The Rebel Faction

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Caprician Orbit<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->


The living missiles that exited hyperspace had slammed into the Caprician Fleet as well as the Vinda Corp. Fleet.


"They seemed to make hyperspace in that orange haze.. perhaps it's a vehicle or catalyst for them to move that quickly.. I .. I don't think they can do it on their own."

The white haired Tyscio Zier spoke into the recorder, wincing as a medical assistant worked on his arm.


"Contact with the fleet has been lost...something to do with that orange nebula-like haze that's expanding around the area. I am not sure how long it will take to dissipate. Individual ships will have to fend for themselves. The <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Tribune<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> has lost main power and life support on most levels.

Weapons are working for now, but thrust is an technician's dream right now..."


He pushed pause as another person came up to report.

"Vinda's ships?" the young Clan leader asked.

"From what our magnifiers can tell, they were hit just as badly but they've got engine power.."

"Clan's black bones!!" Zier shouted, half in pain with the medical administrations and half in frustration at his own inability to move.

"They are heading closer to the invader fleet.. perhaps as cover.."

"What is the invader fleet doing?" Zier snapped.

The officer did not flinch. "Most of their ships have descended toward's Capricia.. some have landed and what is left in orbit is beginning to descend as well.."

"They.." he gritted his teeth as the medical aid told him to sit still, "They can do that?"

"Apparently." was the Exec's dry remark as he entered the conversation.

Tyscio scowled.

"Can Vinda's ships enter the atmosphere.. can they land?"

"Not the capital ships.."

"Perhaps he's trying to protect his ships by getting close.."

"Doesn't he realize that these bloody things are living?
Have the missiles finis---"

"INCOMING!!!"

And alarms blared throughout the ship as more living slivers of destruction exited hyperspace and toward the mechanized fleets they'd been created to smash.



..and everything went dark.

:: Supreme Commander Dxun Isstal, formerly of the Empire and once a defector to the Rebel Alliance, entered his office on Vinda Corporation's homeworld of Bonaden. Dxun Isstal, the newest member of Seth Vinda's personal staff and the supreme commander of Vinda Corporation's magnificent armada, which was currently holding position in orbit waiting for his arrival. ::

:: Isstal smiled as he checked the live data feed from Vinda Corp's hidden intelligence satallites outside the system. The Corporate Sector fleet had fallen for his ruse. Far above him the Imperial Star Destroyer Democracy, the flagship of Vinda's fleet, rolled into position to jump to hyperspace. The rest of the fleet lined up, but for one ship. The Star Destroyer Negotiator stayed in place, a few loose ties still connecting it to the surrounding orbital space platforms that had been working on her. She was dark, her black surface betraying nothing of her true capabilities. From a distance, she looked dead in space, and if the shipyards had not completed their tasks. But under that cloak of deception was hidden a terrible weapon: a starship that would spell doom to the CSA's pitiful invasion fleet. And even as all these thoughts flooded into Isstal's mind, the computer beeped and the CSA fleet was in hyperspace... ::

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Sevarcos <!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Geo-Synchronus Orbit...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->



Richter glanced out of his view port onboard the shuttle that was currently moving towards its intended destination...The Victory-Class Star destroyer that had blindly found its way..

Richter's ship....

Richter smiled warmly, it was a welcome sight...something familiar after a world so different...he glanced back at the huge Orb , the Amber hue it gave off, was warm and inviting..but the experience had been somewhat the opposite...apart from the unexpected Sevarian hospitality...

Shaking his head slightly, Richter's smile broadened...it was strange how life worked out, just a short time ago they had barely escaped with their lives...now he was going back to Bonadan, back to Vinda-Corp, with a an important trade-contract secured in hand.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ..at least we aren't going back empty-handed...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

A thousand thoughts raced throgh his mind, one of them was what action Mr Vinda had taken with the information they all had risked their lives to gain.. What had happened to the lost ships...

what had happened to the aggressors...


Turning around, he observed the many crew-members , some were talking, some were resting...all of them had worked hard, little time for anything else. Richter decided he the first thing he would do when he got back home is recommend for extended R&R for them all.. they deserved it..

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ..home..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

That word had never sounded so good, yes..when they got back to Bonadan, they could all relax...

Richters observations fell upon Ordobis, who had been doing the same thing, as their eyes met , Ordobis nodded slowly, Richter responded in kind, then bought his focus back to the view-port...


A familiar Voice came through the comms..

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Tellum..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Welcome back sir, ship and onboard crew on standby...<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

As Richter responded and signed off , he continued to watch as the shuttle docked with the Star-Destroyer. The vessel dwarfed the small shuttle.
Richter looked upon it with a great deal of sentimentality, this ship, <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> his<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> ship had been through a lot, and was still going...

A heavy clunk, and a soft jolt, bought Richter from his thoughts, as the craft touched down...


...they had arrived...



<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> One hour later...<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->




Striding down the corridors, Richter made his way to the bridge, the satisfied face of Tellum greeted him as the doors slid aside.

As they greeted each other Richter, took his seat..

Tellum handed him a data-pad, a list of the successful repairs that had been achieved..

"..all major systems intact, we were able to repair the Navi-comp, and the hyper-drive..."

Richter nodded as he listened..

"..what about comms?...anything?.."

Tellum shook his head as he responded

"..unfortuantely, no, still only short distant comms operational, the forward communications array was beyond repair, we need to replace it completely, we won't able to do that until we get home.."

Richter listened thoughtfully...

"..then let us waste no more time Commander, take us home..."

Smiling Broadly , Tellum saluted..

"..<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Gladly<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> Sir..."



As the orders were given , The Star-Destroyer , moved from orbit from around <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Sevarcos<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> and seemed to strech for the short moment it was visible , as it disappeared finally on its way home...

Destination...



...<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Bonadan<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->...

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Minos<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->


Scipio Arien watched as her diplomatic aides drowned out the fires and lowered the bodies of those Capricians slain at the forgotten mining colony...which angered her more.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Forgotten colony? These people were cast away by Capricia after the first invasion, forgotten because too much was going on at home.

These people survived without contact from homeworld for five years only to die now....forgotten!<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


A sudden weariness began to overtake her as she helped an aide put a burned and mutilated body into an opaque bag to be taken back aboard the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Blaze of Glory<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->.


Her clothes were soiled from the grime and mess of the work of clearing the scarred facility. She turned to Mr. Vinda's right hand man, Achinta Vega, and gave a weak smile.


"I wonder what you think of all this, my friend. Sometimes, I envy your lack of feelings?" and then a sudden burst of curiosity sparked, "or do you have feelings?"






*******



<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Aboard the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Blaze of Glory<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->



Adalric Cronus watched the repair reports scroll over his terminal with a mixture of glee and angst.

His vessel was starting to resemble something of what a Super Star Destroyer was supposed to operate as and yet, there were still major repairs that needed nothing less than extended dry dock.


He smiled at the ancient naval term. <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Dry?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


Realistically, he could pull away from the Caprician system with little trouble assuming the blockade was over.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> But, then, that was the question wasn't it? A retreat would be worthless if we ran into a stronger blockade.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


The fact that no other ships had entered into their area hinted of the fact that perhaps the blockade was still in effect.

He would need to know.


"Hail the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Aries<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->," he ordered the Comm. Officer.


when the Captain of the vessel appeared in holographic form, Adalric smirked grimly at the disheveled appearance the Caprician Captain displayed.

"Captain Borus. I need your ship to penetrate into the Outmarches and determine if this system is still under blockade by these accursed aliens."

The Captain nodded slightly but Adalric saw his eyes narrow. "My I ask where <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> you<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> will be heading?"


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> This Captain is nobody's fool.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


"We will be heading further into the system." Cronus managed diplomatically.

"We will be broadcasting a masked signal that you will be able to pick up on this encrypted receiver frequency." Nodding to the Communications Officer, the man began to relay the information.


"Report to me your findings as soon as you can."


The Captain must have approved (not that it would have mattered much to Cronus) because he acknowledged the order and began to move the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Aries<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> away.


Before he could return to his reports another officer came rushing up. "Sir! Look at these visual reports from the probes on the other side of the colony!"


Adalric's irritation showed but he withheld condemnation to the officer reaching for the pad.


His eyes narrowed slightly.


The officer's excitement was warranted.



The surface of Minos was far from evacuated as he noted Chazrach warriors working, in the vacuum of the atmosphereless world, on <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> something<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->. There were large divots and groves cut into the surface of Minos.


Suddenly, it seemed as if some orange gaseous cloud was immitted from a fissure in the ground.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Much like the orange cloud that had blocked the planet's visibility before.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


Slivers suddenly leapt out of the groves following the orange cloud quickly moving higher.


As soon as the slivers caught up with the cloud in space, they suddenly disappeared and the cloud soon dissipated.


"Core?" Adalric asked as he turned from the cloud that soon was a mere haze.


<!--EZCODE HTML START--> <font color="red">READINGS INDICATE THE OBJECTS WERE TRANSPORTED. CLOUD SEEMS TO EXIHIBIT SAME CHARACTERISTICS AS A WORMHOLE.</font><!--EZCODE HTML END-->


"Transported where?" The <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Blaze's<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> master impatiently asked.

<!--EZCODE HTML START--> <font color="red">WORMHOLE EXHIBITS A TEMPORARY EFFECT. THEREFORE TRAJECTORY WOULD REMAIN UNCHANGED.</font><!--EZCODE HTML END-->


"Tracking Officer? Trajectory? Where the hell did those things go?"


"Sir? Trajectory puts them either at a planetoid called Providence or Capricia itself."


Adalric's gaze shifted to the small colony domes situated on Minos where the Caprician Ambassador was bringing the bodies of those slain aboard.


He sighed.


"Helm. Prepare to shift orbit and have gunners engage the enemy units on the planet's surface. Wipe them all out."


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> I want nothing coming back at me.



But as we go to where? Providence or Capricia?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->




****


The massive bombardment guns from the Super Star Destroyer and the remaining Caprician support vessels pounded the Yuuzhan Vong positions on Minos just as another huge gaseous cloud was climbing toward space.


The small two meter "slivers" that seemed to shoot upward into space after the cloud were also shot down by the gunners with enthusiasm. However, when the slivers suddenly dodged the SSD's shots, a gunner exclaimed, "Those damned things are alive!"

They were, fortunately, no match for the tracking systems of a newly restored CORE.

The connecting shots at the slivers resulted in rather large explosions in space and Adalric grinned at the invader's ingenuity.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Living missiles. They seem powerful enough to cripple even a Star Destroyer.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


With no slivers to transport, the gaseous cloud soon seemed to dissipate and fade from sight.


Little did Adalric's command know that they had just ensured that the Caprician and Vinda Fleet would no longer be bothered by the living missiles of the Yuuzhan Vong.

Bonadan

Miles had not managed to make any small talk with Yana, he was much too busy being alone with his thoughts. After all, they were not wasted thoughts, thoughts that were useless. No, his thoughts brought him concern. Concern for himself and the woman with him now, Yana...

He realized that there was nothing else that could be done here at Vinda Corp. All that needed to be taken care of now, at least where Vinda Corp was concerned, was out there somewhere in space.

It was Yana's time now. It was time to help her...


Miles had been leaning on the table top, looking down at a pile of papers which he insisted, needed his attention, though the papers needed not his attention at all. It was just something to look at to pass along the moment of ackwardness. He removed his gaze from the stack of papers, glancing around the room before his gaze fell onto Yana.

He could tell she was not happy with the ackward silence, but who wouldn't be?

He smiled reassuringly, as if to say it had nothing to do with her, it was just him.

"It's alright...We'll get everything sorted out Ms. Yana, you'll see."

His smile grew a bit wider. Miles had been about to say something more when Anderson, the guard, walked back in.

"Mr. Johnson, sir?"

Miles turned his attention away from Yana and onto the guard, something he observed that Yana did not much like, yet it could not be helped.

"Hello again, Anderson. Have you found me someone to speek with about these, um, fleet matters?"

Everyone in the room knew how up to speed Miles was with fleet matters. His ums and ers pretty much said it all. Yet Miles liked to pretend he knew what he spoke of and what he was doing.

The guard grinned slightly at him, obviously seeing that Miles was uncomfortable with the situation at hand.

"Yes sir, Supreme Commander Dxun Isstal. He is new, but I'm sure you already knew that."

Miles expression went blank for a moment. He looked on at the guard as if somehow looking at him would give him the help he needed. He needed help for the simple fact that he had no idea of this new employee. The guard grinned and shook his head slightly up and down, looking from Miles and then onto Yana and then back at Miles again.

He could lie, couldn't he?

Miles looked from the guard and onto Yana, smiling nervously. His left hand moved upward, impulsively, to rub at the left side of his temple. He quickly brought his hand back down again toward his side as he laughed nervously.

"Um, ya know, I can't really say that I've met him yet. I didn't even know he was here, actually."

He began to wonder why Mr. Vinda had neglected to mention him. Though no one at Vinda Corp exactly had any free time for small talk, nowadays. If one employee did, no one else had the free time, though never all of them to have free time at once.

Anderson was the one to smile reassuringly this time. Though the reassuring smile did not come without the price of a chuckle.

"Quite alright, Mr. Johnson, not to worry."

Everyone knew how uptight Miles became, especially over the simpliest of little things.

Miles cleared his throat, appearing more relazed now and not so nervous.

"Yes well, let us proceed then, shall we?"

The guard nodded and the communications were gone into being made.


The conversation between Miles and Mr. Isstal hadn't gone well at all. It wasn't a bad conversation, well not exactly, anyhow. Miles just seemed to have some trouble discussing everything, not to mention, understanding everything.

Yet he found himself being reassured throughout the entire conversation, this Supreme Commander sure did know his stuff. Miles knew not enough about fleet matters, but he could recognize an expert when one was being pointed out to him. Miles was so impressed with the man that he had appointed him to the rank of Admiral, Mr. Isstal did not seem to mind that one bit either, his smile had confirmed that perfectly.

Twenty minutes later the conversations was brought to a wrap up.

"I'm sure you'll do a fine job Admiral, Isstal....Good luck out there."

Isstal gave him his thanks, Miles in turn thanked him and the transmission ended. Miles gave a few small minor orders to Anderson and he left the room, leaving Yana and Miles to be alone once more.

"Ms. Yana?..."

He paused for a moment to smile.

"How would you mind taking a trip with me to Roonadan?..."

"...I believe you and I have some business to take care of there..."