For the sake of our contribution to the story, we will begin with the invitation to the banquet and our arrival there.  Sentinel squadron is escorting the transports, ship officers from Taskforce Vigilance (the smaller of the two taskforces which Doashim and Tiamut area assigned to) will be on board those transports.  There is a second set of transports moving the larger number of personnel from Taskforce Enforcer.

During the banquet, before the attack, the personnel from Taskforce Enforcer will leave suddenly when the force is ordered to respond to a threat on imperial shipyards.  Other than that, feel free to begin by writing up to the point of the attack.  Once you all get in on that, we will proceed.


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SCAP, WADJ/1LT Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/STCR Doashim/VE/VEN/(=A=)(=SA=)(=*MA*=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[MC:1](x2)[SV][BRC][VC:B][CBV][LSM][LoC][BWC][SWC][GWC]

*Salute*

Imperial forces in this sector are invited to a banquet at the Royal Palace of Jeeda to celebrate the ties between the Empire and the Royal Family of Misoo.  I hope that all of the officers and staff who have assisted in maintaining the integrity and control of the government here, along with the officials and traders who have found the economic relationship mutually beneficial, will be able to attend.

Sincerely,

    Lord Tenett

That was all the invitation said.  It was short, to the point, and exceedingly unusual.

"Did the commander indicate if we would be attending?"  Arturus asked the communications technician that had passed him the high priority notice.  The commander he was referring to was Captain Terrence Kowalsky of Task Force Vigilance, the unit the Doashim was currently attached to.  As a strike cruiser, the Doashim was the second largest ship attached to the force and while battle damage still being repaired weakened its firepower, on the whole it served as an important source of overall firepower.  There were six other ships in Task Force Vigilance.  Captain Kowalsky's ship was the dreadnaught Overseer, a fitting name for a class of ship that grew more obsolete all of the time with its lack of speed.  All it truly did was oversee the battle and provide central firepower in defence.  In a run and gun battle the ship was left behind but given a chance, it was still one of the most deadly classes of ships below destroyer.  The other five ships were smaller including the lancer frigate Blitz, the carack light cruisers Griffin and Lion, the nebulon-b frigate Survivor and the hellfire-class carrier Tiamut commanded by former Kaph squadron commander Willtconq.

"A message is coming in from the commander now sir.  He orders that we follow his ship at once for immediate departure."  The technician replied.

"Very well, send a confirmation.  Navigator, make our course for the coordinates sent from the Overseer and prepare for hyperspace.  Launch when in position."  Arturus ordered.  After he was finished he turned to his new executive officer Amason.  "Lieutenant, you have the bridge."  He ordered.  The two saluted and Arturus made his way to his quarters.

The walk to his quarters was often treacherous of late.  There was substantial work going on now that new parts had finally arrived.  It was ironic, there were funds and supplies to build new ships like the Doashim but not the parts to replace it.  Admittedly, pirate raids and other delays were primarily responsible for the lack of supplies but the push to the core was taxing manpower and supplies in areas away from the action such as this one.  Alas, the defenders also needed parts but were not priority.  This was especially true of units such as Task Force Vigilance which was only an administrative shell more than anything.  For the most part, the ships engaged alone with general orders either from the commander or from someone higher up.  Defence of installations was the primary missions of late followed closely by convoy protection, supporting advancing units, and the occasional garrison crisis.  As a result of the need for ships to be able to act alone without support, and be able to adapt to different situations quickly, the Doashim was currently in its multipurpose state.  This meant that it had both a substantial number of troops capable of seizing a ship or bolstering a garrison, in addition to a small, cramped hanger for some transports and shuttles, and a fighter hanger rack that held Sentinel Squadron.  Sentinel Squadron maintained its split capacity with six gunboats and six shielded interceptors.  Lieutenant Jaden had recently taken over joint command of the squadron though he acted as the senior leader and commanded the interceptor part.  Lieutenant Sieana Krytal was the former commander and led the gunboat part.

Inside his quarters, Arturus took a sigh of relief as he always did.  The interior was simple, relaxing, but elegant and comfortable as well.  He had grown accustomed to, if he had not already had a taste for, luxury and comfort.  He came from money; he had made his own money in early life, and now expected to enjoy it.  On his home planet, he was the son of an aristocrat and appreciated being treated like one and enjoyed all of the comforts of one.  As a result, his quarters had been fitted with elegant furniture that he had picked up on leave, had a well stocked bar, and had a couple of paintings and pieces of art though they were not as valuable or as elegant as ones he kept on his yacht.  He was not necessarily a stereotypical imperial officer, but he enjoyed the perks of one and appreciated a certain degree of elitism that prevailed amongst the officers towards the enlisted personnel.  He looked at his watch.  Coincidentally, he felt the ship roar at that exact moment as it leapt into hyperspace.  Perhaps a sixth sense, but more coincidence that he looked at that exact time.  The trip would not be a long one.  It was just over two hours by hyperspace.  The first thing he did was sit down at the terminal in his quarters and send notices to his senior officers about the invitation.  He would take his four most senior officers with him.  They would travel by shuttle along with the shuttles from the other ships, and the entire group was to be escorted by Sentinel Squadron as per the orders sent by Captain Kowalsky.

After sending the orders, Arturus hit the refresher stand and spent a little longer than usual just to relax a bit.  He had learned from his brief experience that it was best to attempt to appear relaxed at a banquet.  The refresher didn't help this time though.  Something was bothering him.  He thought it odd for an invitation to come on rather short notice and he did not like the idea of large numbers of imperial officers gathered together on a planet not governed by imperials, though admittedly joint-garrisoned by them.  Arturus had always been a little paranoid and he decided just to leave it at that for the moment.  He was slightly comforted by the fact that the commander instructed him to wear dress and not ceremonial uniform which meant that he could wear his trusted sidearm in its shoulder holster under the officer's tunic.  Either way, he put the thoughts out of his mind and after leaving the refresher stand, changed into his dress uniform and sat down to complete some paperwork before arrival.

===Later on===

The planet was beautiful from the sky.  Arturus had decided to leave the comfortable confines of the officer's shuttle that they were travelling in so that he could take in the view from the cockpit.  There were lush forests, interrupted by some small townships, and what appeared to be four great temple-like structures.  The more he saw, the more he felt like he wanted to vacation here sometime and explore.

A short time later, the shuttle landed on a pad beside the royal palace.  There were already a large number of transports and shuttles of different kinds.  As he descended the ramp, Arturus could see pilots, ship officers, and some army personnel making their way into the palace.  He had been informed upon arrival that Task Force Enforcer and its fifteen ships, including nine destroyer class ships, was present along with Rear Admiral Thomas Yates and his staff.  Admiral Yates was a fairly experienced officer but was not remarkable amongst the admiralty.  As a result, he had been largely relegated to a significant defence and support role rather than a major combat role further into the core.

The banquet room was enormous.  There were long tables and reasonable china and utensils.  It all seemed a trifle bit informal compared to what the invitation was.  Yes it was not a ceremonial ball, but it seemed that it should be more formal than was the case.  Lord Tenett himself was out welcoming people in a friendly manner, hugging some of the higher ranking officers to their consternation and discomfort.  If one looked around the room, they could see that the pilots and many of the lower army officers were quite contented but the more senior officers and ship officers were not at all pleased with what they found.  The discussion and general atmosphere at the tables reflected this.  Arturus took his place with his staff at a table assigned to the officers of Task Force Vigilance and proceeded to engage in polite conversation with those around him.  He was pleased to be able to catch up with Willtconq who had served with him in Kaph squadron at one time.  Will was a recently promoted ship captain as well and Arturus was looking forward to engaging in battle alongside of him and his ship.  Arturus made the point in jest that his ship could easily outgun Will's fighter carrier though Will fought back with a good argument regarding his fighter capacity and its impact on such a battle.

Early into the meal, before Lord Tenett had even given a dinner speech thanking all who had come, Admiral Thomas Yates stood up and left quickly after receiving something from one of his subordinates.  Within five minutes, all of the officers from his task force left abruptly to the confusion of many including Lord Tenett himself.  Just as chatter had begun about what it was all about, a young lieutenant climbed to the podium overlooking the banquet and announced that the task force had been summoned immediately.  With that, the room emptied by about a third and left everyone scratching their heads.


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SCAP, WADJ/1LT Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/STCR Doashim/VE/VEN/(=A=)(=SA=)(=*MA*=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[MC:1](x2)[SV][BRC][VC:B][CBV][LSM][LoC][BWC][SWC][GWC]

Tally
 
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SCAP, WADJ/1LT Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/STCR Doashim/VE/VEN/(=A=)(=SA=)(=*MA*=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[MC:1](x2)[SV][BRC][VC:B][CBV][LSM][LoC][BWC][SWC][GWC]

Something wasn't right.  It was strange how the Task Force Enforcer left so suddenly.  Arturus kept quiet as he finished his dinner.  Around him, some of the officers were chatting about the possible real reason for the surprising development.  The strange thing was that none of them could think of a ship yard that would be a big enough target to warrant an attacking force that required something as powerful as Enforcer to defeat it.  Considering the size of the installation, the current defences, and the estimated attack fleet required, it seemed as though they were going to kill a fly with a mallet.  After sitting quietly for another five minutes in thought, Arturus turned to consult with Amason when Lord Tenett rose to give his welcome speech.  Arturus wasn't particularly interested in what Lord Tenett had to say; the entire affair tonight had not gone over with him well and he was far more interested in the affairs of the Task Force than the pleasantries from the man who couldn't even treat imperial officers with the respect and dignity they deserved.

Arturus turned back to Amason to begin what he was going to say as Lord Tenett began.  Before he could get past the first few sentences, however, a loud voice bellowed from the corner.
"Silence!"  Someone shouted.  Arturus whirled around looking for the voice only to spot a large number of masked men storming into the banquet room carrying carbines.

"Sithspit!"  Arturus said in a loud whisper as he reached instinctly inside his tunic to pull out his blaster.  His personal side arm, a silenced SSK-7, was not the most common of pistols carried by officers and certainly the silencer was not standard, but Arturus had possessed the weapon for a long time and it had served him well.

"What do we do captain?"  Amason whispered in his ear.  Arturus was about to reply that they should wait them out only to have his attempt to speak cut off by the ring of blaster fire.  The masked men had opened fire indiscriminantly at the imperial personel while others raced through the enormous banquet room in the direction of Lord Tenett.  Tenett ducked quickly and raced down from the podium, away from the men.  Two blaster bolts hit just above the podium where he had been standing.

"Get out of here."  Arturus replied, standing with his gun in hand.  All around them men and women were scrambling over fallen chairs and damaged tables as they tried to exit the banquet room or, in the case of the officers, fire back with their sidearms as they tried to withdraw.  "Make for the transports, we need to get back to the ship at once."  Arturus ordered to his men as he pulled out his commlink.  "Jaden where are you?"  Arturus demanded of his new commander for Sentinel Squadron.

"We're trying to get towards the back entrance to get to the fighter hanger."  Jaden called back as gun fire roared nearby.  Arturus tripped over a chair as he ran with the officers.  It was a lucky fall as a bolt just whizzed by his back as he fell.  He turned and fired two shots, dropping two men with wounds in the chest.  He had long been proficient with a pistol and that skill was of particular use at times like this.

"Very well, get into the air and standby, we are going to need protection to evacuate personnel to the ships."  Arturus ordered.  As he neared the exit to the ship landing area, Arturus bumped into Captain Kowalsky, Task Force Vigilance's commander.

"Captain what are your orders?"  Arturus shouted over the gunfire, pausing to gun down a nearby attacker.

"We need to get back to the ships at once.  I just ran into an aid to Lord Tenett who demanded that the royal family be evacuated immediately from the planet. We need to get them onboard the Task Force and then to leave immediately.  Apparently we have a revolution on our hands here."  Captain Kowalsky replied.  As they reached the door, the two officers joined a group preparing to storm outside to join the palace guards who were fighting back against the attackers.  One of the officers was a nearby base commander, Major Reginald Whimsly, who informed them that all four imperial bases nearby had fallen under simultaneous attack from ground troops supported by heavy weaponry.  Imperial forces had repelled the initial attacks, thus protecting the bases and their fighters, but renewed, reinforced attacks were growing and the bases could soon be overwhelmed.

"Captain Kowalsky."  Kowalsky shouted over his commlink as it beeped.

"Captain, Lieutenant Morrison.  The Task Force is under attack.  Capital ships from the ground entered orbit and were joined by four ships coming out of hyperspace.  They have fighter support as well."  The Overseer's officer in charge reported.

"What the hell is all of this?"  Kowalsky demanded in anger. "Morrison, put the Task Force into battlestations, we will be there as soon as we can, fighters from the ground will escort the transports.  You must hold firm, we have to evacuate the royal family as well."  Kowalsky ordered before ending the transmission.  The doors to the banquet room opened and the officers poured out onto the large landing area to get to their transports only to find themselves confronted with heavy weaponry fire.  It seems that while the masked men had infiltrated the banquet and caused confusion, a larger ground attack against the palace had been launched.  The imperials scrambled for cover behind the ships, returning fire with small arms.  To their horror, at the end of the landing pad, several transports and shuttles blew up from the explosives that had been attached them.

"Captain, retreat back into the palace, we have secured chambers behind internal defences that you can use until we evacuate!"  One of the palace security officers called to Kowalsky who was the most senior officer nearby.  Arturus pulled out his commlink.

"Jaden, are your fighters still alright?"  Arturus inquired as he pressed himself against an officer's shuttle, looking around every so often to fire at a nearby attacker.  The revolutionary forces were quickly moving in and they were about to be overrun.

"Barely, we arrived just as an assault on the rear began.  We are inside now and launching."  Jaden replied with concern on his voice.

"Listen carefully, I need you to launch immediately and clear the airspace around the palace.  If you can, try to strafe some of the attacking forces to weaken them, we can't let them overrun the palace entirely.  Once you have done that, retreat immediately to the Task Force which is under attack.  Try to support them and escort the remaining shuttles and transports there back to the planet so we can get the hell out of here!"  Arturus ordered.  He was allowing some of his emotions to show which was a rare occurance.  Only in extremely precarious situations did he ever let frustration or anger show.

"Come on Lieutenant."  Another security officer yelled to Arturus who was one of the few remaining officers left who had not fallen back inside.  Beside him was Kowalsky and ten others including Amason and Willtconq.  "We'll cover for you."  The officer said referring to the small band of five men he had left with him on the otherside, crouched behind a transport.  "Inside they will show you were to go, now run!"  He ordered.  The group rose and ran back.  Arturus left off three bursts, down two more of the now very close attackers, before facing inside, diving over a fallen table for cover as fire chased them inside.  The landing spot, unfortunately, was a broken chair and it he hit it hard with the outside of his left thigh.  Three of the ten weren't so lucky.  As Arturus peered over the table before running again, he say that two officers were missing the back of their heads while another body, wearing a captain's insignia, had three holes in the back torso.  It didn't take more than half a second for Arturus to realize that Kowalsky was dead.  He didn't let that sit in yet, he didn't have time to.  From a crouch, he stood and ran with the final group across the banquet room and inside a door behind the podium.

"Come on this way, everyone will take refuge in the War Council rooms.  The internal defences of the palace will help fend them off and the royal guard reinforcements have managed to fight their way through a side entrance."  Another security officer informed them.  It was only as they raced through the stone walls of the palace did Arturus realize just how enormous the palace was.  Every twenty-five meters there were blast doors to stop attacks, the halls had computer controlled repeating blasteres deployed, and the stone composition of the palace made demolitions difficult.  The further they went into the palace, the safer Arturus was feeling.  If he had to be trapped in a building awaiting rescue, then this was the place to be.  Now the question was whether or not Sentinel Squadron could get those transports through and how the imperial forces would counter-attack with the limited forces available.

(OOC: Just so you know, there are no fighters over the palace.  This was Arturus in character making a guess.  You can proceed immediately to support the Task Force and maybe do some strafing below.  Watch enemy anti-air fire from heavy machine guns.)
 
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SCAP, WADJ/1LT Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/STCR Doashim/VE/VEN/(=A=)(=SA=)(=*MA*=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[MC:1](x2)[SV][BRC][VC:B][CBV][LSM][LoC][BWC][SWC][GWC]

How disappointing.

The banquet hall isn't serving any form of alcohol other than wine. No beer, no ale, no whiskey, no rum, no nothing. This simply wouldn't do. Without second thought the mission orders had changed. Protecting some stuffy old guys at a banquet in protected territory? No. Ain't happening without some form of entertainment. As soon as the chance presents itself, the mission is to find some beer. But where is the beer kept? Down in some dank wine cellar? That's not right. Someone in the kitchen probably has some. Vasili slowed his walk, letting the other Sentinels pass. He looked left. "Oh, look," he said in mock surprise, "it's the kitchen." Playfully bouncing away, he entered.

Activity in the kitchen was more dangerous than anything seen up in the skies so far. Flames bursting off from cooktops, knives being tossed around like a circus, cooks running by, screaming for "more food!" or "give me that!" or "who the hell is this?!"

Vasili left his wandering daze and looked up. "Me?"

"You are cook nor waiter! What do you want?" a man dressed in fancy serving clothes addressed him two inches away from his face.

"I'm just looking for some beer or ale or somethin', brother." Vasili said, now stepping around the waiter and through the kitchen. "You guys got any?"

"We are not serving that to guests tonight!"

Vasili sighed and turned around. "Don't give me that crap... I just got off my ship for the first time in six months. Just gimme a break, will ya?" Lies, lies, lies: they get the job done.

The waiter scowled and pointed to a closet. "Quickly..." was the snideness Vasili was left with. He boisterously danced to the closet, his eyes wandering around the battleground that was the kitchen. Man battling flame, blade battling beast, cheese battling grater (a chuckle at the last one). This was a blast to Vasili. Nothing like being a complete ass on someone else's tab.

Ho ho ho... what's this? Vasili paused. His wandering left him blind to the person in front of him. It took a split second for the signals from his glasses to pass to his brain.

"This one's good, buddy!" the shades exclaimed to him. Vasili smiled that smooth smile of his.

"Can I help you?" the short woman, cleanly dressed woman in front of him spoke. Oh, the voice; she was throwing herself at him. She gave a cold stare as Vasili motioned at the closet.

"Keys, madam." He outstretched his fingers to have her place the key in his hand. She scowled, sending a shock through Vasili's spine. The way her skin molded in such playful motions, he just knew he was going to kill two birds with one stone.

"You're a guest?" she asked, her perfect dark hair reflecting the fires from all around as she moved forward.

"Honorary guest," Vasili corrected her, playing up the situation. She slipped the key out of her outfit and into his palm, and he snatched it. This is it! The door opened and Vasili hit the light panel on the inside of the door. Illuminated was the small room, covered on all three walls by shelves of bottles. Row after row, the closet was stacked. Vasili gave an "I'm impressed" whistle. "Oh.. oh this is good..." He began to enter, then turned around. "How rude of me... care to join?"

The waitress's mouth dropped just so slightly at the offer. She laid her eyes on Vasili and didn't turn away as she walked in. Vasili resisted the urge to jump in an explosion of adrenaline, replacing the feeling by ripping off his glasses, kissing them, returning the eyewear to their rightful place, and spinning into the closet.


-Too Soon of a Time Later-


The two had barely finished off one bottle when screams reached their closet hideout. Vasili pulled himself away from the girl and pulled a knife out of his already half-opened uniform coat. His ecstatic smile faded as he saw the girl's eyes widen. This wasn't a regular thing. He manually slid the door open a crack. The battle in the kitchen had transformed to man battling man. Masked men slaughtering the poor, innocent workers? How cliche...

The game face was on. A little glazed, dangerously wielding a knife, and sorely disappointed by this rude interruption, it was go time. "Dear, button up your shirt and follow me." The door flew open and Vasili rushed out. Ok buddy, help me out...

"There!" his glasses told him. "With his back turned!" Vasili recognized it and threw his knife spinning into the man's back. One.

A background of running from police helped him here. The previous life was hard, and Decembrist had managed to scrape by. He searched for his next weapon: a knife, skewer, anything that happened to be sitting on the counter. He looked frantically, any time now one of these absurdly masked attackers would see him. "You're kidding," were the first words to escape his mouth when he saw the only item occupying the countertop. He was extremely reluctant to use a frying pan on an enemy. He shook it off and picked it up not a moment too soon.

BOOM! Contact. Vasili hit the floor hard with blood trickling out his mouth. "A good punch to the face never gets old," his buddies would always say at a bar fight. Vasili looked up. One of the men was standing over him with blaster aimed at face. The woman he had waited for so long and was deprived of having let out a scream at the sight.

"Hey!" Vasili wasn't shaken. "Keep it down! My ears are sensitive." He trusted his foot right in between the masked man's legs. A frying pan to the face was the follow up, sending the man to the floor unconscious. Vasili got up slowly, a tired groan as he rose. "Maybe you should stay in there until it's safe." He punched the lock and there was no more temptation to stay.

After collecting his knife, he fought through the bedlam to find his wingmates. Needless to say, they were fleeing. Vasili jogged up besides Jaden. "Orders?"

"Where the hell have you been?" Was the answer. Vasili looked behind him.

"What, no support?" he looked at the others. "I was feelin' up a waitress and drinkin' some beer."

The group stopped at a corner. Jaden held his face in his hands for a moment and looked over at Decembrist. "Just follow me. We're headin' back to the fighters."

Finally some action. Action of a different kind, but action nonetheless. She was pretty, too...
 
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SCRW/FM Vasili "Decembrist" Rustam/Sentinel 3/Flight 1/STCR Doashim/Defensive Fleet/VEN/VE [SoA] (=*A*=)

As they neared the War Council rooms, the running ceased.  For the less fit of the officers, and there were certainly a noticeable number of them, the running had ceased far earlier forcing security officers to remain behind to cover them.  There was also a growing backlog as officers in the rear, such as Arturus, had caught up to the main group.  As they moved forward at a slower pace, Arturus had a chance to admire aspects of the palace.  The structure was enormous and built entirely of stone.  From the outside, it was dark brown and grey and sort of looked like a squared off pyramid.  Each tier had gardens and trees which had made it a spectacular building to view from the outside.

On the inside, the few rooms Arturus could see into appeared to have luxurious furnishings.  The security, as he had noticed earlier, was tight and efficient, and overall, the palace had the feel of money and power but also had a distinctly cold feeling as well.  Perhaps it was just the cold stone and the shock of the moment, but Arturus definitely had an uneasy feeling overall inside.  It almost seemed as though this was not the original intent of the building.  He felt it ludicrous to say that he could feel as though the building was unhappy with what had become of it, assuming that it had a purpose other than this originally, but nevertheless, he had that feeling.  As he looked around, he noticed that there were old and elaborate carvings in the walls and pillars.  Decorative perhaps and they were certainly elegant.  He could spend hours examining them and with a guidebook about the meaning of the symbols, Arturus felt that the time spent would have been well worth it.  However, the more he saw and felt, the more he was becoming of the opinion that the building had originally been a temple rather than a palace.  If that was the case, then there were historically significant implications regarding the transformation.  Who knows he thought, it might even help explain all of this.  He dismissed the thought a second later.  Such a conversion would have happened far too long ago.

Finally, they arrived inside the entrance to the War Council rooms.  They weren't kidding with the name.  From what Arturus could see, there were half a dozen enormous rooms at least, full of sensors, communications equipment, planning tables, charts, plans, terminals, and local military and security personnel.  One could run an entire battle, both space and ground, form here which was clearly the intended purpose.  In a way, Arturus was relieved.  Given the battery of sensors, including what appeared to be radar monitors, he could keep an eye on his ship and indeed the entire Task Force.  With the death of Kowalsky, he was now in charge.

"Lieutenant!"  Arturus called to an officer standing in a side room that stored a number of space radars and planning tables.  He made his way in quickly and returned the Lieutenant's salute.  "I need to make contact with my Task Force immediately and oversee the battle going on in orbit; can we commandeer this room for that purpose?  It is urgent for all involved that direction and coordination be provided to our ships if an evacuation of imperial personnel and the royal family is to happen."  Arturus stated firmly.  His tone made it sound like a demand more than a question.  He had no time for pleasantries and diplomacy at the moment.  If the young lieutenant didn't like it then tough.

"Lieutenant, we have our own airborne units that we need to coordinate as well."  He replied reluctantly, not knowing entirely what to make of the demand.

"Land radar can track all imperial and government fighters and forces; you don't need your sky and space radar systems to do that.  In a position such as this you should know that.  Now are you going to delay us and risk the destruction of your lord's escape from this revolution or are you going to allow the revolutionary forces to succeed in destroying the government and permanently changing the face of this planet?"  Arturus demanded.  He had given up trying to appear stoic and hide his emotions.  Currently, this was the most challenging and precarious position he had been in as a commander and the stress and frustration, caused by a feeling of utter helplessness, was showing a little bit.

"I will have to check with someone senior."  The lieutenant replied, trying to hold his ground.  Arturus was not particularly surprised.  Militaries tend not to turn over their facilities to other militaries, even if they are allies, without authorization, rules of procedure, etc.  This was an emergency however and Arturus was most concerned about the lack of experienced officers onboard the ships.

"Lieutenant you will turn this room over to be this second or I will personally write a letter demanding your immediate court martial for treason following our victory today, do you understand me?"  Arturus demanded.  The lieutenant paused for a second, but decided to give in.  Clearly it was not the day or time to get in the way of the imperials.

"Thank you."  Arturus said in a softer tone before moving back into the main room where there were over a hundred officers shouting at one another, trying to give orders, get information, and figure out where to proceed.  Far too many chefs in the kitchen but there was not much anyone could do about that.  "Could I see all captains from Task Force Vigilance in this room at once?"  He bellowed over the noise.  Clearly people heard him because most of the officers turned in his direction and the four remaining officers of imperial ships made their way towards the room.  Willtconq followed as well even though technically he wasn't attached the way the rest of the ships were.  "Will" Arturus said as he walked up.  "I know your ship technically isn't a VE ship but we really need every bit of firepower you have.  Will you assist under my leadership and can you deploy your fighters?"  He asked a slight hint of desperation in his voice.

"I have already ordered my squadrons to deploy in support of the task force and yes, I will assist if it is under your leadership."  Will said amicably.  Their service together in Kaph squadron was clearly an asset now.

"Thank you."  Arturus replied before moving back into the room.  He ignored the other captains for a moment and instructed the communications techs to establish direct links to each of the ships and fighter squadrons, and one general frequency to all forces.  He then ordered the sensor operators to generate the radar image on the planning table so that the officers could gather around with their commlinks and provide direction.  "Now gentlemen, from here we will control the battle until Sentinel has managed to clear a way for transport."  Arturus instructed to the five officers joining him around the table.

"Just a minute lieutenant."  Lieutenant Commanders Charles Banting and George Wilson chimed in at once, both with an irritated tone in their voice.  They each command a carrack cruise, the Griffin and Lion respectively.  Wilson yielded to Banting.  "You are only a lieutenant and are not the most experienced captain here.  I would say that it is bloody pretentious of you to somehow declare yourself task force commander."  Banting argued.  Oh great Arturus thought to himself just what I need, a power struggle.

"Commander Banting, clearly you did not read task force directive 179 issued by Captain Kowalsky four days ago.  In that directive he stated that in the event of the task force commander becoming a combat casualty, the captain of the next most powerful ship will take command of the task force due to the fact that it, along with the rest of the force, would be faster than the Overseer and thus better able to organized a retreat in good order or coordinate a rapid counter-attack.  Captain Kowalsky has been a casualty of combat, the task force is under attack, and I am invoking the provisions of directive 179." Arturus snapped back.

"You insubordinate bastard."  Banting spat back.  He was absolutely enraged with Arturus' remarks.  "First, directive 179 was completely against all imperial navy protocol and absolutely ridiculous.  Kowalsky should have known that it would place an inexperienced ship captain, worse a lieutenant, and even worse a bloody pilot, as the potential task force commander.  He was always weak and played favourites anyhow and we all know how your ambition leads you to rub up to commanders.  Second, how dare you speak down to your superiors in such a brash way?"  Banting continued.  To Arturus it sounded like sour grapes more than anything and he was more than tired of it.

"Commander, regardless of what you think of the directive, that is the law of the task force and you are bound to follow it as an officer in this force.  If you disobey it you will suffer the consequences.  Now, gentlemen, get in contact with your ships immediately and we will begin to assess this situation and take control.  I want updates ASAP."  Arturus ordered.  He had had about enough of the bunch already and the battle was just starting.

 
-----------------------
SCAP, WADJ/1LT Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/STCR Doashim/VE/VEN/(=A=)(=SA=)(=*MA*=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[MC:1](x2)[SV][BRC][VC:B][CBV][LSM][LoC][BWC][SWC][GWC]

You got to be kidding me. No enemy fighters? They came in without ANY air cover Hah! We'll fix that mistake, quick.

He had been the first one of the squadron to get airborne, and now it was time to do something positive. Since the enemy had come in without air support, that left the squadron free to engage in strafing runs. He didn't bother to check on the rest of the squadron, he just flipped the lasers settings to fire in linked pairs and put the 'ceptor into a power climb. He counted slowly to himself, then killed the forward thrust and rolled the 'ceptor over. The highly maneuverable 'ceptor rolled right over into a dive, and he shoved the throttle forward to the max. At full power and coming from that altitude, the Interceptor came screaming down in a vertical dive. He waited till for a count of then, then clamped down on the trigger, unleashing a torrent of laser fire from the fighter's guns.

The screaming fighter raced down, spitting green death. He yanked the engines back to nil, but let the dive continue. He waited till the last second, then released the trigger and pull up hard, shoving the throttle to the max, trying to trade the speed for altitude. The Interceptor responded like he knew it would, coming out of the dive, and kicking up dust, dirt, debris, body parts. He and it raced away just meters from the ground.

Hee Hee Hee. Just like the old Mandalorians and their Basilisks. Take that whoever you are.

He swung the control stick from side to side, sloughing the fighter from side to side, till he got speed and maneuverability back. As soon as he felt it come back, he yanked back on the stick, racing for altitude again.

Let's just see how dumb these guys really are. Cause if they let me get away with the same move twice without a challenge, they deserve to rot.


He waited for the climb to peak again, and went through the whole maneuver again. Only this time, some had grown some nerve. Laser fire spat back at him, probably from a captured E-web or such. He kept diving and firing, ignoring the green splats on his shields. They could take the punishment for now, he had to concentrate on driving off the attackers. Finally, again he pulled out sending up more dirt and debris, in an even bigger rooster tail, before racing away.

"Sentinel Four to Squadron, anyone else up? " Rogue asked over the com channel.

"Four, Three is." Decemebrist responded.

"Three, I made two strafing runs already, these guys came in without fighter cover. But now I'm gonna head up and see whats going on space side. Have fun taking out the ground pounders." Rogue told him

He didn't wait for a reply, he pulled the Interceptor's nose up and headed for the exosphere. In a full power climb, it was a short trip and he began to get readings on the ships coming in to attack them. His radar was picking up at least 2 squadrons of fighters, maybe more. He suspected more since they were reading as a mixed bag of T-wings, R-41 Starchasers, Razors, and Uglies. He even was getting readings on a few Z-95's and a pair of Preybirds in there. The Interceptor's gear wasn't enough to get a good reading on the cap ships though from this distance. Suddenly a flight of fighters broke from the fight and headed right for him.

Well so much for sneaking up there and reporting back. Gotta get the word out though. Art's gotta know whats happening.

He broke off of his current course and dove back for the planet's surface.
"Sentinel Four to One" he spoke into the com.

"Sentinel One, Four" came the answer.

"One if you've got a open com to the bossman, better tell him we've got at least 2 plus squadrons of starfighters up there and enough cap ships to carry them all. We're in for quite a fight." He transmitted over.

He wanted to wait for an reply, but the pair of T-wings and an ugly pair didn't feel like letting him. Red laser fire splattered on his shields, as he threw the 'ceptor into evasive maneuvers. Then the warning alarms went crazy as someone fired a concussion missile at him. Now normally in deep space, he would have cut the engines and spun around trying to blow the missile away. But not in the gravity effects of a planet's atmosphere. Here, he just had to out fly it.

He started trying every escape move he could think of, even making up a few new combos as he tried to evade the missile. All he could do was keep moving until it ran out of fuel and hope they didn't launch another one in the mean time. But with him moving so much now, it would be much, much harder to nail him with a missile lock. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he heard the missile detonate, and it disappeared from his screen. Immediately, he came around and opened fire on the Uglies. One was an old Die-wing. The Tie/Y-wing abomination went up in a hail of laser fire and a nice little explosion. Then it was time for his partner. Obviously it was him that fired the missile, he being in a Z-95 after all. From the look of the patches, the Headhunter had seen better days, but its two lasers and at least one of the concussion missile tubes still worked.

But there wasn't a day in the universe that a Headhunter could take an Interceptor in a turning, winding, laser spitting fight. The Headhunter's only option was to turn and run till it could open the range enough to use its missiles, because the 'ceptor would turn inside it every time. Whoever this guy was, he had about thirty seconds to a minute left to live, because he did exactly what he shouldn't have done. He turned into Rogue's Interceptor as if to try and stay with him through a turn. He slammed the stick hard over and barrel rolled the Interceptor to the right, just as he slammed on the brakes. The 'hunter shot right by, and he flipped the lasers to quad and let fly with two quad linked blasts of laser fire. At that range, no fighter shields in the galaxy could completely take that amount of damage. His lasers burned right through and the headhunter went up in a rush.

One more piece of vacuum sucking scum removed from the universe.

But I better get back to the rest of the squadron, and find out what's going on down on the surface.

He brought the Interceptor around and headed back toward the others.

(1152 words according to Microsoft Word)
 
-----------------------
FM/2LT Rogue/Sentinel 1-4/STCR Doashim/VE/VEN/

Everyone went about business as Art gave out orders to the other captains, who in turn gave orders to their subordinate officers that went about relaying the orders to the officers who stayed on the ships. From what Will could see, he was the only one who didn't seemed to have anything to do. He was the only one from his ship who came to attend the "banquet". Without anyone to act as his communications officer to his ship, Will could do nothing but stand around and watch the holo projector of the taskforce move into positions to engage the enemy ships.

Looking around the room, Will finally found a female officer who seemed to be standing idle in a corner. Will walked over to her to see if she would be able to help him. She had the rank of 1st Lieutenant. At least it won't seem too insubordinate of me to ask her to allow me to give her orders. Her face didn't register with him as any of the ship captains either.

"Excuse me." Will said as he walked over. With a closer look, he noticed that she was shaking. So that's why she's not doing anything. Will concluded, She's in shock from this whole thing. "Mam, are you alright?" Will asked as politely as he could manage. When she looked at him out of the corner of her eyes, but didn't answer, Will asked, "Mam, my name is Lieutenant Willtconq, and I am the captain of one of the ships. My communications officer didn't accompany me to the banquet." He waited a moment for her to catch on. But she continued to stare at him through the corner of her eyes, and didn't say anything. "Is there any chance that you happen to know anything about communications?"

She nodded her head. I didn't know it was possible to bring people out of shock just by talking to them. "I really need your help, can you help me?"
"I'm so scared." She said with trembling lips.

Will grabbed her by the arms in an attempt to stop her from shaking. "Listen." Will said in a stronger voice, throwing the formalities out the window. "There are battles going all around us. Those ships out there need us. My ship needs us. And without them, we will never get out here. And I can't help them without someone who can help me make contact with my ship. So snap out of it. You call yourself an Imperial Officer?" Will almost yelling at her now, the noise seemed to finally got through into her.

She tried to walk away from the support of the wall, but almost collapsed when her legs gave out, and would have, if not for Will's hands still wrapped around her arms. "What's your name Lieutenant?" Will asked in a softer tone now that she's coming around.

"Ramsey, Jordan Ramsey." With Will's support, they managed their way to a console near the wall, where she sat and started to slowly punch in codes into the console. Will relayed to her the necessary information to contact his ship.

"Come in Tiamut. This is Lieutenant Willtconq. Come in Tiamut."

"Yes, Captain?" Vant's face resolved on the overhead screen.

"We are on a secure channel Lieutenant." Ramsey reported.

"Okay." Will acknowledged. "Report." Will said to Vant.

"By your order, I've sent out one squadron of Interceptors, and one squadron of Tie Automated Droid Fighters. I have moved the ship along the edge of the main battles between other large ships to provide some fighter support and at the same time not putting the ship in a direct battery assault from any enemy ships."

"Good. How's the ship holding together, any major damages so far?"

"None, Sir. The enemy has just gotten into range not long ago. They seems to be going to focus their fire power mostly on the Overseer and the Doashim. The Lion and Griffin are doing their best to lessen the damage on those larger ships. But we can expect some contact soon. The forces that jumped out of hyperspace are almost within range."

"Give me an update on the enemy forces."

"Uhhh, off the bridge, I can make out... three Neb-B's, two corvettes, two assault frigates that seems to have some previous battle scars on them, and a Carrack cruiser. Fighter wise, I'm not sure. But there seems to be a number of mixed fighters. Those are the forces that came up from the planet, Sir."

"What about the others?"

"They are not in our view port at this minute, but our sensors show four capitals ships, and two squadrons of fighters. They could be corvettes, or Neb-B's, and one of them seems to be another Carrack Cruiser. Do you want us to engage the fighter squadrons?"

"How's the casualties on the two squadrons?"

"We have one pilot dead, and one floating somewhere in space, Sir. And no losses yet on the Droid squadron."

"Alright. Stay with the main battle. Those fighters are bound to stumble upon you sooner or later. There's plenty of time to take care of them. There's no need to rush into a battle. Keep the remaining two squadrons of fighters at bay. Have them stand by for launch upon signal, but don't send them out. I want them to be able to be launched on a second's notice."

"Yes, Sir, understood."

"Good. Provide me with updates as soon as anything happens. Willtconq out."

"Sir, do you want me to stay here and..." Ramsey asked.

"Yes, please, if you would." Will leaned against the console. Now that they were no longer in any immediate danger, his mind clouded over with thoughts again. It's understandable that the forces jumped out of hyperspace, but what's going on with the large forces that launched from the planet? Eight capital ships. EIGHT! How the hell did they manage to obtain such a force without the Imperials on the planet noticing? It would cost them more than just pocket money to buy a force this size. And these Misooans aren't exactly the rich type. From what I could see, of what I saw today that is, the only own who's rich is the royal family. But they certainly wouldn't be fighting against themselves. At the thought of that, Will turned around to steal a look at the royal family, sitting in comfortable chairs to one side, slightly concerned expressions on the Lord and the Lady's faces.

Well, if they're the ones behind this, they're doing an awful good job at hiding it. But then, that's exactly what the Emperor did back in the Clone Wars to bring himself to power. He orders an assault on his home planet. But these people are already in power, what would their motives be if they are the ones that planned this? Besides that force is not something that can be easily hidden. One or two could be done easily hidden on a planet so overgrown with plant life and wildlife, perhaps even three. But eight. It's impossible to conceal such large a force from the Imperial sensors. They should have picked them up. And not to mention the fighters. It's not just one or two squadrons, there were more than Vant could count. At least four squadrons. They could've been docked in the eight ships, but, I highly doubt that. However they managed to stow all those ships on the planet, I'm going to find out. I can tell, this is going to be good.

"Vant to Willtconq."

"Yes?" Will answered.

"Sir, one of the Neb-B's is moving into position for an attack on us."

"And what do you suggest?"

"Sir, it out guns us in overall fire power, but if we focus our other guns on it as well, we can take it."

"And what will we do about the fighters that are bound to show up?"

Vant didn't reply.

"Stand by for evasive maneuvers." Will ordered. "Fire at will. But do not engage."

"Captain Willtconq." A young looking officer came up to Will. "Sir, your presence is requested by Captain Arturus."

"I'll be right there."

"Vant, we cannot go up against another ship on our own, request assistance from the closest ships."

With that, Will left the console for the center of the room, where all the Captains were gathered around the holo projection table, observing the battle that's bound to get fiercer. "Lieutenant Willtconq reporting as requested."

"At ease captain, we're not in a time that allows any time being wasted on formalities." Art replied. "From here we can see that your ship has been moving around the battle field quite often. Care to enlighten us on your current agenda? I understand that you've made contact with your ship."

"Yes sir, I gave orders to my officer in charge that he is to try to avoid direct confrontation with any capital ship, because we simply do not have the fire power to go up against one."

"Except a corvette."

"Yes, except a corvette."

"Order your ship to move in on the closest corvette. That one." Art pointed to a ship in the air floating above the table.

"But..." Will was stopped by Art who continued to give out orders.

"I know that there's a Nebulon-B on you. So I'm ordering the Lion to pull back and help you out."

"I'm not ordering my ship to help him." Wilson refused.

"Captain, should I remind you of your position? Also, Willtconq here is fighting along side you, along side us. He is one of us. And so I expect nothing less from you to help him when he is in need of aide. If we were to loose a ship, any ship, including yours, including Will's, that will be one less ship to fight for us, and we will be that much closer to being defeated by these revolutionaries. Do I make myself clear?" Art spat back at the Captain. Who backed down instantly and turned to his communications officer to pass out the order.

Will turned toward the console where he had made contact with his ship. But to his surprise, Ramsey was no longer sitting in the seat. He looked around, she was no where to be found. She had disappeared into thin air.

1718
 
-----------------------
-(William the Conquerer)-
Ship Captain of Tiamut
King of PPC
"Lives are created to be ended, just as rules are made to be broken." -- Unknown, probably me
"A dishonest man, you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly, it's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're gonna do something incredibly stupid." - Captain Jack Sparrow
"Happy endings are just stories that haven't finished yet." - Jane Smith
SCAP/2LT Willtconq/ESCR Tiamut/VEN/VE (=*A*=) (=*SA*=) [VC:S][SV][BWC][LSM]{VB}
Wm/Wm Willtconq/WM:1/Webmasters/VET/VE