I-I can't believe I'm already out here, everything happened so fast. It had just been two days ago, when Krius was still in the Academy. He didn't feel like he was ready yet, that everything was coming to fast, way to fast.

"Krius you there? Helloooo, hey are you ok?" Atricks voice steadily grew louder, bringing Krius back from his thoughts.

"Yea, I'm ok, just a bit nervous if you know what I mean" Krius let out a weak smile, trying to hold back his true emotions.

It was weird, Krius expected himself to be as cocky and arrogant as he always was, but not today. It was a strange feeling, he felt Angry, scared, and excited. But he knew that when he got out there, he wouldn't have to worry anymore, the only thing he would be focused on would be the mission, and the thrill of flying. Krius had remembered the first time he flew a tie, it had been only just four days ago. The loud roar of the engines gave him comfort, made him feel powerful, and when he took off, nothing else in the world mattered to him.

"I think you should go get some rest man, you don't look so good."

"Yea, I think your right. I'll cya later then." Krius slapped hands with his closest friend so far in the Navy, and walked off to his room.

As soon as Krius got in his room, he jumped on the bed to take a rest, but to his dismay a voice crackled over the intercom saying that him and Atrick need to report to the Briefing room. Well, look like its time.

When Krius got there, a guard that wouldn't let him in until Atrick got there stopped him. After about five minutes, Atrick arrived and the guard let them in. The room was dimly lit, giving it a kind of ominous look. There were a couple of rows of chairs, and in the center of the room was a podium. There was a man standing behind the podium, he was taller then Krius and had black brushed back hair. His eyes were kind of a steel blue color, and in a way made him seem intimidating.

Atrick and Krius just stood there wondering what to do next, when the man, out of nowhere gave them a huge smile.

"What are you two just standing there for? Go have a seat." He had a smooth but ruff voice; making him seem like one of those nice guys whose bad side you don't want to get on.

"Well, incense both of you are new here let me introduce myself. I am Chief Warrant Officer Willtconq. I am Kaph's Squadron commander, and you are my newest recruit!" He said while pointing at Krius. Hearing that Krius shot up from his chair with Atrick following and introduced himself.

"I am Leading Crewman Krius Chase, reporting for duty sir!" Krius held his breath waiting for his SL's next order.

"At ease son, at ease. Don't worry man, no need to be all-uptight, I don't know if you've checked our squadron motto yet, but enough of the chitchat! Lets start the meeting."

Krius and Atrick both looked at each other in shock both thinking the same thing, that this guy was awesome.

"Now, I'm pretty sure both of you know that Kaph, Nazgul, and Aegis squadron are all down there doing there best to complete the mission.  So right now our main objective is to get down there and meet up with our squads. Atrick you'll go meet up with Nazgul who currently is taking out all ground forces. Krius, you and I will meet up with Kaph and our objective will be to destroy all air forces and maintain Air and Space superiority. On the way down, expect to meet enemy air craft, but we will not engage them, they will probably out number us and they will be way more experienced then both of you. So, I want both of you to meet me in the hangar bay in fifteen minutes. You are dismissed."

Krius and Atrick left the room after having a few words with Will, and discovered that he was a cool and funny guy, he was like Desus except better.
Now with his usual cocky attitude back, Krius was ready to go and was eager to get into combat.This is gonna be fun


-----------------------
FM/ LCR Krius/ Kaph 8/ Wing 2/ mSSD Atrus/ Pheonix Wing/ VEN/ VE/ (=A=)
Krius=Leon

Leveling off the fighter Cyleaf began to do a quick status scan of his Hawkbat. He was getting pretty shaken up; he was not long out of the protective shell the Academy provided and directing in the heat of battle.

The Zabrak shuttered, a cold chill seeping up his spine, How many times have I been close to death already? Three maybe four, I have been adding some contributions but mostly have had bad luck. Or maybe I am not as good of a pilot as I thought or everyone expects out of me. The Zabrak's thoughts returned to him as the computer sounded with the information he sought.

The Hawkbat had fared somewhat well, Cy had been on top of his game at least routing shields, diverting power and other quick decisions, but according to the readout grazing the treetops had taken out his missile locking capacity, he swore to himself. The shields were at 100% front and 75% rear, and though somewhat taxed had shown minimal wear from the constant recharging, his Hawkbat maxed sub light at 100 due to the increased power to his weapons that were now dual linked. He had spent three missiles, half of his payload which left him with three.

Luck had definitely played a big role; he should have been worse off. Looking towards his radar it seemed o go fuzzy and than clear up, most likely do to his close encounter of the tree kind. His jaw went agape, the normal amount of blue dots, though it seemed to be outnumbered drastically by red blips. Cy shook his head, was this fatigue playing a cruel joke on him or for real. The Squad was already down two excellent pilots, Dodger and it's leader Willtconq, both weighed heavily on him.Why was he a rookie pilot still alive when more experienced ones were the ones going down?His thoughts were playing heavily on him.

Alarms went off again, all too familiar by this point in the battle. If only he could reach his temples to rub them, he was getting a splitting headache. "I got missile lock on me again!" Cyleaf failed to hide the annoyance in his voice. "Hang on there, help is on the way." came one of his squad mates, though he was too frantic to pick up the voice this time.

Up dead ahead of the weary pilot was a blue ring x-wing heading straight towards him. As if a light bulb appeared over his sleek black helmet Cy suddenly got an idea, he put his engines to full sub light and felt himself suck back into his chair. Reaching up to the computer and plugging in commands he directed his fighter towards the target gaining speed as the missile got closer. Firing bursts of laser towards the x-wing seemed futile as they were absorbed by the shields, upon which Cyleaf's fighter rocked slightly, the shields holding.

All right you bastard wait till you see this. Closing the distance fast the blue ring did not take evasive maneuvers knowing that the Hawkbats shields were dropping fast. Reaching for the missile release button and counting down precious seconds, "Ok I got a plan; I don't need assistance and watch out for the debris." "Ok three, disengaging now good luck" replied Demonic.3,2,1 Cyleaf released his missile with out a lock, hoping that the luck he had been receiving would still be with him.

They didn't realize something was amiss until he saw the Hawkbat pull up. His shields collapsed as an explosion rocked his ship and the second missile hurtling towards him was what he would take to his grave.

Looking through his canopy as he inverted finishing the Immelman Cyleaf saw the second explosion disintegrate the fight as it hit the fuel cells. "Wahoo, it worked, I can't believe it worked." "Nice move kid, very lucky there." came Demonic's voice, "Also easy on the celebration we're still at war here genius," that was Than Sion. "Sorry just letting out a little frustration, I am getting very exhausted, not used to this much atmospheric flying" Cy responded as he mentally wiped his brow.

Will I hope that would have made you smile, converting all shields to front, taking power from my weapons and routing to both shields and engines, you would have approved right? Cyleaf reassured himself thinking of what he had just done. He reconfigured the computer to set his specs back to normal except for 10% from the engines to weapons.

"Ok flight leader my status is as follows 50% rear shields 50% front, 2 missiles left but without locking capabilities. Feeling very fatigued." "Roger that 3, we are all feeling this, just keep up the hard work that's an order!" replied Demonic. Cyleaf nodded and than thought about his companion in the Academy Zharyn.

I wonder how that son of a gun is doing in Aegis, hopefully faring better than I am, when we get back I'll have to buy him a drink Thought Cyleaf as he quickly scanned the area.

 
-----------------------
FM/SCR/Cyleaf Aehait/Kaph 1-3/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE/(=*A*=)

As Atrick walked into the hanger he saw three ships docked. Two were Interceptors, and the other was a Hawkbat. Two laser cannons and 2 general purpose launchers, which look like they have concussion missles. Wow, how'd I remember that? Atrick wondered thinking back to his schooling days back on Naboo. He couldn't believe that had been so long ago...

"This is Command reporting to Nazgul 11. Are all systems clear?" The question brought Atrick back from his trip to memory lane. "Oh crap, the systems check!" Atrick said aloud and quickly pressed the required buttons to run a check. The system beeped a few times, then turned green. "All systems go Command. Nazgul 11 is go for launch." He couldn't believe that after almost a month in the academy, he didn't remember the first rule of flying. Always check your craft. "Affirmative Nazgul 11, stand by for launch."

Atrick was twiddling his thumbs when the signal to launch came over the line. "Fighters prepare to launch and may the force be with you."

Atrick looked out of the cockpit at the other fighters to his left, but couldn't see past Willtconq's Hawkbat to Krius. He turned on his ion engines, hearing them roar as they warmed up for his first mission. I hope I can survive this to see another day. He thought as he heard the other two fighters clamps release. The Tractor Beam then held onto the puny TIE Interceptor and brought it to space, where it released him and his companions on their way to the planet.

Outside, Atrick could clearly see the planet, but there were no signs of the intense battle below, blocked by the thick atmosphere of the planet. But in space that was another story. The two capital ships were attacking each other with all they had and bombers were blowing up the enemies shields. Fighters flew everywhere and Atrick was surprised he had not been blown out of his ship yet. Suddenly, Atrick had the urge to throw up, but not from the ship or flying. From fear.

"Atrick, you still with us?" Krius said loudly over the intercom. We're not even used to the intercom and we're flying into battle. Thought Atrick.

"Yeah, I here, but I'm just thinking about this mission, that's all." He replied in a monotone.

"Don't worry, we got your back bud." His friend told him and Willtconq heartily agreed.

"Alright guys, lets hit top speed and head for that planet. You guys remember the mission. Atrick you go hook up with Nazgul and bomb those bunkers. Krius you're coming with me to help with the air battle. Understood?" Willtconq said over their closed channel. Atrick responded with a quick "Yes sir" and accelerated to top speed. He could hear the engines roar and quickly took a peek at Will and Krius in their ships. Will looked like he was trying to stay with them but was also trying to be at the planet. Mayber we're holding him back. Thought Atrick25 as he noticed that Krius was also going the top speed of the Interceptor he was flying.

"We're entering their radar systems.....now." Said Will calmly as they grew closer to the planet. "We're still out of harms way here but be on guard. You never know when they might surprise you."

Well, it's show time. Thought Atrick as the planet grew steadily larger in his cockpit window.
-----------------------
FM/LCRW Atrick25/Nazgul-11/Phoenix Wing/[mSSD Artrus]/1VENF]/VEN/VE (=A=)

Trevor snap-rolled left and upward. He`d been locked onto and now had a missile hot on his tail, and he was having difficulty avoiding it. He dived towards the trees and then cut across towards some talled branches, hoping that he could hop over them and drop on the other side, praying that the missile would just stay on its path and catch a branch or something.

No such luck. The missile followed his path perfectly. As he made his way away from the trees, he was met with an X-wing that cut across his path. Trevor pulled up hard to avoid the X-wing, and doing so slowed himself down. The missile caugh up to him and detnonated on his shields, destroying them and ripping up the back end of his fighter.

"One, this is Nine! I lost my back end. No engines, I`m going down!" He called over the comm as he spiraled straight up in the air. The TIE flipped itself around as it started to fall, and he tried to glide himself in smoothly, but that didn`t happen. The fighter ripped through trees, slowing itself as it went. One branch shattered the front viewport, spraying glass at Trevor. Ahead of him, he could see a cradle-like formation of branches.

"This is going to hurt...." He said alloud, right before his fighter hit the cradle. His harness snapped, and he hit his head on one of the posts that held the viewport together. His lifeless body hit the ground lightly in a pile of leaves, but he was out cold, for a few minutes anyways.

"Nazgul One! This is 10!" Gunnay cried over the comm. "Nazgul 9 went down in the trees. I havn`t seen any explosion though, so He might be alright."

"Alright Gunnay, We`ll send some of our ground boys to look for him." Shazam replied.

*** About a minute later. ***

Trevor woke up and reached to rub his throbbing head. He found that he could touch his head even though he shouldn`t be able to. Pulling his helmet off, he found that he had cracked the helmet when he hit the bar, and it had fallen apart, revealing a large open area.

"Oh...That hurt....ugh..." He said as he rubbed his head and dug in one of his suit pockets for painkillers. Finding some, he popped a few into his mouth and looked around. He reached out for his comm a few feet from him and rapped his hand around it. Just before he could pull it towards him, a black boot stomped down on his arm.

"I don`t think so flyboy." Came a gruff voice from above. Trevor looked up to find himself staring down the barrel of a blaster pistol. Allowing his eyes to wander up the black sleeved arm and onto the face of the large man who was putting a fair bit of weight onto his arm, he put his other hand up.

"Alright, no tricks. I give up!" Trevor said, and the man promptly let off Trevor`s hand. Trevor stood up slowly, not releasing the comm, and moved infront of the man. The man poked him in the back with the pistol and moved him foreward, which Trevor did reluctantly.

After about 15 steps, Trevor spun around and hit the man hard in the face with the fistthat had the comm in it. He had expected the man to shoot, so as he turned he pushed the mans arm away from him, so the shot would go towards the ground.

His attempting captor hit the ground and Trevor was quick to use this to draw his own sidearm, which the man hadn`t confiscated yet.

"Alright bitch. No funny shit. Drop it." Trevor said cooly, as if he had done it before. He had of course, but most of the time it was with buddies and they were just playing around. Few times had he done this where it was a life and death situation.

The man was about to drop his weapon when Trevor heard the cocking of one more weapon. Trevor lowered his arm slowly and turned. When he saw it was another black clad man, he dropped his gun and put his hands up.

"Alright, no funny stuff. For real this time." He said, grinning weakly and offering a hand to the man he had hit. The man, insted of reaching out for Trevor`s hand, struck out sharply with his foot, catching Trevor in the groin. He fell to the ground in a heap, groaning about the pain and then getting hauled ot his feet. The men half dragged half carried him back to a black speeder and tosse dhim in the back. He was greeted friendily.

"I see they got you too eh?" Jaden said to Trevor, grinning in spite of himself, considering the situation they were in.

Taking a deep breath, Trevor replied slowly, "Yup...Right in the well...You know...it hurts..."

"Yeah, I bet. You got a pretty nasty cut on your head to. Did you hit every tree on the way down?" Jaden asked, pointing to Trevor`s head. Between when Trevor had taken off his helmet and gotten to the speeder blood had started to slide down the side of his head. It looked worse then it was, but it would get pretty bad if it didn`t slow soon.

"Damn near..." Trevor replied, reaching up and removing his hand when he felt blood. He reached down to wipe his hand on the leg of his flight suit, but stopped himself. One of the men turned and looked back at Trevor, and looking him in the eyes, Trevor wiped his hand on the seat of the speeder, smearing blood up the side.

"You know buddy, if you didn`t look like death right now, I`d bust your nose." The man told him, tossing him a towel for his head.

"And if you didn`t look like shit already, I`d fight back." Trevor replied calmly, provoking a supressed laugh from Jaden and a grin from the pilot of the speeder.

"Hey! Shut up Jay!" The first man told the pilot, who was now laughing lightly at his friend.

"No, you shut up Greg. Its true." Jay went on, and then flipped through some pre-set stations on the radio. "Bah! There`s nothing..."

"Here, put in this disc." Greg said, turning around and facing foreward, handing Jay a storage disc, presumably with music on it. As soon as it was inserted in the sterio, loud rock music started blaring through the speakers.

"Hey Trevor, you got a comm or anything?" Jaden asked bluntly, whispering over the music, just loud enough for Trevor to hear him. From the sound of Jaden`s voice, he wasn`t expecting alot.

"Yeah actually...They never took it." Trevor replied, opening the palm of his hand to Jaden, so hecould see the small comm unit in it.

"Good, we can use it to let the others know stuff about the base once we get inside. Might as well help before they kill us..." Jaden said, trailing off. Trevor wasn`t sure wether or not he was kidding, but something made him think that even if he was kidding, it probably wouldn`t be anything short of what these people would do. Esspecialy if they found out that they were still helping their squadron-mates, even if they were captives.

Depressing the switch on the comm unit, Trevor said loudly, while keeping it hidden, "Yeah Jaden. I guess I shoulda let Nazgul One know I made it out alive before they caught me.". When he finished, he lowered the incoming-message volume to almost nothing, and handed Jaden one of the wireless headphones. They were very small, about the size of a corn kernal. Trevor stuck one in his ear and covered it with some of his hair, and Jaden stuck the other in his ear. Turning the volume back up slightly, they heard Shazam`s reply.

"Good to hear that 9. If you`re captured, Lay low. We don`t want you two to get killed trying to help us." He said, and then the comm chanel went dead. Jaden gave Trevor a thumbs up, which Trevor returned, and then he looked out the window, resting his chin on his hand.
 
-----------------------
FL/CPO/Trevor Evenson/Nazgul 9(3-1)/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE/(=*A*=)

Shazam lifted an eyebrow at the sound of Jystem Pry's solo from 'Aftermath...'  Didn't know we had metal, elevator music...  The solo blared for only a moment, and then he recognized Jaden and Trevor's feeble attempt.  Captured, eh?  Well crap.  There goes two more good pilots...  Best keep 'em alive, I suppose...  He managed to keep from saying "Don't do anything stupid" but got the same message across, or so he felt. 

Aegis had begun to work well, despite lowering numbers of escorts, they'd taken out three of the bunkers and were working on thier last while Nazgul and Kaph worked on the remaining Blue-ringed X-wings as well as the normals.  Shazam had been seeing more and more ground troops actually, which worried him slightly, but nothing the ground forces couldn't handle already.  On either side of the two groups loomed two mountains known as the Right and Left Rystos; Shazam thought they looked more like massive hills, but upon closer inspection, especially after the last stunt, he'd noted the jagged clifts, steep drop offs into black clefts and he thought he may have even seen a geyser or two.  Set between was the house-wide road Shazam simply thought of as 'the road.'  He was half-expecting command to give it a cool name as well, but got none...  Beyond all of this was the real prize though- the command base could actually be seen in the evening haze- it was at least a mile long and an almost perfect circle.  Equistant from eachother were five decks, each with a long lane connected to it, leading out to the nearest ring of security from the circular base.  The base was far more secure than they'd expected...

"The blue-tipped X-wings are pulling out!" An unknown voice from Kaph said.  Shazam took this opportunity to spin his wrist and scratch some of the area's that'd needed itching since the beginning of the mission.  Pulling out?  They can't be giving up!  There was bound to be more fighters within the actual base, so giving up your best pilots at a time like this?  It seemed strange.

"Focus on that final barracks and get it out of the way so we can start blasting that front gate!  And do we have anything on that shield generator?  The inner most ring is going to suck if we don't get that thing down."  Shazam ordered it for lack of anything else to do- there were few enemies now, seemingly less jobs for the three squadrons.  Were they getting it easy?  Something was going on...

***Veradai City- Ten minutes earlier***

"So now what?  We wait?"  Meye was relentless.  Alt glanced right to take a good look at his hostage for the day.  The two of them weren't actually that far off in projected age- Alt only supposedly seven years older.  He hadn't really thought this way before though...  Or had he?  There were some things he honestly did not like about being a clone and others that he did.  His one pet peeve was being the servent- like he would only be this way for the rest of his life.  There was a way that people treated you when they knew you were a clone, even an un-altered one- like you were dirty somehow.  Most of his comrades weren't much to talk to because they didn't seem to have lives outside of what they were assigned to do, but Alt couldn't blame them because he was in a similar boat.  However, since being made head of Meye's security, he'd been allowed to live outside of the barrack's twisted metal and same training day in and day out.  Where other clones studied how to disarm someone in a new location, Alt was being taken to big cities with lavish suites in fancy hotels that Meye was given for almost nothing.  He saw art, music, movies and in some rare cases, what he was beginning to think was 'love' on the streets of metropolitan cities and homes in rural areas alike.  He was alowed to try things no other clone was granted the opportunities to engage in- and he loved it.  So he looked the young woman up and down, rather unconventionally even he had to admit.  She had her hair down, which was a dark brown with some highlights that made her face glow slightly in the dim lamp-light of the basement.  Her face had the sharp profile of a senator and yet the soft ambience of a royal highness.  Alt wasn't entirelly sure what was coming over him...

"I suppose we'll just have to wait until we get a call from your father..."  The two of them were sitting on the ground at the bottom of a stairwell.  The stairwell led up to a large door that was probably several layers thick, but how well that would do if the entire building came crashing down...  They just hoped the duracreet would be strong enough over head.  For now they were stuck in the room alone- guards at the entrance and surrounding the perimeter...

"You know this is all insane...  He wants to be the next Emperor- and you just think that's okay?" Alt wasn't looking at her anymore, but could imagine the posture she'd gone into.  More than likely, he legs were pulled up with her hands at her ankles so she could rest her head on her knees while holding up whatever dress gown she'd been forced to wear.  Her eyes were burning a hole through his head so he answered-

"You don't know him as well as you think..."

"Yea right- he just takes my mother out on quaint little picnics because he 'likes' her...  Wait- he likes her alot..."

"You know that's not what I'm talking about..."

"Then what are you talking about?  How he's going to rule with an iron fist, bring back a new reign of fear and tyranny- instigate his own crap policies for total control?"  She was on a role...

"I was actually referring to how he was going to the whole 'secure the sector so we can establish trade routes' thing.  That way planets like Deptil and Binuse don't have to starve to death..."  He grinned politely at her frustration and stretched.  The two of them sat there for a moment before it looked like Meye wanted to say something...

"Hmm?" Alt still showed a bit of a cocky grin at his last retort but Meye seemed to be debating something.  "What is it?"

"It's just..." She bit her lip thoughtfully and continued...  "Have you ever heard of a place called Palon L?"  Alt shook his head, eyes on the entrace to the room.

"How about Palon B?"  Alt let his head drop to the right again to get a good look at her now- she was staring at him with the upmost concentration. 

"No- I haven't..."  She nodded her head and said-

"According to my mentor, a man I hold to be one of the wisest if not the most wise I've ever met- when you strive to gain power: you will use it."  Alt said nothing.

"You see, it's different than simply aquiring it- when you want the power, it becomes different.  Like it's not just a tool anymore- but something you need."  She kept her eyes close on Alt as she continued.  "Derivary Palon was a man who told the people of his sector he'd bring life back into their area by uniting them and controlling them with an army.  The Emperor did something similar...  In Palon's case, he ended up naming every planet after himself and starving each world for the wealth of his home planet..."

Alt cut her off and looked her straight in the eye- "You're telling me that my creator intends to take over the entire sector and starve all of us?  That he made it his life work to make us all miserable?"  Alt had spent a lot of time learning about Jacre' Roelk- about how he fought for years to bring trade route's their way in both the Imperial and New Republic Senate.  To say he only intended utter destruction for all of them...  He was almost disgusted with the girl...

She seemed to hesitate then said- "Yea well- what if Roelk's not in charge?"  Alt considered what she meant for a moment then discovered her intended target.  He felt himself go a little pale as he realized that there wasn't a single person in control of the RS.  The provisional council meant nothing- it was the high council reigning on high- a fight was coming and everyone was placing their bets on who would come out on top... 

"You think Rothow is going to take over?"  The tone had turned terribly serious.  Alt knew what Maye felt against Jacre Roelk, but the passion against Rothow was even more immense.  The man craved destruction- he had his own personal Star Destroyer named the "Might" so it would better disseminate his power.  His own personal Army and Navy were practically ready to take over at any moment...  And there was no love lost between him and the rest of the RS people- Meye had covered for him as well as Roelk.  Maybe that was why she was beginning to hate her step-father so much though- he was forcing her to cover for Rothow!  The man was wicked...  At the city of Aries on Rycrant he executed one fifth of the working population for "thoughts of betrayel..."  Meye had been forced to lie about a massive conspiracy and the way in which Rothow had killed the innocent people.  Why Roelk tolerated it- no one quite understood.  Maybe he wasn't in control after all...

"You remember Justain?  The starving village on Binuse?  How he used the villagers as target practice for his personal flying fortress?  Called it a test malfunction?  And then what did we do about it?  We lied!  Said that there was civil infighting!  Roelk supported it and Vieage gave the phycological standpoints to corroberate the case- how can you not hear about this?"  He had not heard about Binuse.  Certain things you were not told in the RS armed forces.

"Or the trafficking outside of Deptil?  I believe that was the other planet you said was totally void of commuting?  Are you aware that our Navy patrols that area contantly because of how close it is to the VE territories?  That they could easilly send down food and supplies and have more than enough for themselves?  They refuel constantly, have enough supplies for a year or so..."  She closed her eyes and stopped speaking... 

"Then what?"  There had to be more...  This time it was barelly audible, only a whisper-

"They pick up their supplies above the planet of Deptil- they mock them.  The people starve below and above we throw around supplies like it's no big deal...  And I have to say it's okay..."  She was quiet at last- no tears, but she appeared frustrated beyond all consternation Alt had ever experienced.  She was trapped... 

"And what would you suggest?"  He wasn't sure why he said it.  She opened her eyes and stared him down for a moment, unsure if this was cynicism or just curiosity.

"I'd say we should overthrow the RS and join the Imperials."  Such a comment in the open would have made someone have a heart attack, but in the cold, duracrete room... 

"So would I..."  She blinked awkwardly toward her body guard.

"What?"

"It'll never happen though...  But maybe you can get out of here- they wouldn't have anyone to lean on when they messed up.  At least we'd see if you were right for once..."  The two of them were just staring at eachother now.

"What are you suggesting?  That I run away from the problem?  Leave my family and friends here?  My people?" She seemed embittered and yet impowered.

"You talk about all the problems and that you can't do anyting here.  So don't fix them here.  Go somewhere else- your Imperial friends may assist you..."  He was suggesting the unbelievable on a whim.  Had he been thinking about this for as long as she had?  She glanced up toward the door out of relfex to see if anyone coul be listening, then continued-

"Would you come with me?"  She tried not to sound needy but could barelly contain it as the idea of leaving sounding like a reality.

"Impossible."

"Why?"

"I just...  Can't.  To leave would be like saying I never liked the place..."  He tore his eyes away and stood up rather quickly- he was fishing for excuses now.

"You are still so dedicated to your creator?" Meye was in a new uproar, this one full of steam and ready to run.  "You're so worried about insulting your master that you keep shutting out everything you want?  Don't you want a life?  A place to live?  A family?"

"Impossible..."

"Because you're a clone?" She was standing as well and practically right behind him.  "Don't tell me after all this time you think you're still just a clone..."

"Well I'm not human."  The comment was cold and sliced right through everything.  He was so full of malice all of the sudden his calm, lonely guesture had turned into a rocky, barren patch of stone cold hatred toward everything.  "I can never have what I want."  She was about to speak when the light indicating someone at the door went off. 

"We're getting the all-clear from HQ: Rothow's transport is outside and ready to take Ms. Roelk to a secured location..."  The com to the right of the door became silent again and Alt said-

"They'll be taking you to another planet- a safer one..."

"You're not coming with me?"  She spun him around to look at her.

"I- no- Impossible..."  He was stumbling on his words now that he had to face the woman that had made his life a remarkable one thus far.

"Why do you do this?  You're not a clone, you're not worthless- you're..."  She paused and was very close to him suddenly...  "Come with me..." 

"I'm sorry..."  The door slid open as the group came in to take her out.  "Good-bye."  She smiled then in one of the most unlikely of places.

"Only for now..."  The second in command of the unit tapped her on the arm lightly.

"Come with us mam, the shuttle is just outside..."  And then she was gone and all he was again was a clone.  What is wrong with me?  Why can't I leave?  What is so important here?  I've got to do something!  He pondered in the cold dark basement underneath the hotel a little longer...  He had just decided to return to the barracks for good when he heard a voice over the loudspeaker proclaim-

"Commander Rothow is issuing a command to all able bodied men and women.  Those who can, will fight for the Reugrand Sovereignty if they wish to survive the night.  The Imperials wish only to destory us, so we need all we can get to survive and come out as the victor..." Something snapped...  Command?  He was frozen in his own transformation...  No.  Not today- I will not become a part of this.  And suddenly he was up the steps and out the door.  Jumping on to the service lift he found himself in the lobby only a moment later.  Just outside the wide, glass paned hotel doors was the outline of a heavilly armored Corellian Corvette.  He remembered thinking to himself- "not many people get to drive around in one of those..."  He practically jumped through the window as he announced himself to the startled security team.

"I need on there now," he was saying, excited about his choice at last.  They were pushing off saying that he need to have all of his papers to board or atleast show some ID of his position in her security clearence...

It hit so hard and so fast that as he was flying through the tinted doors he'd just come out of, he was able to replay the explosion in his head several times.  No missile...  A bomb...  But everyone loves Meye- the people wouldn't hurt her...  Step-daughter of Roelk who is freind of...  Rothow.  He hit the ground hard, but barelly noticed with all the pain already stabbing through him...  Meye!  He tried to get up but was accompanied by an incredible head-ache along with the inability to coordinate his legs at first.  With about a minute's time, he was able to master rolling onto his right side and pushing up with his arms- getting up to full height.  His eyes rolled around in his head for a while until they came to rest on the shattered windows and tattered appearence of the marble hotel he was in.  Beyond was utter destruction- a debris riddled collumn appeared as if it were on the verge of collapse and two others were already buckling.  Meye...  He no longer cared about Rothow or maybe even Vieag, or Roelk!  His hip must have met the ground first because he found himself hobbling along on one foot to the doors.

"Meye!" He coughed as the smoke suddenly began to come in waves over the building.  He couldn't even see the remains of the shuttle.  Alt tripped over what he figured was a dead body and began rolling down the steps of the hotel.  The final step was a rough one as he met the ground and got his first look at the shredded transport.  Wait... The engine to his right wasn't near large enough for a Corellian Corvette...  And neither was the explosion...

"Alt- are you alright?  Get over here...  Yes- bring the med pac..."  Meye was over him and looking more worried than ever he'd seen her.  "Are you alright?  Alt- talk to me..."

"Oh- Meye?  But...  So you were on the corvette?"  Now it had connected.  Meye had gotten into the corvette, but the corvette wasn't Rothow's...  Whatever the shuttle was- it had been the core of the explosion, meant to kill her in lift off or in proximity.  They'd both failed and so the war between the members of the High Council had begun.

"The Corvette is my mentor's- he's coming to escort us off planet now..."  They were being brought inside the massive corvette now- a very clean place...  "Yes- get us out of here..."  He heard the engines flare up to full power as the repulsors kicked in and brought them above the city. 

"We're going off planet?"  Alt managed to stammer.

"Yes- that's what you wanted, right?"  She seemed to have connected his part of the story as well.  Yes, I did want to go with you...

"But we can't just leave this place- you said it yourself...  If you want to help out the Imperials- now may be your only chance..." Alt felt his eyes slowly going closed as sleepiness threatened to take over.

"Stay with me, Alt..."  Where were they?  It wasn't the medical bay- Meye was already getting a com line secured... 

"Imperial Forces- this is Meye Havret aboard the Corellian Corvette Right of Passage or RAWP for short.  Do you copy?"

"Mam, we have traced your location to a Reugrand Supremacy Hideaway- we will not be threatened."  Not at all taken aback she continued-

"We mean you no harm- only to join your forces again the RS.  We can give you a half squadron of X-wing fighters and the support of this heavilly armed and functional Corellian Corvette- what say you, Imperial Forces?"  There was no immediete reply.  Alt was about to slip out of conciousness again.  "Stay with me, Alt..."

"How can you prove your allegience?"  A different man was on the line now and he sounded harsher.

"What do you need?" 

***The battle continues***

"The last bunker is down- coming in for a run on the first ring attack groups..."  Shazam rolled a little to take some tension off of flight one as they flew into the battle riff first.  Below the ground forces seemed to have come to a stand still in front of a massive gate with a barracks on each side and two ground turrets each. 

"Back out, flight one, back out!" The radar came alive with blobs of all different colors.  "I'm tracking twelve...  No twenty-three...  No- atleast thirty fighters converging on the first ring!"  Jen was throwing her flight into the fray as a squadron of X-wings, another of A-wings and almost another full of random craft came spiralling from the forest. 

"Command- we have just become massivelly out-numbered, request back up, immedietly." Shazam barelly got a chance to say it as he pulled up hard to escape the incoming fighters from ahead. 

A rusty voice answered- "We're sending someone now..."

"Who?"

"The blue-ringed x-wings from earlier and a corellian corvette have offered their aid..."

"WHAT?"

(Now- if you saw a Corellian Corvette, modified heavilly to fit massive gun arrays, and half a squadron of the same blue-ringed fighters coming back at you...  Would you believe they were on your side?  Talk about it and find a way to make them credible.  How bout it?  Any questions comments or concerns- contact me.  Trevor and Jaden will still be going into the base, so that's fine, and we still need to take the shield generator [which protects the inner-most ring of defense] out along with the front gate and some ground forces...  Get creative- and have some fun.  Rock on.)


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*Flash Was Here...*

CMDR/LtC Shazam/Nazgul 1-1/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1VENF/VEN (=A=) (=*SA*=) (=*MA*=) (=*FOCE*=) [LoM] [LSM] [VC:S] [DSM]

Commander of Nazgul Squadron, Phoenix Wing and Training

Shazam was so wound up by the last comment that he had to ball his hands into fist as hard as he could then release them to relieve himself of some of the pressure flooding through him.  Sending the enemy as an ally?  That was a bit much...  They'd killed Will and other excellent pilots- and now they just wanna help on a whim...  Watch your backs.

"Imperial Fighter Commander- got a callsign?" This was the blue-ringed X-wing they'd heard giving commands over the radio for some time already.  He was good...

"Nazgul One, or Phoenix One- take your pick.  Yourself?"

"Black One, Hapnel One or Belis One- take your pick..."  Shazam about slapped himself as he chuckled at the retort.  Smart ass... He reminded himself.

The ring they'd met thus far was roughly six and a half miles long with a center gate about the width of two Officer's Apartments- not as wide as he'd figured, but it was only the first gate; it's not like they were planning an offensive on this planet...  Just beyond the gate were two turrets on each side of the gate along with an enemy hanger bay about a mile off.  Where the other one was- he could't be entirelly sure.  However, the air no longer looked like a few fighters picking eachother off but a full out bloodfest.  The Black Wing was simply annhilating it's fellow X-wings while Phoenix Wing took on the the three remaining pilots of the Four Sticks and an A-wing squadron.  The random fighter group was spread out in every area of the air-fight though, picking up enemies and wingman every two seconds.  With the assistnace of the Black Wing, they were outnumbering the enemy quickly. 

"Three and Four- stay very, very close..."  Shazam had been taking out an X-wing for the last thirty seconds when he remembered there were still ground forces.  The entire line of heavy artillery was opening up on the gate at full bore, but the skies were darkening for them as X-wings would randomly proton torpedo the road ahead, setting paths aflame as well as the craft on them.  Then there were the seperate regiments of enemy clone troopers rushing out with massive arm rifles.  The ground was alive with blaster fire and artillery beams alike. 

"Flight one here, back off ground forces- we'll sweep the fields..."

"Affirmative, One."  The Imperial troopers began to slide back out of the tall grasses at the beginning of the road- the trees starting just beyond them.  "Firing now..."  He thumbed the mode to rapid fire and began strafing the field below at an even lower altitude than he had been using.  The fighters above were taking a shot at anything- best not make it easy for 'em...  Actually, Shazam liked flying low; whenever he met some especially tall grass and heard it whisp by below it made him feel like he was going a lot faster than he really was...  Then again...

"They're pulling back, thanks one..."  Shazam, Art and Tyrrax lit the field ablaze as the RS troops began wandering back to their barracks...

"We've got another bunker lit up by our Army buddies- Aegis breaking off to take it out..."  A flight of schimitars barreled out of the fight and began to fly low at a glowing red ember within the green foliage.  The army folks were making good use of their flares as well...

"Alrighty then- let's get something important here.  What do you guys see?"  Shazam was still flying low for some reason as they began to approach the gate quickly.

"Enemy flight at five o'clock- how bout it?" Art querried casually.  Shazam switched his cannon mode backed to linked burst and took a firm shot at the right tower within the gate.  Each side had it's tower and in side the top of both was probably a sentry.  Well- not really anymore...  Yup- he's dead.  The tinted transparisteel of the sentry post imploded as the linked burst met with it furociously. 

"Comin up and around now-"  Shazam pulled the throttle back as he gave the stick a good tug to bring him straight up, then inverted.  Where did they go?  Still inverted, an A-wing element brushed past with a volley of cannon fire that met the deflector shields rather harshly.  Shazam rolled right into their formation and split them in half has Art and Tyrrax let off linked burst into their viewports.  They met no shields because it seemed everyone was worried about thier hind ends at the moment...

"Nice cover, three and four- try not to get pancaked by these next ones though..."  Art and Tyrrax had barelly avoided colliding with the enemy A-wings as their cockpits shattered and barreled out of control into the forest below. 

"Some help!"  Shazam snap rolled to starboard and thrust the stick toward him to bring him into a sharp loop.  Art and Tyrrax didn't catch the loop so they continued on in a straight path before seeing his intended vector, then pulled up themselves to bring them into a vertical loop and back down on  Shazam's tail as he saw Tokijin's enemy...

"Who is that?  I can't see him!"  Tokijin was frantic as the random burst continued to dominate her shields.

"Get away from your wingman!  LCRW Coren Horloinne- cease and desist your attack on Nazgul Seven or you will be shot down!"  The TIE interceptor barrelled left and hit the throttle, speeding underneath Tokijin.  He drove the fighter in a razor sharp cut ahead of Tokijin, forcing her to dive and split-s, nearly meating the surface of the trees. 

"Crap- Catch him!  He's joining up with the Four Sticks!"  Art was suddenly ahead of Shazam with Tyrrax pulling up the space between and to the back.

"What's goin on over there?" Jen and Darius were taking on another element of A-wings and had just begun to pick up on the frantic conversation.

"We've got an RS compatriat on our hands- Eight!  Surrender now!" To say the least, Shazam was a little embittered at having to fight one of his own men

"Just take a position you think you can cut him off from- I'm goin high!"  Art punched it and brought his fighter into a high speed yoyo, inverting himself then dropping in behind Coren as Shazam performed the opposing low-speed yoyo to bring his nose to bear on the belly of the figthter.  "You're kill, Four!  Take it!" Tyrrax pulled in close just as the back end came alive with cannon fire- he'd remembered about the rear-turret.

"Pull out Four!"  Shazam sent his shields to full in the front and barreled to starboard once again, this time absorbing all the fire he could so Tyrrax could get away.  "Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Eight."  Art came out of nowhere, spiralling down on the forward head of the Aggressor, pummeling the cockpit until the pylons shuddered and detached from the wings, the transparisteel view port shattering as Coren ejected. 

"Lights out."  Jen and Darius's target spilt at the explosion of Nazgul Eight's fighter and Darius picked up the ejection immedietly, blasting the seat to peices at it pulled an insane degree of G's. 

"Nice shot, six."  Shazam said it with an uncertainty- as if he should be happy they'd gotten rid of an inside enemy, or sad he'd just lost a former allied pilot.  "I thought he was clean...  Damn it..."  Maybe they hadn't been as thorough as they'd thought in picking the men for this mission...  Here I thought I'd have to be worried about the Black Wing...

***RS Head Quarters***

"This is impossible..."  Jacre Roelk shook his head; the news of a corvette taking sides with the Imperials was depressing enough- the fact that his daughter was on it was simply devestating.  Step-daughter...  He shook his head viciously and threw the tray on the table against the wall.  The metal plate shivered on contact with the ground and rolled for a moment before coming to a halt. 

"We have to take her out- there's no choice in the matter- we're talking about a fully armed Corellian corvette in the middle of a fighter battle!" Vieage was actually standing for once, actually interested in what was going on for once. 

"You want me to shoot her down?"  Roelk didn't know to be angry or open-minded.  Maybe he could be both...

"Is there a way we can take it out without having to destroy it?  Force it to crash-land or something?"  The three of them were in the main battle room, tactical dispalys and holos lighting up the darkness as each of them sat staring eachother down from the corners.

"Unlikely- it probably won't go down without a fight." Rothow didn't seem to be reacting to much to the news but who cared- Rothow was Rothow.

"We can't just take out the engines?"  Roelk paced in front of the center holo displaying the battle at the third ring.

"With the help of Black Wing- It's unlikely..." Rothow trully didn't seem to care about anything right now- that their base was under heavy attack and they may not be able to hold them off like they'd figured for one.

"How could this happen?  Why have the Blacks suddenly decided to change sides?  What is this?"

Vieage and Rothow stared at him as if they were on trial because it was somehow their fault then Vieage answered-  "Ryshnell is the commander of Black Wing- I believe he is also the girl's mentor?  Perhaps this has been in planning for some time."

"A conspiracy?"  Roelk scoffed before saying- "And what do you call the attack just before she took off to join the Imperials?  Coincidence?  Probably more conspiracy there then either of you are willing to admit."

"Watch it."  Rothow didn't move but he seemed to stir in an aggressive manner. 

"Or what?  You're going to sick a star destroyer on me?"  Roelk had the fire in his eyes again.  Rothow stood suddenly had Jacre by the neck.  "Get your hands off of me!"

"Or what?" 

"I'll blast that hollow cavity you call a head."  Rothow and Roelk froze...  Vieage had pulled out a blaster they'd never seen him carry.  Actually, this was the first time they'd ever seen him carry anything besides a datapad...

"See what they're doing to us?  We need to stop this now.  Put down the gun, Vieage and let's do something about this..."  Vieage would never have taken an order from Rothow but a supplication on behalf of Roelk was something else entirelly.  He let the gun fall to his side and he replaced it within his scurvy suit so their would be no more sensations of danger.  Rothow took his hands from Roelk's throat and went to the battle table, cracking his neck all the way.  He needed to take out his anger on something...

"We detonate the first gate- take out what enemy forces we can then send in the remaining squadrons and troops to mop 'em up."  Rothow indicated the battered gate and Imperial ground forces coming up the center valley.

"What if they come through?"  Vieage sounded confident now that he'd pulled a gun on someone.

"We set up secondary charges along the road coming in and set up a strong perimeter within the second ring so we can take them from above.  The walls are higher here so it shouldn't be a problem to make it happen..." 

"And what of the Corvette?" Roelk querried it quite dispassionetly- perhaps neutrally.

Rothow was leaning against the circular banister when he looked up sharply and said- "Trap it in the second ring and blast it to oblivion."
 
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*Flash Was Here...*

CMDR/LtC Shazam/Nazgul 1-1/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1VENF/VEN (=A=) (=*SA*=) (=*MA*=) (=*FOCE*=) [LoM] [LSM] [VC:S] [DSM]

Commander of Nazgul Squadron, Phoenix Wing and Training

(Figured Krius, Atrick and Will might want to know what's goin on in space so they can post )

Captain Marcus Falensarano Report:

The battle as of Phoenix Wing's attack on the Third Ring of Defense on the RS base- Space.

The assault frigate Rothow, already badly damaged on it's starboard side do to combat with Nazgul Squadron and the Atrus a month ago, has circumscribed the Coruscant in an attempt to flank us.  The Corellian corvette Acumen followed the assault frigate and is now helping to protect the weak side against fighter attack.  Below the Coruscant, the interdictor cruiser Stranglehold has been fortifying the belly and preventing heavy attacks to the dorsal surface of this ISD.  Directly ahead of the Coruscant is the Hapan battle dragon Roelk and the three Corellian corvettes Sagacity, Percipience and Guile.  The Sagacity as well as the Guile have been badly damaged by the forward guns of the Coruscant and the two bulk cruisers flanking the ISD- the Thunder and Storm.  The nebulon-b frigates that had accompanied the Roelk to it's position in front of the Coruscant were destroyed first because of thier pivotal performance against the TIE fighter group 'Fire Storm Wing.'  Their guns were dealing devestation on the fighters, so guns from the three carrack cruisers Griffin, Lion and Dragon (which were coming back from their escort duties with Phoenix Wing),  as well as the two bulk cruisers and ISD were trained on the two nebulon-b craft to take them out as soon as possible.  Monitoring the planet, the assault frigate Vieage and nebulon-b Precipitous await any craft attempting to flee the planet.  If Phoenix Wing pulls out now, they will have to engage these craft.  As for the main craft centered around the Coruscant, the two bulk cruisers have begun to focus heavilly on the remaining Corellian corvettes, preferably the Sagacity and Guile; this way we can get them out of the way and focus primarilly on the Roelk and Rothow.  The Roelk is the primary focus of the Coruscant though- shields just about to thirty-five percent.  'Firestorm Wing' is still out picking up random fighter groups being launched from any of the capitol ships and bombarding those same ships.  The Stranglehold is also targetting the Roelk, but very carefully because of it's importance to the mission.  If the ship interdictor Strangehold is destroyed or takes damage to portions of the gravity well projection units- the enemy will be able to escape.  Thus, the Strangehold has taken up position below the Coruscant while taking it's shots at smaller craft or cruisers and the occasional full-out blast on the Roelk.
 
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*Flash Was Here...*

CMDR/LtC Shazam/Nazgul 1-1/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1VENF/VEN (=A=) (=*SA*=) (=*MA*=) (=*FOCE*=) [LoM] [LSM] [VC:S] [DSM]

Commander of Nazgul Squadron, Phoenix Wing and Training