This was really getting old, thought Captain Elith.  Outside her bridge, her bridge damnit!, the New Republic was hurting her ship...again.  Sure, the crew was returning fire, but this ship - HER ship! - was not built to constantly be stuck in drydock after every engagement.  Proper navy vessels could take some hits, retreat to lick their wounds and know another ship, sometimes two, could pick up the slack.

The army, however, had other thoughts when it came to capital craft.

"Marshal, is there any damn way of getting out of here with half my hull plates intact?"

Fury looked up from his tactical display.  "Um, probably not. But keep the faith Captain."  Never encouraging words, but the Prefect never used the Dominion in any way that was more dangerous than the orders he gave his troopers.  In fact, if the navy fought as hard as the ground pounders did, there never would have been a Rebellion.

He looked up again, tired as usual. "Alright Captain. I've got a plan and the Navy wants to play ball this time.  We're gonna use their tactics against them.  We are going to slide in between two ISDs and some smaller cruisers. We're all going to punch through here" as he pointed a weakened spot in the Republic lines "and pull an Ackbar Slash on these Rep bastards. We'll ram through the close support and take the capitals on face to face.  With your permission, we'll sacrifice the Mark I Droid fighters as a front line force."

Elith nodded. She wanted to get the Mark IIs as much as he did and "giving them up" to protect Naval assets was the best way to budget it.  "Arm them with torpedos?"

Fury grinned. "Nah, concussion missiles with a mix of space bombs. Keep your shields up cuz I plan on making a mess today."

There was no honor fighting with a grunt against an enemy fleet.  Elith grimaced for those about to lose their lives on the opposite side.  "You plan on fighting this nasty all the way to the Core, sir?"

"Nasty?  Hell, I already warned them to get out when we exited hyperspace. Now I just need to make them believe me."

Fury turned his attention back to tactical, making deals with Imperial captains to turn the tide of the battle just long enough for the Dominion to drop some forces and then fall back to their defensive positions.  Running Imperial Center for the past few years was having tangible benefits when dealing with the naval bureaucracy.  His assistant Paler was closely tracking the deals and compromises made to make this mission work.

Elith was thankful her job meant solely keeping her ship intact.

---

Lined up behind the Imperial lines were the ISDs Overlord and Ravager, along with twenty various cruisers and support craft.  They were tasked with bringing down a four ship line including an old MC-80 and a trio of MC-90 Defiance cruisers.

Fury was, for the moment, in charge.

"Fighters away," he ordered the hangar chief.  Dozens of TIE/d Mk.Is departed and headed to their pre-programmed assignments.  Withering laser fire paved the way for them, as fleet TIE/ints provided support.  TIE Lancers added a series of ion missiles, which weakened the New Republic shields as the droid fighters approached the New Republic lines.  Their support broke off as the fighters began their run, laying down a series of concussion missile barrages at shields and gun emplacements, nearly all taken out by defensive fire as the either approached or completed their runs. 

Other fighters went in low and quickly pulled up and departed back to Imperial lines, The space bombs they released lay dormant, waiting either to be hit by a large object or to be guided by remote control.

"Shield levels," Fury barked on the Dominion bridge.

"Targets One, Three, and Four have lost forward shields.  Target Two has successfully rerouted from other areas."

Fury made a motion to three weapons techs to begin guiding their bombs.  Then he commed the hangar.  "Chief, prep anything that came back with more bombs.  Cripple that ship on your own and I'll find a way to give you the marker for it." Droid fighter squadrons rarely got kill credit. This would be a hard nut to crack.

To the ship's comm chief, "Tell the formation to move as soon as the TIE/d's make their next rum. And advise them to watch for debris.

To the hangar crew's credit, the remaining fighters were out of the hangar in twenty minutes time.  The Dominion powered up shields and engines and moved as one with the rest of the ships.  As soon as they broke their lines, defensive fire began coming their way from the New Republic lines.  Fighter groups from both sides rushed to the no man's land between them.

Fury glanced over at the three weapon's techs, the fourth waiting for a reason to focus himself.  The three gave him a thumb's up.

He glanced at Paler, who was standing over the tactical officer's shoulder.  "Fighters coming in now boss.  TIE/ints have broken off and Republic craft are mostly following them. Steady, steady." He paused.  "Bombs away boss, bombs away.  At least seven, maybe more."

Fury pointed at the three techs and gave them a thumb's up. The fourth got to work trying to resolve communication with his bomb load.

The results were immediate.  Each technician had taken the time to place his bombs carefully in specific locations across the enemy ships.  As the first ones went off, usually near the bow of the Mon Cal craft, systems would begin failing across each ship.  As the shields went off in a particular section, the weapons tech would guide his next bomb to another critical section of the ship.  Bridges, engines, munitions magazines, life support, all were victims to well placed space bombs, which ruptured the three ships apart.

Tech four was resorting to destructive art that would make an ARC proud.  With no time to position his bombs, his job was simple...make a big hole.  With the last fighter pass destroying the ship's forward shields and much of the prow, he guided his first bomb straight into the hole at the front of the vessel.  As soon as he reached solid bracing again, he would feed the next bomb into the every widening, ever deepening hole. He only had twelve bombs, but he had a goal, a primary weapons magazine. 

He reached it with bomb seven, just as the Overlord reached Republic lines.  The blast ripped the MC-90 in two, the back two thirds reeling from concussive damage as the front turned into high tech confetti.

Fury turned down his audio as the Overlord's captain chimed in to berate him.  "Easy with those remaining bombs," he advised the tech.  Three Broadside cruisers lumbered in on each side of the Overlord to meet the mix of New Republic craft coming to fill the gap in their lines.  Rack upon rack of diamond boron missiles reached out and shredded the cavalry. 

The Overlord and Ravager took up positions as the rest of the Imperial craft began salvage, rescue, and defensive ops.  "You've got a hole Marshal, go use it." called the Ravager's captain.  "And hurry. We can't hold this line forever."

Fury replied with a thanks and looked over at Kara. "Captain, the ship is your's.  Let's drop these troops off and get the hell out of here."

---

The defensive fire was puny next to a few plantary drops she had aided the Corps with. Or so Kara Elith thought.

The ship was very much intact, though low on fighters.  The newer Mk.IIs were being put to good use.  If the Reps decided to resupply their landing, they'd better put air support high on the list.  The Dominion had received a substantial report from the local Imperial/Devish task force and knew exactly what to target on its way in.  Hopefully it would help.

Targets hit, defenses laid bare, the time was right.  "Local fighter patrols are neutralized. Artillery emplacements are subdued if not destroyed.  Get those LAATs off my hangar Chief, and wish them our best."

-----------------------
PRF/SM Fury/VEA/TADATH/VE [MoH][SCPx2][PoC][SotE:HC][SotE:VEA][MSM][IOC]
Prefect - Stormtrooper Corps
Administrator - Imperial Center

  Devaron surface was beginning to light up from its sun's rays, as it slowly rose above the horizon. There were a few clouds in the sky, but yesterday's slight rain had seemed to move out during the night. The day promised to be cool, but you could never trust the weather. That was one thing you learned you lived a few years. The more you tried to anticipate it, the more it changed just to spite you it seemed. As the light hit the Blue Mountains, the reason for its name became apparent. Its mountain peaks almost jutted into the clouds that surrounded its peaks, but only a few really poked through to the misty beyond. A blue tinge could be seen spreading throughout the rocky surface from the ore deposits beneath its sheer face.

  Nestled at its base was the fortress known as New Serat, its namesake only a few kilometers north from it. It seemed but a trifle next to the mountains, but when close to it, you could lose yourself in its stark grandeur. Impervious walls surrounded the inner fortress while shield generators surrounded it, giving it added protection. Glimmering in the morning sun, it almost blinded an onlooker if seen at the wrong angle. Artillery mounts could be seen as well, showing that the fortress was also well equipped to fight if the need arose. Cruising over the wind swept plains that extended from the mountains that harbored New Serat to the river that Montellian Serat rested upon; a small ship could be seen approaching the mighty fortress.

  The flight was even shorter than Kairo expected. It seemed he had barely laid his head back against the LAAT's inner wall when the pilot's were signaling the compartment that they were going to land shortly. Standing up, Kairo once against checked his equipment, even though he knew the squad was going to be re-equipped for their next mission. Looking out the view port, Kairo saw the mighty walls growing bigger and bigger as the ship got closer to the monstrous fortress. Noting the shields generators and artillery installations, Kairo felt glad he was on the Imperial side of the war. A few minutes later and the LAAT was setting down behind the fortress' inner wall. Since it was only dropping them off and they would only be staying a short while it was allowed to drop them off there instead of the hanger bay.

  Jumping off, Kairo lead Jester squadron across the courtyard the walls created. A small breeze whipped past them as the LAAT lifted off and flew back over the walls. An attendant came running up to them and lead them to a small door next to the main gate. Ducking inside, Kairo found himself in a slightly large room filled with standard blasters and weapons.One of the bases stock rooms. Appears to just be regular weapons though. Good enough for me. Three people were already waiting for them inside. "Hello Merrick. I heard you were going to be leading Nightstalkers, but I didn't believe it. I mean, the prefects assistant running a squad?"

  "I got bored." Merrick replied.

  Grinning, Kairo looked at the other two troopers. "Small squad, but I've heard of some of Jakireth's exploits. I'm sure you'll do more damage than us."

  Coughing slightly to gain the two squad's attention, the attendant said, "Now that we are all here, you can get ready. As you can see, there is a large array of weapons in here. I would advise that you pick some of the lighter ones, since you will be jetting your way up the mountain face. It is a night a friendly mountain range, and the sheer face only has a few places to stop for a rest. If you get weighed down too much, you might not make it. Also, you will be fighting droids, so an EMP weapon could prove the difference."

  Glancing at the attendant, Kairo wondered if the man had ever done anything more dangerous in his life than handle a large stack of papers. Turning to his squad, he was about to give them some thoughts on what to choose but found an empty room behind him. Turning back around he saw them moving through the equipment racks. Of course. "One other thing," The ever present attendant said, "Your jetpacks are against the wall leading out. Once you've selected your equipment. Put those on as fast as you can and leave as soon as you can. Raziel says he wants to know what is going on up in the Blue Mountains as fast as is humanly possible."

  The man continued to talk, but Kairo ignored him. He knew what Raziel wanted from the message he had sent. Dropping his T-21 and E-11 onto a table, Kairo picked up Kylon-3 pistol, one of his favorite ranged weapons, and slid on its holster around his thigh. He also picked up a DC-17M Interchangeable Combat System. I haven't seen one of these in awhile. Supposedly NS had been outfitted with them. I wonder. . . Looking where the weapon had lain, Kairo searched through its the additional components that could be added to it. Nodding, he picked up something up and attached it to the end of the rifle. He also picked up a few different ammo packs. Grabbing some extra daggers and ammo for his Kylon-3, he placed them around his armor in easy to reach places then checked to make sure he still had his beloved vibro-pike attached to his waist. Jumping up and down a few times, he checked to make sure his armor was still light and easy to move in to some degree.

  Walking to the entrance of the room, Kairo found some of the other troopers finished and waited with them for the rest to finish. "What's that attached to you DC-17M there Kairo?" Phenix asked.

  "Oh, just a modification to allow for a slight variance in firing capabilities. The ammo is the key though. Now I can shoot EMP rounds as well as regularly. We're attacking droids." Nodding at Kairo's words, Phenix checked to make sure he had an EMP weapon as well. It will begin soon. Kairo thought as he waited.

  A few minutes later, everyone was ready and given a jetpack. Once everyone was strapped in and refreshed on the controls, they were escorted to the highest tower of the fortress and left to scale the unforgiving Blue Mountains. "Well Merrick, you ready?" Kairo asked as he leaned against the wind whipping around them.

  "Heh." Was his only response, before she engaged her jetpack and took off from the fortress. I guess that's a yes. Kairo thought exasperatedly as he pressed a button on his controls and felt his body pushed into the air, up into the mountains looming above them.


(OOC Just a reminder to everyone, the story continues on the Blue Mountains topic, not here. Just passing through, so the story flows by location, Raziel. I wasn't certain if this was a location topic or just a place where you and Fury are to write, but I decided it was a location topic. Anyways, the rest of it will be in the Blue Mountains area. )

 
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Gunnery Sergeant Kairo
Platoon Commander

PC/GSG Kairo/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/Tadat/VEA/VE [CDS][BoA][CoR][BC][CoV]

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will be victorious in ten thousand battles.
You may forget the past, but it always haunts your future.
Men can die, but a symbol is eternal.