Fress' craft whilst letting his breaths come slow and his heart to stay slow. A quick jab of a needle and the heaviness set into his bones, the pain and sweat settling where it may, and his life signs stayed low enough to fool a scanner that even deeper sleep had fallen.

"Temporary Lead!" He belowed out on the squadron secure comm, "You will maintain frequency silence and finish the job, your ringer will fall back into diamond formation on your six, and when we get back you will owe my droids the cost of a spa treatment for your out of line threats and mal-treatment. Am I understood?"

TAG: Falcon, Ninja, Bravo

 

IC: Fress Colias/Cody/Saber
Deep angering space.

"Temporary Lead!" He belowed out on the squadron secure comm, "You will maintain frequency silence and finish the job, your ringer will fall back into diamond formation on your six, and when we get back you will owe my droids the cost of a spa treatment for your out of line threats and mal-treatment. Am I understood?"

Fress frowned wondering if this was another trick or not. She glanced back at Saber with a frown. “Saber, is this really Havah or are the droids trying to trick us again? And you are recording everything, right?”

//I always record because you built that into me, remember?// Saber answered as a silence followed. //My scanners detect Havah is still asleep and has his target locked on us.//

Fress felt her anger rise as she hit the transmitter button. She hoped that Havah got the point that she didn't put up with behavior like this. “Saber, is this recording fake?”

//My scanners detect this is not a fake recording. He is registering as still sleeping, which can be brought on with an injection to slow the heart rate.//

Fress shook her head as she signaled for Cody to fall back into position. Cody did so without having her to say anything. She shook her head feeling her anger grow. She owed those two pin head droids of his nothing. She also noted that the weapons on her headhunter had a target lock on Havah's X-wing. Cody had her back and she would always have his.

"Sleeping beauty is finally awake. I lost two good men because they fell asleep on patrol and their droids ignored me when I enquired about why they were answering me instead of them. I found out they were abusing alcohol. Saber’s program is now equipped to detect far deeper sleep after that incident. I’m not about to lose another that way. I owe your droids nothing.”

Fress removed her hand from the transmitter as she breathed ass hole under her breath. He was showing signs of alcohol with drawl symptoms and angry spurts like that was a sign. She gripped the stick as she fought to bring her anger down. The last thing she needed to do was give into anger. It was of the dark side.


Tag Mitth, Bravo, Coffee

 

OOG: The below post with Jason Lasso is a foreshadowing of events that happen previous to these events posted (I'm get those events posted ASAP with the Intervention sock).

The below music selection (Carmina Burana ~ O Fortuna Carl Orff ~ Andre` Rieu) ends at 3:36. I selected it because of the amazing depth the visual aspect gives you to the post. All the singers...just moving. The lyrics for the song can be found here, which add even more depth to the post: Lyrics



IC: Captain Timothy Stakes
Captain's Ready Room, Sword of Justice, Greater Javin


After the two officers had left, Stakes was fully aware that General Perez was more then a little ticked off at him: the body language gave it away clearly. But that wasn't his concern at the moment. The Kingdom of Jod was engulfed in a civil war and with the alternate time dimensions that separated the Kingdom of Jod from the Outer Galaxy, the scope of the civil war was not fully known. Had the Queen retained loyalty in the land? Had she marshaled forces against the traitors and crushed them without hesitation? Had the Royal House been toppled?

So many questions to be answered. And that was why the General's concern about rank and title, prophecies and government policy, was none of Stakes' concern at the moment. His concern was first and foremost the Sword of Justice and her crew. Everything else was secondary to that.

Stakes looked out at the long blackness of space. If they stayed out here any longer, they minus well be target practice for any possible Imperial vessels in the area. He leaned over the taped a comm on his desk.

"Bridge here," Came a quick response; considering the other end was alerted that the comm call came from the Captain's Ready Room, that was good.

"Where are our Merc starfighters?" Stakes replied in no uncertainty about his ill feelings towards this longer then expected wait.

"Long range sensors still report them around the Javin Bucket and Authority, Captain. The Authority reports no hostile enemy actions at the moment."

"Unless they found the end to the :Galactic Civil War and our war, then they have ten minutes to report to my hanger bay. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Make it crystal clear to them, bridge. I don't like be target practice. Stakes out."


There was a reason, a dark reason, why his noble family had become small land owners in the Eastern Region. It had not always been this way. His family had had a proud naval tradition dating back generations...until...

Timothy glanced at a long decorative wood case---that had stayed in his family for generations as a reminder and passed on to the next generation---under his window looking out to space, attached to the wall. Well, there was no point in bringing up old family history unless one had to. And, with saving the King's son all those years ago and now his appointment to the Kingdom's Navy and his brother's running of the Noble family name, well hadn't Timothy Stakes proven to the galaxy that his family had changed from that dark period in their past?

Hopefully. But, Timothy could feel the box call to him, as if his long-dead ancestor was calling out to him through the sands of time, giving him an instruction that his father had forbidden him to take.

Or, was it the LORD using his family's dark past as the tip of the spear for what was to come? Was the LORD reminding Timothy Stakes that it was the LORD and not anyone else---or one's dark family history---that controlled the future?

Soon, a communication was sent to the Merc starfighters in question: "All Guardian Squadron starfighters attached to the Sword of Justice, you have ten minutes to report to your duty station. Captain's orders. SOJ out."


Tag Coffee, Mitth, Falcon, Sith (if needed)


*******************


IC: Jason Lasso
West of Frozen Path Pass, Northern Mountains, daytime, Planet of Jod


Lasso rushed up the incline, following the long line of troops in front of him, with even more troops behind him. Their company, Company J, had been nicknamed the Jack of All Trades; attached to the 82nd Northern Central Regiment of the original 5th Corps of the 1 Division, which had now been attached to the newly formed Loyalist Army of the Northern Mountains. The 5th Corps had returned from the Front Lines many months prior and, most of the Corps had been are R&R, with a few select units attached to the Authority. The 5th Corps as a whole was due to deploy back to the Front Lines to relieve the 2nd Corps in the next month...then the civil war started.

While Lasso could not attached himself to such a battle harden 5th Corps, he had felt like "part of the group" the last few days since his trash landing on Jod. Thanks to his new friends: Fred, Lawrence, and Martin. And while Jason couldn't claim to as much battle as his new friends had seen over the last few months, he could claim that the few battles he had seen: the Retreat at Camp, the Defense of Frozen Path Pass, and now this new engagement had earned him the right to call himself a veteran.

The snow didn't fall as it had at Frozen Path Pass two days ago (the snow only fell very lightly), but the air was as frozen as before and Jason felt that even the trees themselves would shatter from the cold if you touched them. Maybe not as expansive as some of the other soldiers, Jason's once new soldiers' uniform now told the story of dirt, mud, and a hold here and there. The "government issued" gloves for winter warfare had long ago been replaced by whatever Lasso could find, as did most other soldiers, which in Jason's case he had taken white cloth and tape, and wrapped his hands. At least now he could say he wouldn't loose his hands to frostbite. Maybe.

"If the Queen is going to surrender, what we doing' fightn'?" Asked Martin through labored breaths as he went at the double quick up the rocky incline with trees everywhere.

"Martin has a point," Fred said, adding, "What we doin' fightn' if the rumors are true about the Queen surrendering?"

"There's no point in killing ourselves," Lawrence answered, "Over power hungry people. By surrendering, the Queen saves her people."

"Saves us for what? To be slaves to the new regime?"

"To live and fight another day."

"I sure hope the Queen knows what she is doing, because a lot of people don't like her at the moment. As of now, I'm fighting to be a free man, not a slave to any Noble ***-holes' commands. Queen or no Queen. They can all be Sithed."

"Strong words."

"I've done my fair share of fightn' in this galaxy. And I'm tired of the rich telling the poor what to do, especially on the battlefield. If the Queen wants to surrender, fine, let her. But I'm going to fight for my land. End of story."

"If I'm reading the Queen right, you can't end your story just yet. She's giving up too easily. But there's a point to it. She wants to save her strength for another time. The only question is when?"

"Come on boys! Move it!" Bellowed the Lieutenant, sword in hand,, as he ran down the ranks, "From a column of four to a line of two at the bottom of the ridge. On the move lads, lets go! For the Queen! For your lands!"

The Captain of the regiment was barking out orders with sword in hand and a major standing next to him with a flag bearer; the regiment formed in lines of two, one line in front of the other, on a long frozen ridge of what was once spring green land and rocks. Through the frozen trees below the ridge, by about 20 yards or so on a gentle slope, nothing could be seen but the frozen air and the snow and frost covered trees. But somewhere down there were several regiments attempting a flanking maneuver of the successful defense of Frozen Path Pass of several days ago. The intentions behind the maneuver were unclear, now with the bulk navy around home planet in the hands of the Confederates and a landing force that completely surrounded the Palace yesterday and with the war within days of ending. This battle seemed confusing at best, since even a victory here for the Confederates seemed as pointless as a victory for the Loyalists would be if the war would end in a matter of days in favor of the Confederates.

But, the war drum had been drummed. And as soldiers, they responded faithfully to the drum beat of war.

"Keep your heads down boys!" Barked the Sergeant Major as he tried to straighten out the lines, pointing and maneuvering with his hands soldiers into position, "You here...you kneel...you stand...you lad take that tree for cover..."

Soon the whole 1st Brigade was lined up along the ridge in lines of two: the first line keeling, the second line standing. The regimental colors of the 82nd Northern Central Regiment, the 5th Corps and 1st Division, and the colors of the Kingdom of Jod sat deathly still in the non-existent wind on the frigid day. Everyone was quiet, officers peering off into the frozen distance for any signs of the enemy, Sergeant Majors quietly walking behind the lines to dress them up and encourage the troops. To either side of the 82nd were regiments; to their rear, a regiment from the 2nd Brigade acting as reserve to plug holes in the line across the whole brigade.


"HERE THEY COME!" Barked someone down the regiment's line; by now, the Confederates had adopted a more tan and brown look, where as the Loyalists had elected to stay with the King's Army colors.

The Captain had barked an order and it had to get relayed several times down the ranks to their Platoon Lieutenant before anyone near Lasso could understand it, even through by the other soldiers' actions before them, the command was clear.

Their Lieutenant spoke, "Fire by volley!" Ordered their Lieutenant, "Ready!" Jason brought his already loaded rifle to the ready and half cocked it, "Aim!" Jason and everyone else around him brought their weapons to rear down the gentle slope, although they couldn't see any enemies, but hear them, "FIRE!"

The whole 1st Brigade let off a thundering roar of volley fire into the woods below; the thunder crack of the blaster rifles going off was barely gone before officers started issuing orders per regiment, "Fire by file! First file, then second file! Reloaded!"

Jason went through the step-by-step process of reloading his weapons as muzzle flashes from enemy soldiers down the slope issued reports into the Loyalist ranks; some of the reports were fire at will, others by small company vollies, still others by larger portions of the enemy line as a volley.

The Sergeant Major looked down the line and nodded to the Lieutenant; "First file! Ready!" That was Jason, kneeling; he followed the commands, "Aim!" Jason looked down his rifle's barrel as he brought it to aim; he found a young twenties boy walking up the slope with his company and zeroed in on the boy until he filled Jason's sights, "FIRE!"

Jason squeezed his trigger; after the smoke had settled somewhat and Lasso went about reloading his rifle, he noticed that the young boy was no longer where he had once been and was no where else to be found standing. Soon, the file behind Jason fired on the Lieutenant's commands.

It would be seem like an eternity of this for the next 45 minutes...


***************************


45 minutes later


The reserve regiment had been pulled up to fill holes all along the brigade; causalities were high, ammunition running low. Intelligence had been wrong; instead of a "handful of enemy regiments," a whole brigade and a half was coming up the hill. While the bulk of the Loyalist force was baby sitting the pass against the bulk of the Confederate force, a handful of units had been tasked with flanking the Loyalists position and causing confusion in the rear. While the Loyalists enjoyed the high ground, their supplies and any short of reinforcement---squads or companies---were slow in coming, trickling in at a snail's pace. With the promised artillery support even further behind then that. While the Loyalists struggled with logistics, the Confederates had managed to deploy a battery of cannon in support of their flanking assault, which was making holding this defensive spot even harder and, as time went on, less likely.

By now, bodies lettered the ground on both sides, a sea of gray and blue smothered the mountain side with rivers of blood between them. What troops could, had built earth works with whatever rocks, dirt, and tree limbs and logs they could fine. But even that was not a comfort against the exploding energy filled blast shells overhead that exploded through the forest tops and rained down deadly blaster shot below, along with the tree debris it exploded. The sound alone was enough to scare many a man.

"I got only a few shots left," Martin said, "And they just keep comin'!"

Fred looked about his squad; he had been promoted to Corporal the other day and now "officially" lead the four of them into battle. Although a veteran of the Front Lines deployments, Fred had either been passed up or ignored promotions, which would have made the then Private a Sergeant by now. But Fred never explained which one it was. "Save what you got left. Gather from the dead and wounded. Kill shots only. No horsing around with your aiming."

Lawrence nodded, Martin just shook his head as he checked a nearby dead Loyalist soldier, who had no ammo left.

"How you holding up Lasso?"

Jason nodded, "Running low. Few shots left, like Martin. If we're tired, they gotta be tired too. And low on ammunition too."

"You'd think so."

"BAYONETS!"

The order from the ragged Lieutenant made everyone look among each other. Finally the Sergeant Major broke the silence.


"Okay lads, lets get to it. No point in wasting time."

Everybody was hustled this way and that from their defensives to form up in a line to charge; officers shouting orders with swirling swords, sergeants keeping the lines dressed.

Jason rushed to his spot and he and his squad by an officer to fix bayonets, "To fortune we serve," he said and reached for his bayonet and started to attach it to the barrel of his rifle.

"Say again?" Fred asked, confused, as he and the others in the squad reached for their bayonets as well.


Jason nodded to them, then towards the gentle slope running downhill, "I'd like to call myself a mini-historian of the galaxy and in specific it's times of war. But, in histories of long ago, in the Earth system, we have this account:

In the Roman civil war, Julius Caesar knew he had to march on Rome, which no legion was permitted to do. Marcus Lucanus left us a chronicle of what happened. "How swiftly Caesar had surmounted the mighty alps and in his mind conceived immense upheavals, coming war. When he reached the water of the little Rubicon, clearly to the leader through the murky night appeared a mighty image of his country in distress, grief in her face, her white hair streaming from her tower-crowned head, with tresses torn and shoulders bare, she stood before him and sighing said, "Where further do you march? Where do you take my standards warriors? If lawfully you come, if as citizens, this far only is allowed." Then trembling struck the leader's limbs, his hair grew stiff and weakness checked his progress, holding his feet at the rivers edge. At last he speaks, "Oh Thunderer, surveying Rome's walls from the Tarpeian Rock. Oh Phrygian house gods of Iulus, Clan and Mystery of Quirinus who was carried off to heaven, Oh Jupiter of Latium seated in lofty Alda and Hearths of Vesta, Oh Rome, equal to the highest deity, favor my plans! Not with impious weapons do I pursue you. Here am I, Caesar, conqueror of land and sea, your own soldier, everywhere, now too, if I am permitted. The man who makes me your enemy, it is he who be the guilty one." Then he broke the barriers of war and through the swollen river swiftly took his standards. And Caesar crossed the flood and reached the opposite bank. From Hesperia's Forbidden Fields he took his stand and said, "Here I abandoned peace and desecrated law; fortune it is you I follow. Farewell to treaties. From now on war is our judge!" Hail Caesar! We who are about to die salute you!" [1]

"CHARGE BAYONETS!"

Jason and everyone else "charged bayonets" in the ready with a yell.

Bugle sound for "charge"

MUSIC (end at 3:36)


"CHARGE!"

With everyone else, Jason started off down the hill with a yell. As he ran, bayonet forward for it's job of delivering death, the once deadly still flags of the regiment now alive with wind carrying them to the thumb beat of more blood shed, he couldn't help but feel captured by his final words: Hail Caesar! We who are about to due salute you!

It was a bloody affair, but one that fortune demanded. They were soldiers and their fortune was that of war.

Some Confederates were here and there, firing as the wave of a Loyalist Brigade charged downhill, but many of them fled. Many of the Loyalist soldiers, like that of Lasso, squeezed off a shot as they ran. Soon, the bulk of the Confederate forces were in view as they came up the hill. At first, they fired, and tried to hold, but many of their ranks broke at the sight of the Loyalist mass headed their way.

MUSIC (at 2:44)

What remained clashed with the Loyalists; blaster shot for blaster shot, bayonet for bayonet, sword for sword. The sounds of close quarters melee combat rang throughout the frozen forest, with the yells and cries of battle with it. For Jason, he crashed into the Confederate ranks with reckless abandonment, his bayonet clashing with another man's the second file deep. Jason pushed the other soldier's aside and fired a shot close range into his face. The man's body fell backwards, the hole where his face once was a smoking ruin. Jason stepped forward, battered down a bayonet strike from the left with his rifle, and stuck the Confederate clean in the stomach. Retracting the bayonet, he found himself spinning around at a loud yell to his rear and caught a Confederate's bayonet, stopping it with a perry inches from his throat. Wrestling with the man strength for strength and was able to dislodge his bayonet from the other soldiers and stabbed him in the thigh, taking the man down.He was then tackled to the ground from the right. Lasso felt the punch to the face as the Confederate soldier straddled him, but Jason forced the man off of him---another Loyalist soldier stabbed him clean in the back as ran by. With the soldier dropping over him dead, Jason pushed him off, grabbed his rifle, and soon had to spin to avoid a bayonet to the mid-section; Jason continued his spin and brought the butt of his rifle to crash on the back of the soldier's skull, taking him down face first. Jason soon positioned his rifle to block another attack, forced the attack up, popped his rifle out of his hands to realign it straight again to his enemy, then caught it, and rammed it clean through the soldier. Lasso retracted the bayonet.

Soon, Lasso was soon caught up with the continued charge downhill to roundup the rest of the enemy soldiers.

MUSIC (at 3:22)

Soon, however, as he ran, he could hear the shouted orders before he saw them: "READY!"

There was no time to stop. They had followed Caesar and were about to die. They had followed the fortunes of war.

AIM!"

Suddenly in front of the charge was a whole mass of Confederate troops, their rifles aimed at them. Then the shouted order and the barrel flashes...

MUSIC (at 3:36)

"FIRE!"

Jason felt a hand grab his shoulder and pull him down just as the order to FIRE was given by the enemy officers.



**********************************************


Several hours later, late that night...


MUSIC: Orchestral Epic Dramatic Sad Symphony Music Film Score - The Demise - (Original Composition)


Jason woke with a start. He was freezing. He instinctively wrapped himself with his arms, the elbow of his right arm brushed up against something hard. He looked over and saw a frozen corpse next to him. It's clothes identified it as belonging to the Loyalist. He then looked all around, darkness claiming everything and the trees but shapes in the night with stars up in the night sky, and all he saw were bodies all around him. Most of them being Loyalist, a few Confederates here and there. He got up; there was no noise, not even that of the wounded. For whoever was wounded and survived, would have surely frozen to death by now.

Jason grabbed his rifle, which lay on his body, and got up. He looked around and saw no one, not even warming fires in the distance of Confederate pickets or nearby camps. He walked around the land of the dead, many a soldier's face frozen in their last moments. There, a Loyalist soldier, shot two sides, sat in front of a tree trunk, the two soaking red blood shots to his chest frozen on his uniform, as was his face of death. His rifle was still in his hands, frozen likewise to his body.

Jason rubbed his skin shoulders and brought his winter coat around him best he could. He wondered back up the hill, hearing nor seeing no one. As he walked up the hill, more Confederate dead started to appear mingled with the Loyalist dead. What had happened to the Loyalist brigade after the enemy volley? Where was everyone?

"Freeze!" Hushed a voice, "Loyalists or Confederate?"

"Loyalists," Jason hushed back and turned around to see Fred standing there, with Lawrence and Martin coming up from behind.

"Good to have you in one piece kid," Lawrence said, "We'd been searching the bodies all night trying to find you and almost gave up."

"There's no hurry in going up the hill any further," Martin said, "The Confederates have a regiment up that way in our old defensive spot."

"What happened to everyone? All I remember is being in the front of the line, charging down hill, then coming face to face with a concentrated Confederate force."

"Most of them are dead, in enemy hospitals as wounded, or POWs. But mostly dead and wounded. The brigade was shattered. That was a concentrated Confederate force alright Jason. It was a whole Sithing Confederate division! So much for our reinforcements and artillery support."

"What survivors who made it through the Confederate sweeps after the battle have all gathered down in a nearby abandoned structure. Ancient from the looks of it. But the Sergeant Major said he remembered pulling you down at the enemy volley. But he couldn't remember where you guys were at."

"The Sergeant Major is all we got left, command wise. All the officers dead or wounded. Or captured."

"We best get moving. Confederate patrols come through this area now and then. Come on, this way."


**************************


23 minutes later


Jason was introduced to the "remnant". About 20 or so soldiers who had stayed quiet and kept still after the battle. About a quarter of them were wounded in various ways with white medical bandage around the wound areas or other clothing items when bandages were not available. The 20 were huddled inside a small temple-like structure whose roof had long ago disappeared to neglect and lay crumbled inside where everyone sat; most of the building's other white stone structure was damaged, missing, or covered by the forest. Only a small lantern sat in the middle of the structure, barely visible to even those there.

After a quick meal and a drink, Lasso sat around with everyone else as the Sergeant Major pointed out their plan.

"If I was guessing the massive explosions right earlier, then the Loyalists have collapsed the valley entrance, which means the only way in or out of the Northern Mountains is cut off. The only other known way is around through the Eastern Region or through the Western Region, but that will take months to navigate through the mountains in this cold weather to find where the residents and others live. So, for now, the Confederate army is denied access to the Northern Mountains...until Spring that is and the snow melts. Once the snow melts, they can bypass the valley...but they'll be easy pickings for our snipers in this cold weather and heavy snow. So, Spring will be their next time to advance from the Valley entrance side. Until then, there is a back way we can take. Only a few people know about it; the trail is small, only able to fit one person at a time across it over some of the mountain ridges. But it will lead us directly into the hidden and fortified Fort Bastion."

"Name is not original or fancy," Martin said, "But what is Fort Bastion?"

"The last Loyalist stronghold and secret training sight for the Queen's Guard. Very few outside of the House of Royal Intelligence knows of it's location or existence."

"How do you know about it then?"

"He's one of the very few outside of Royal Intelligence."

"Oh."

With that, the soldiers packed their things and, turning the lantern off, marched in silence towards the secret mountain trail into Fort Bastion...


TBC

OOG:

References:

[1] Gods and Generals (2003), Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

 

IC: Fress Colias
Never ending cold space

"All Guardian Squadron starfighters attached to the Sword of Justice, you have ten minutes to report to your duty station. Captain's orders. SOJ out."

Fress frowned as she stared at the comlink feeling disbelief. Either someone had forgotten they were twenty minutes out or she would be skinning someone’s hide by the time this was done and over with. “Copy Sword of Justice, we’re a twenty minute micro jump out, not ten.”

Fress hit the transmit button to all three fighters under her temporary command and before Havah could say anything further. “The SOJ has made contact, and we're being called in now. We’re to meet up with them at the hyperspace exit coordinates. We’re heading to the hyperspace entrance coordinates now,” she led the small group to the jump vector. She looked behind her to make sure they were following her. “Make the jump on my mark.”

Fress reached for the hyperspace lever as she signaled everyone she was pulling on the lever. She trusted everyone would follow her into hyperspace. Dots turned into lines as she leaned back in the seat. She placed her hands against her temples as she felt the beginnings of a stress headache take hold. She reached into a side pocket on her suit and pulled out a couple of pain killers and popped them into her mouth. She held them under tongue as they quickly disolved. She was gonna need them to head off this headache now as this day promised to be worse before it was over.

Tag Mitth , Coffee, Bravo

 

IC: Beskaryc Taab
Lounge area, Crusader, enroute to Ord Pardron

The troopers seemed stunned at the notion of Imperial Intelligence being behind their rescue. Either this Captain Sard of theirs had influence they didn't know about, or else there was some other reason eyes wanted them reunited. He liked the fact that they had such a loyalty to Sard, as he (she? Unlikely given the Empire's disdain for female officers, but possible) had for them in apparently arranging this extraction.

Of course these troopers could just be very talented liars Taab allowed, but he didn't think that was the case. Most Stormies didn't display that much imagination when it came to such things. Besides these troops in particular didn't seem the "lying type". But who knew? Taab had been wrong before. In the end he supposed it didn't really matter, he was being paid to do a job, and he would do it, whoever these troopers were, and deliver them where ever he was told. On the issue of payment he was a bit disappointed though. It sounded like these troopers had heard and recorded the inadvertant transmissions from the Mercs. So much for garnering a bonus for turning those recordings over himself.

It did surprise Taab greatly to hear that the Interdictor had been possibly abandoned. He knew the Empire certainly had no problem with throwing away indivdual soldiers or squads (his present mission not withstanding) or even TIE fighters, but an entire starship? Especially one as expensive and specialized as an Interdictor? That was...odd. Again though it had no bearing on his current assignment so he mentally filed it away.

"Imperial Intelligence? We got more intelligence off those drokk-wits who sliced our freq, than anything that was part of our mission. The cruiser that you picked us up from had been abandoned, like some kind of ghost ship. My platoon went aboard to see what had happened to her and her crew, and encountered a small team of pirates or Rebels or something."

"But too small a team to have waxed the crew."

That confirmed Taab's belief that the Mercs lacked the ability to take the ship on their own, both in terms of numbers and expertise. Still they did have some nifty equipment. "Mercs, they called themselves the Mercs." He finally said. "Some kind of mercenary band would be my guess. But I have never heard of them." He sat down at the console on the opposite side of the lounge, checking on their ship's status. "If they are mercenaries, they certainly have their share of issues."

IC: Atin Taab
Lounge, Crusader

Atin was surprised at the display of emotion from the two male troopers at the mention of the frigate. Though buir had often told him that many a Mandalorian warrior's blood could run hot, Atin had a hard time seeing that in his usually stoic father. To witness another group of proffesional soldiers react like this was very different from what he was used to, and was far closer to the excitement that Atin often felt when on a mission.

Buir was always telling him to take himself out of a situation and to calm down, to use his anger and excitement and channel them better. So far though Atin was having a difficult time doing that, he always seemed to wear his emotion on his sleeve. The stormtroopers gave him some vindication, at least as far as he was concerned, regarding that particular ongoing "battle" with his father.

He listened on as his father talked about the group they had just slipped away from. Mercenaries? That sounded interesting. Maybe when the trip was over they could come back here and try to join them for a short time. Atin knew he would like to work with a larger group of mercenaries, if nothing else then to break up the monotony of always training with his father.

He loved his father to be sure, but sometimes it would be good to get a different perspective on things, these rescued troopers were enough to show Atin that. These Mercs could be a good, and fun, training tool for him. But listening to the disdainful way buir was speaking of them he doubted that was in the cards. Too bad.

"We cannot imagine anyone apart from the commander of the Hard Eight, Captain Sard, caring enough about our fate to send you two after us. We certainly don't know of any connection to Imperial Intelligence or ISB, or anything like that."

That angered Atin and he was sure it showed on his face. Growing up in the midst of a civil war he knew what it was to be left behind. It was one of the things he loved so much about his buir who had rescued him from that hellhole. He hadn't been like the others and left him behind when he was of no further use. Instead he had taken Atin with him, trained him to survive on his own and not be reliant on anyone else. They were hard lessons to be sure, but ones that Atin valued greatly.

"The Empire would just..." A look from his father, just a simple nod of his armored head, told him to drop the matter. He was going off half cocked again, he bit his lower lip as he thought about the situation and what they had just been told. "But if no one would care...and we were hired anyway, then you all must know something. Just why was that ship abandoned anyway?"

TAG: Sith-I-5

 

IC: High Admiral William B. Fulken
Command Deck, Prime, High Orbit over Planet of Jod, 17 hours before the last events of Jason Lasso


Of the 157 warships, the Navy consisted of one dedicated carrier: the Royal-class Carrier Queen's Glory. While not new, now seeing her tenth year of service in the Kingdom's Navy, the Queen's Glory was nonetheless the pride and joy of the navy: where she went, battle fleets followed. For the duration of the civil war, she had been dispatched to a secret location to avoid any actions against her. Under strict orders for comm silence, the Kingdom's carrier, the one vessel that could sway the whole war in a matter of minutes, was away, hiding...waiting. Fulken was only one of three people who knew her location; the only other two was the Queen herself and the carrier's captain.

For now, the events on the ground unfolded, with little firm action by the Royal House. While such inaction frustrated Fulken, he understood why the Queen did it: she wanted to avoid as much bloodshed as she could and find a peaceful solution to the armed conflict. While Fulken was more liking to level the Confederates' command centers, he was a soldier nonetheless and followed his orders. But, Fulken knew that the navy was getting restless. More and more recruits and military defectors were going to either side by the day and, with a bastion defense around the Royal Palace and any offensive might of the Loyalist forces contained within the Northern Mountains and the Confederates' offensive forces at the base of those mountains, it seemed that this war had little quick end in sight as winter grew knew.

And civilians on both sides suffered. While Fulken was a Loyalist by every sense of the word, he couldn't help but admire the Confederates' desire to find a solution to the war; whereas the Loyalist leadership waited behind policy and played the waiting game for peace. While the High Admiral questioned the Loyalist leadership in their decision making, he nonetheless couldn't find fault either in wanting to spare lives in unwarranted bloodshed if a peaceful solution could be found.

"ADMIRAL!" Barked the sensors' officer, "The Battleship Lexington has broken formation and is increasing her speed towards the Orbital Defense Zone."

"Communications?"

The comm's officer shook her head, "She isn't responding to hails, Admiral."

"Try again," The Admiral spook calmly and turned to the sensor's officer, "Do sensors read any malfunctions with sensors or engineering?"

The man shook his head, "Negative, Admiral. She reads all green. Full crew life signs as well."

"Admiral, the Lexington is not responding to hails. Two attempts. Both the Destroyers Bunker Hill and the Bull Run have attempted hailing her with no response either."

"Sensors, alert me once the Lexington is within 500 meters of the Orbital Defense Zone. Station defenses online. Alert the Battleships Petersburg and Antietam; instruct the Petersburg to approach the Lexington causally, while the Antietam conducts a shadow of the Lexington's movements from the Orbital Defense Zone. Communications, try to reach the Lexington with all due haste and find her condition. If the Lexington enters 500 meters of the Orbital Defense Zone, then weapons are free to disable her engines and weapons."

Everyone moved without question, although many felt their hearts beating faster and faster. Lights went from normal to "yellow alert".

The High Admiral watched the various warships and commercial vessels in orbit around Jod. So many vessels darting around the stars...

"Admiral, no response to hails. The Petersburg has received likewise a lack of response."

"Six hundred meters, Admiral."

Fulken watched as the King-class Battleships Lexington and Petersburg neared parallel positions to each other, facing opposite directions, over the planetary shield over the Planet of Jod.

"Five hundred and fifty meters, Admir---Lexington's weapons are online! Her shields are online as well!"

It was so close quarters between the two ships, less then a thousand meters between the two Battleships, that targeting computers---which would have given away the Lexington far sooner---were not needed. The Lexington's all-purpose cannons shot deadly lasers across the void of space, impacting the shield-down Petersburg with beautiful explosions of death.

There was a gasp and a rush of activity around the bridge of the station.

"All weapons in range, target the Lexington and fire!" Fulken barked in urgency.

"Admiral! The Bunker Hill and Bull Run are under attack from the Battleship Cold Harbor, Destroyer Generation, and Corvette Distance! The frigates Williams, Hill, and Lincoln all report their loyalists to us and are holding position, awaiting orders."

"What's that noise?" Comms asked.

Fulken looked at her, but then followed her gaze to the command bridge's door. In the distance down the corridor, behind the closed bridge's doors, he could hear the marching boots getting closer...



TBC

 

OOG:

Regarding Jason Lasso, I want to reassure everyone that I am not god-moding with his training. Any fight scenes or training, previous or future on the Planet of Jod, is purely a storytelling vehicle to get Lasso where I need him for the stuff I explained in the Rocketjock regarding PMs. Any training that would enhance Jason Lasso's performance as a character past what he is now I will clearly define and it will be a process (as once again, to set an example for the second game and or for gaining more Force powers, etc.).

The two guards mentioned in the throne room with Eminence William P. Aragaunt are a combination between evil characters (I can't remember the name) in the Wheel of Time series and the 12 dead kings after the Ring in the first Lord of the Rings.



IC: Lord Alic Tarfa
Fort Bastion, Northern Mountains, daytime, Planet of Jod, two days later


The "Kingdom of Jod" ceased to exist, as a government, 24 hours ago; the new Confederacy of the Regions replaced it, with Lord William P. Aragaunt as Eminence. Most of the Queen's supporters in the Royal Court were no longer in the Royal Court and new nobles, loyal to Aragaunt and his new government, replaced them. The Royal House of Intelligence and Royal Command were both disbanded and such members that did not turn themselves in to the new government for questioning and "review of loyalty" were considered enemies of the state; naturally, no one from those two branches showed up, for they all knew prison and death would be their lot. The Royal House was officially given the title of "The Ministry of History and Culture" and negated to a guest wing in the Royal Palace with offices to do their work. In short, a politically correct way of house arrest.

As for the Queen and her closet advisers, government trials to determine the reasons behind their lack of actions over the last decade that lead the Kingdom of Jod into non-stop war. Old war horses and veteran officers of the military, whose loyalty lay with the Royal House, were "retired" in favor of Truth Movement members. The cleaning house of the military started in earnest, with recruitment posters already up for defending the new government and the wonderful citizens. Naturally, the young flocked to such recruitment stations.

As to make the transition as friendly and makes the lies look like truth as much as possible, the King's Army would retain it's uniform colors and flags, but the army was renamed the Army of the Regions; the Kingdom's Navy remained the same, except was renamed the Confederacy Navy.

But, everyone knew that soon the colors would be replaced completely, as would the flags. The veteran army and navy officers would be replaced with Truth Movement members. Soon, Aragaunt would want what he always wanted: power.

For now, former Loyalist units that had refused to surrender or change their loyalty to the Confederacy of the Regions were considered terrorists. As such, what units remained in the Northern Mountains were the focus on a intense media blitz to show the "evil minds" of those that would hold up to build numbers to assault a peaceful government wanting only to help the people. Naturally, the Confederacy of Regions had a ring of forces around the Northern Mountains waiting to "accept peaceful transitions over to the rightful government and people". For those that did not come out of the mountains, surrenders were accepted...come spring time, the Confederacy of Regions' forces would assault the Northern Mountains to remove the terrorists from the land.

Out of everything: the Queen's peaceful surrender 28 hours ago, the Kingdom's Navy's collapse into in-fighting 18 hours before the Queen's surrender, and all the events that lead to this point, one man, the most powerful man in the former Kingdom of Jod, had escaped imprisonment and he would continue to avoid such chains as long as the Queen remained in prison: Lord Alic Tarfa. The Queen was his protection and he would not fail her...her throne would be restored. He wouldn't rest until it was. With the House of Royal Intelligence mostly intact and not compromised to his knowledge, this lie of a government in the Confederacy of the Regions wouldn't last long.

The beauty of the surrounding Snow-covered Northern Mountains (surrounding Fort Bastion on all sides), made more in-depth by the frozen frees, did not lessen with the cold frigid wind that blew in from the mountain tops. Fort Bastion's walls, sixteen feet high, were solid tree trunks three thick, tied together with heavy chains and interlocked together to form groups of 3 and to connect each group to the next group by double thick heavy timber logs. A watch tower sat high above each corner of the square fort that was large enough to land a EF76 Nebulon-B Escort Frigate within it's walls; multiple wood buildings, barracks, and training grounds dotted the land inside the fort. Smaller towers, paired together, flanked both the main entrance and main exit doors. Ramps from the ground within the fort ran up to the fort's walls, where catwalks provided troops with evaluated platforms to shoot from. The entrance and exit doors were double doors the same thickness of the walls and required a small army of soldiers to move open and close. The only other way into the fort, other then the secret path that the Major Sergeant of the "Jack of All Trades" company knew about, was a series of underground tunnels that ran along the underground spring that supplied the fort with fresh water. The tunnels emptied out on the opposite end of the Northern Mountains away from the Royal Palace, in the Frozen Ocean. Finding the hidden entrance required one to move a border the size of a hover truck. And even then, one had to get past all the hidden traps, holo camera, motion and heat sensor sentry blaster turrets, and the Queen's Guard patrols throughout the tunnels. Any raid from the air was equally as foolish: the altitude and thin air all but axed out air speeders and orbital bombardments had to located the base through the thick forest first, then get past the special shielding that made it all but invisible to the naked eye from the forest from space or sky, and then get through the shields that were strong enough to deflect any bombardment. With a protected fresh water spring, underground farms and other food sources, Fort Bastion could hold out as long as needed.


Tarfa blew out a breath that froze in the wind before him as he kept his hands inside his jacket. He, Agent Zero, and a man of the clergy stood on a small hill overlooking a training bit below. Below, a single man was surrounded by half a dozen Queen's Guardsmen; the Guardsmen took turns at attacking the lone human, who defected each strike; everything was planned, with one of the Guardsmen barking out orders for each new attack.


"With the new government in place, many of the clergy have supported the new power, saying that it is the Will of God."

"And what do you say Shepherd?" Tarfa asked.

"That we have lost sight of who we are. God---the God that I follow in my heart and mind---would never allow such a following. The Scriptures speak of such things. Yet, the same Scriptures that I and my brothern read, are viewed very differently among us."

"Everyone is entitled to their opinion, Shepherd," Tarfa responded as the clash of swords in the training pit below continued.

"But these are our church leaders!" The Shepherd responded, then sighed, "What I mean is that each one of you says, "I follow Paul," or "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Cephas," or "I follow Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you?" (1 Corinthians 1:12-13, ESV)

"Shepherd, I am quite certain that we are facing a very different problem then Christ be divided at the moment. Most in the Church leadership have yet to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior."

"You are very correct, Lord Tarfa. But the meaning is all the same."

"How so?"

"Our people are focusing on the Pastor or on the particular Church they go to. Instead of listening to God in their hearts, they are listening to man who preaches for God. Our people must come back to listening to our Father God first and foremost...not man or church building first. For as it is written, "For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." (1 Corinthians 1:25, ESV)

"I'm following you to a point..."

The Shepherd smiled, "For God is our answer. Our salvation. Our wisdom. Our teacher. Our strength. No word from man about God, however well spoken, can ever replace the truth of God we know in our hearts. Yes, the Word of God in the church is important t hear. Important to use. But God's wisdom, through prayer and reading of the Holy Bible, should always be our filter for what men say about God."

Tarfa nodded, "I see. It is hard for me to understand something sometimes, Shepherd..."

"Yes?"

"This Lord Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and the salvation of humanity, died in the Earth System. Our scout ships bring back one of their Bible's written over two thousand years after the death of this Christ. Now, the faith that our people have followed is being challenged. Hearts have been transformed. Lives transformed."

"That is the way of Christ, yes. Change."

"There has also been broken hearts and broken lives."

The Shepherd nodded, "You must take what you have said before of hearts being transformed and lives being transformed and understand this now and the mission of Christ: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 10:34-39, ESV, Biblos.com)

"I see," Tarfa said, adding, "I think on that one," Tarfa stared at the training fight in the pit for a long moment in silence.

"You think he is the one the Prophecy speaks of?"

Tarfa nodded, "Yes. But not just him. There are others. Each one of them has a special gift that the others don't have. As individuals, they are ill prepared for the task ahead of them. But, united, they are a unstoppable force."

"A unstoppable force for what?"

"To reclaim our world...and the galaxy," Tarfa said, taking a step down the hill and towards the training pit below; he looked back to the Shepard, "And it is time that Jason Lasso discovered what his gift is."



TBC


******************************************



IC: Eminence William P. Aragaunt
Throne Room, Royal Palace, Planet of Jod, later that night


The throne room was empty.

Almost.

The party guests had come and gone by now; the remains of a gallant party of food and dancing for all littered the Throne Room floor. Now, Eminence William P. Aragaunt sat alone in the throne, not another soul in sight. Guards naturally stood sentry on the outside of the closed doors, but other then that, Aragaunt was able to experience the emptiness that power truly brought after the smiling faces had departed for the day.

Suddenly, materializing out of thin air as a black liquid foggy smoke with a gloomy green outline, three figures suddenly stood before the throne; the foggy smoke was now gone. The old crooked old man that has Force pushed him all those months ago against his own wall after the Queen---former Queen---had stood up to Aragaunt in the Royal Court. William sat lazily in the throne chair, slouched down, with a very unconcerned look on his face. Secretly, however, William didn't know who to be more afraid of: the old crooked man or the two towering guards behind him.

The two guards wore all black; they had padded black arm and thigh armor under a black hooded cloak that covered the rest of their bodies. A silver torso armor piece with robust spiked shoulder pads told of some time of heavier armor. They also had the same silver armored gauntlets and coverings over their hands; they featured black boots. But, under the hood, no face could be found: no mouth, no nose, no chin, no ears. Only two red eyes peering out from the darkness of the hood. In their right hands they held electrostaffs. No further weaponry could be identified at the moment.

"We helped you," the old man said, "We suppressed the Royal Palace, secretly, from the inside while you raged your war. We made them ineffective. You have your throne. Now we want our revenge. Where is she?"

"In time," Aragaunt said, "You have yet to complete the deal."

The old man hissed, "How dare you mock us! I should have you killed!"

"Fort Bastion. Then the Queen is yours."

"We handled the Royal Palace for you...the Greater Island Nations, the Ice Lands, and the Southern Territories on the Planet of Jod! Your forces only handled the Regions on Jod."

"Fort Bastion..."

Suddenly other black and green clouds materialized everywhere and the Throne Room was full of the guards.

"Remember who your dealing with Aragaunt..."

"And you remember that your weakness I have. Your loyalty. Fail me and I will send you back to the hell of a exile you came from."

"Darth Maximums freed us, not you!"

"And Darth Maximums gave me the power to free you. Remember that..."


TBC

 

IC: Kasumi
X-Wing

"All Guardian Squadron starfighters attached to the Sword of Justice, you have ten minutes to report to your duty station. Captain's orders. SOJ out."

Kasumi nodded to the message.

“Looks like we are headed back Firecracker. Spook, good to hear your voice.”

Kasumi got prepared for hyperjump with Buddy’s help. Once the jump was made on Fress’ mark Kasumi sat back and took a deep breath in and slowly released it.

(You ok?)

“Yes, I am Buddy, thank you.”

(Welcome.)

Kasumi closed her eyes and thought back on friends and her family. She was too far to know exactly what was going on, but when she and Master Yoda spoke last it was clear that her family was well. She just hoped that some day she could return to them or at least let them know she was ok.

Memory

“Sis, there are people here to see you.”

Kasumi ran around from the back of the house and came face to face with masters from the Jedi council. She ran for her brother and held on.

“They aren’t going to hurt you. These are the people I told you about. Remember?”

Kasumi nodded.

“Ok. This is my sister.”

“The Force is strong in her….and it is with you Phelan.”

“Thank you master.”

Kasumi watched her brother bow and followed his lead. She watched as the masters looked at each other. She could feel the pounding of her heart pounding. She had heard so much about these people and wanted so badly to go learn all she could. As the Force would have it they chose her.

Just after being chosen as a padawan

(Start Music)

Shortly after being chosen as a padawan, Kasumi began to slip on her focus. After class she came around the corner and saw Master Yoda speaking with Master Secura. She knew they were talking about her. She suddenly felt as if she was going to disgrace her family. She bowed her head and waited for them to finish talking and she heard her master’s footsteps. Kasumi looked up.

“Master Yoda has every bit of confidence in you as do I. But you need to ground yourself. These walls aren’t helping, and the garden isn’t helping as much any more is it?”

“No Master. I’m sorry, I’ll….”

“Then we have to go to the source.”

“Master?”

“Come...”

Kasumi followed her master to a ship that was waiting. Kasumi practiced as they traveled, uncertain of their destination. She felt the ship land and followed her master out into the sun light. She took a moment to look around, and realized where they were. They were on Alderaan. She spun around and looked back at her master who just nodded towards the forest edge. Kasumi took off like a flash and was gone into the forest.

“You truly understand her Master Secura.”

Master Secura turned and nodded to Kasumi’s mother.

“She has such a gift, now I understand why her brother gave up his opportunity for her. There is something special in her. The Force flows through her, but seems to grow stronger when she is…”

“In the forests and surrounded by the living force as it was intended?”

Aayla nodded.

“It’s something I have never been able to understand. Our family is force sensitive, and she and her brother are the strongest of us….however, Kasumi is the more focused.”

“Especially here.” Aayla observed.

Kasumi ran through the forest letting the trees brush past her face and gently bless her with the morning dew that their leaves held. Each drop was like a gentle blessing from the heavens. She came to a clearing and knelt down on the grass. She closed her eyes as the sun came through the trees. She could feel her strength and focus returning. The Force flowed through her and it was like getting a second wind.

“The animals always know when you are back sis.”

Kasumi smiled and opened her eyes.

“So do you.”

“Hey, it’s my job. How are you?”

“Better.”

“Sis, you know you can’t keep coming back here to help refocus. You have adventures waiting for you and times that will keep you away longer.”

“I know.”

“Here, this will help.”

Phelan handed her a holo recording of the forest and the early morning sounds.

“It’s not perfect, but it will help.”

She smiled and turned the image off.

“You always know how to help.”

Phelan just shrugged.

“So, how’s that ability coming along sis?”

“Which one?”

“The one that has to do with you know…green plants, etc.”

“It’s going…hard to control…but…it’s going good.”

“Good.”

With that Phelan sat down next to her and together they listened to the sounds of the forest and took in all the beauty around them.

End Memory


Tag: Fress and Havah

 

Herc, Circuit, C.T.
Delicate Delinquent - pressure tube
(Sith)
. "I am Bridge Officer Bob. We have immediate use for Circuit's skills down on Deck Three, then, helping the Royal Engineers. And you sir," he glanced back at the one who said he was good at defense, "what sort of defense?"
Circuit nodded and handed some stuff off to C.T. who took it gladly. In a flash Circuit was off to deck three after getting a few directions.

“Me? Any kind you can think of….”

C.T. jumped in and said plainly…”Herc here has a mind for combat and other situations. He survived most situations when others wouldn’t have.”

Herc smiled at his brother. So many times they had been at deaths door, and yet on each occasion Herc was able to barely get his team out. Call it the luck of the Force, or what ever you like, but they all agreed that there may come a time when they were unable to get out. All three hoped that would not happen before they could “retire.”


Circuit arrived at the third level and without a second thought jumped in to help with repairs.

Tag: Sith

 

IC: Sydney Ayres
Delicate Delinquent

He was having way too much fun examining the bulkheads and bolts used to hold the Immobilizer 418 cruiser together. He knew that he had an assignment to do. Knew that his time here on the cruiser was one of business, not pleasure, but nothing was going to stop him from seeing what the Imperial engineers had created when they first set about making this particular ship. The entire concept of ripping craft out of hyperspace impressed Sydney. He made a mental note to look at the gravity well projectors when he got the chance. He thought he had heard his name called, something about going to the command deck. There were soldiers nearby, strange uniforms, he had never met these guys before. They most certainly were not Imperials. He moved up to one of the soldiers and introduced himself.

"Sydney Ayres, Hangar Chief over at the Johnny Boy. Somebody wanted me for something over here, do you know where or who that might be?"

Tag: Sith-I-5