The Rebel Faction

Urdur System

Onboard The Lucent



"...I thank you for agreeing to meet me Commodore..."

Trevalak gauged the tall, proud Bothan stood before him, his gaze glided across the man's uniform, took in his build , until their eyes met.

Trevalak nodded in greeting, still vexed as to what exactly this was all about. Van Rueben, for a moment seemed to do the same, before glancing around the ship, and the landing bay he was in, and ultimately the security officers surrounding them both. Turning back to face Trevalak, the Vice-Admiral spoke, his voice...persuasive...

"...Please Commodore, what I have to talk to you about is in the strictest confidence ..."

The Bothan threw a glance back to the Security guards around them, then cast his gaze back to the Commodore. Trevalak , ordered the guards to leave, without taking his scrutiny away from the CSA Officer.

"...wait outside.."

Begrudgingly the officers obeyed, and soon the landing bay was clear except from just the two men.

"...right, now perhaps you can tell me what this is all about?..."

Van Rueben couldn't help but smile at the Commodore's directness. It was a kind of toothy feral grin, just barely visible under all his natural fur.

"...of course Commodore, you will find this is in your best interest..."

Pausing for a moment as if contemplating how to phrase his next sentence, the Bothan decided to come direct to the point.

"...I asked you to call off your attack on Urdur because it will benefit you in the future. It is not needed... all that is , is for you to persuade me that Vinda-Corp is not just another Planet-raping corporation. Do that ,and I can persuade the authorities to come under Vinda-Corp's wing..."

The Bothan stopped , as if waiting for the Commodore to digest what he had just said... Which , he indeed was. Soon enough the Vinda-Corp officer responded, with a rather confused expression.

"...why , in the name of Vader, would you do that?..."

The CSA officer , clasped his hands behind his back, and looked the Commodore directly in the eye.

"...There are many within the CSA , and on the Direx board itself, who do not share Exo Aramaya's views on Vinda-Corp and indeed, Vinda himself..."

The Bothan explained more, as he noticed the Commodore's brow furrow further.

"..In fact there are many who would like to see Aramaya removed from power permanantly, and have done for a very long time...
These many, have realised that it is in their best interests to see Aramaya fail....

I represent these people"

Sighing deeply, Trevalak took a moment for these revelations to sink in

"...why?...why would these people want to do this?..."

Van Rueben seemed to stiffen as he replied.

"...Because of his insistence turning this sector into a warzone...."

The Bothan's eyes became distant...

"...many of us have sectors , systems, people to protect and maintain, what Aramaya is doing , is pushing this entire sector into war...."

Rubbing his head , the Commodore spoke as he tried to understand, his voice, understandably sceptical...

"..why didn't your people , do something about this earlier?, why wait until now..."

"...Fear, Exo Aramaya has Imperial backing, from the Moffs themselves...and because they haven't had the chance...until now"

The colour from Trevalak's face seemed to drain away as he heard about the Empire's involvement.

"...This assault on Vinda-Corp , is exactly what they needed to remove Aramaya from power, it would have given them the right political climate to do so.... his failure , would have turned out to be the perfect excuse....They could have spoken out without fear of any Imperial reprisal , as the Moff's would not have tolerated failure..."

Sensing the Commodore's imminent questions Van Rueben spoke further...

"...There was just one problem...
...Aramaya was not, and is not expected to lose.

Couple this with the fact they have just learned of his plans to dissolve the entire Direx board altogether directly after. In otherwords, his plans to dissolve , them...We all knew he was power hungry , but not a madman...

Losing the Board , would mean losing all of the very few checks and balances left in existence....They can't have that, you can't have that, I can't have that, we can't have that...

...it is profitable for no-one...I , and the people I represent, did not sign up for this, the CSA is in effect no more, a twisted and bitter shadow "

"...so why are you here now?..."

The Bothan's face seemed to darken.

"...because , currently, Aramaya, is winning..."

Trevalak's face became confused again, and let slip a slight gasp of incredulity...

"...I think you need to check your sources!..."

Van Rueben's reply was instant and to the point.

"..no I'm afraid I don't..."

Before Trevalak could respond, The CSA officer continued...

"...This attack, the attack on Kir, Orron III, all of them , the whole thing , was predicted, of course Vinda would respond, of course he would make an example of the attack. The CSA knew this , the initial attack on Bonadan, was a faint, the real one, has only just begun..."

The Commodore frowned deeply as the Bothan's words sunk in...

"...what?..."

Van Rueben's voice was calm and calculated as he responded...

"...Roonadan... Your fleet assigned to take control of the planet has been ambushed by a hidden CSA fleet...and from what I hear...they are losing ...."

The Commodore stared at the Bothan blankly for a minute , and shook his head..

"...I don't believe you...this is some kind of ploy"

Van Rueben's expression became deadly serious...

"...I understand this is hard for you take in, but believe me when I say to you , you are needed elsewhere...conferr with your superiors, they will know if I speak the truth or not...you have nothing to lose...but know this, the more time you waste here at Urdur, means the more of your compatriats dying at Roonadan....and then more than likely, Bonadan"

As Trevalak gave the CSA officer a long cold stare, he activated his comms unit and contacted the bridge.

"...Bridge, get me Command. now..."

"...Aye sir..."

As the Commodore waited for the comms to be linked with command, he eyes the Bothan suspiciously...

"...I'm curious, Vice Admiral Rueben, why do this?, what exactly do you and your people get out of this?..."

The CSA Officer nodded slightly and smiled...

"...thats where you come in, Commodore. I and the people I represent, wish...

...to defect...."

Capricia, .. Jak'Tol Province..



The masses of Yuuzhan Vong warriors began to become visible the closer they came. In the far distance, the rumbling, slower creatures that served as the heavy artillery (of sorts) for these aliens began to show as well. Their bulky outlines began to be seen through the haze of distance.

“They are not stopping my lord Regent.” A soldier commented to Leantre Vio as he stood looking out at those coming to destroy them.

Leantre’s voice answered with a gruff grunt. “They haven’t stopped yet.” He commented, his mind replaying events from the initial assault to the fall of the Highlands. How much time had passed?

Days? Weeks?

The planet had yet to see any shipping of any kind.

Where was Herridian? What had happened to Scipio Arien’s mission? Was their system still under blockade?


All these questions summed up the overwhelming concern that the Regent’s logical mind played inside. The devilish arithmetic that added assets and subtracted lives in the great equation of war would not be denied.

In the end, did it matter what they did at all?

Even if we proved ourselves victorious now, would there be two million more invaders waiting their turn to be let loose upon our world?

“Gomorran. I wish you were here to see us in our final hour.” He whispered to the wind.



…flash….

”Oh come Kay! You had returned to see the planet overwhelmed with many more ships than what you had? Tell me, why did you risk it all?”

Leantre Vio, Minister of Defense and Head of Clan Leantre watched young Gomorran Kay as he glanced at the reports of the Clan buildup. They were three days from Homecoming.

Capricia

After three years in exile, the Clans were coming home. After the first invasion…

And the questions raised still held a powerful force over them all.

Were they the better leaders that they hoped to be?


“Leantre, Capricia is my home. My wife and children were there. I could not, I would not abandon them.”

“What if they had more ships coming to flank you?”

Gomorran’s eyes seemed to come back into reality as the mention of young Kay’s family brought unwelcome thoughts to mind. “Old man,” he started, grinning, “You test me. What the devil to I care about flanks? If we are going to be destroyed, all good and fine. What can I give? What can any of us give other than our best?

We rely on ourselves to do so. We count on each one to do their part to save themselves and in so doing, save the whole.

We are not omnipotent. We are not all knowing.

If they did have a flanking fleet, we would have died.”


Then mischief broke the usual solemn look of the man, “But we would have given them one hell of a fight.”



…flash…


“INCOMING!!!” shouted a soldier as the creatures began to lob large plasma volleys into the air.

“Sir?” an adjutant asked toward Leantre.

Herridian, Scipio, Zier, they can take care of themselves. If they are holding then we have a chance. If they couldn’t then we are dead.


Leantre suddenly grinned, feeling much younger than his seventy odd years.

What the devil do I care about flanks? If we are to be destroyed all good and fine. What can we give… but our best…


“Sir?: the adjutant started again. “They are starting to fire long range volleys..”


Leantre’s mind came back into focus and he turned to the adjutant, amusement raging in his eyes.

“Then answer it.” He said with slight indignation. “And soldier?”

The adjutant stopped just before he was to transmit the order. “Sir?”

“Tell them to put an exclamation point at the end of it!”

“Sir!” and the man was speaking loudly and quickly into the transmitter.

“Give them one hell of a fight… that we will not go quietly into the night.” Leantre murmured.


And the Caprician lines, their heavy guns and their AT-AT’s opened up with a deadly vengeance for what the invaders had wrought.


The final battle had begun..

Caprician Space…


“The @#%$ are trying to get through to the yards!!” shouted the main gunner over the commotion behind him on the deck.

A comm. Officer turned to Tyscio Zier, aboard the Tribune. “Sir, Main Port Master Gunner report—“

“I heard him!” barked Zier as his ship lurched violently to one side amid swarms of enemy vessels blocking the rather magnificent view of the planet. Tyscio kept himself from falling by reaching out and grabbing hold of a bridge support beam. “Maneuvering thrusters at maximum! Bring us around and bank to the Starboard side and tell the gunnery crews to stand at the ready!!”


The large Caprician warship began to pull away from the oncoming alien ships but that deterred the invaders not. Their organic vessels kept moving forward, their smaller attack craft overtaking the Tribune as plasma lanced out against the flaring of energy shields.

Before the invaders’ “pack” attack could begin to affect and slow the Caprician warship, another cruiser intervened and plugged the hole allowing time for the Tribune to make it’s turn. As the cruiser moved on to flank more incoming warships, the Tribune’s starboard weapons now tracked the enemy.

Zier’s eyes roved the holographic tactical projection searching for the right area to concentrate his fire.

“Z minus 20 degrees, Starboard weapons fire!!” he ordered. And the incoming wave of enemy corralskippers on that vector struck a wall of blinding lights as their yorik corral skins burst apart, leaving the ship’s dissolving remnants scattered.

“Plug that hole!” the master of the Tribune shouted.

“Ascion moving to intercept!” and another Caprician Star Destroyer came into view.

Yet the facts spilling forth from both the tactical readouts and the navigation sensors did not tell an encouraging story.

The Caprician Fleet was losing ground as the invader ships moved forward, ever closer to their goal of smashing the defending Carpician yards.

I need to pull a ship around the enemy to flank them from behind.… but I’ve no ships to spare. We are giving our all to slow their advance..

“What are the Vinda ships doing?” he suddenly asked, turning to his long range scanning crew.

Battle of the Yard...


...Visions from the ordinary…




Jastin’s eyes went wide as the scaley aliens threw their voices up into the air and in one cry started to charge the Caprician positions, toward the construction yard. All at once, artillery began to answer their charge as seering light shot forth striking the invaders numbers. Amazingly the soldiers of the enemy had not yet begun to use their weapons.


“They are relying on those big creatures to pound the stuffing out of us and soften us up..” grunted a white haired, used-to-be-retired soldier next to him when he asked.


“But… but their soldiers will reach our positions faster than those creatures need to pound us, as you say.” Jastin replied, gripping the blaster rifle that had been issued to his family by the Clans. It was the only thing that remained of his family, his sisters and mother having fled to the ill fated Highlands. His father had died at the Battle of the Line in the beginning of the invasion. Jastin closed his eyes at the thought of his father’s body scattered among the wreckage of broken KDY advanced cannons that had, at one time, comprised the “Line”.


“There’s truth in what you say, lad.” The old soldier grunted.




***


“Those sumbitches got something up their sleeves!” Grunted Altos, using the term he’d overheard someone from the Jedi’s group using. The colonist had a language all their own but the term fit and Altos saw fit to make it his.


His suspicious eyes scanned the horizon.


The invaders seemed to be circling the entire complex but it was a fact that he had no proof save what shadows he saw with his own eyes. The Caprician sun began to heat the morning into afternoon and distance played with the eyes.


But not the targeting scanners of the AT-ST’s or the AT-AT’s as they began to move forward in hopes of doing as much damage to the enemy as possible before they actually reached the yard complex.


Word along the lines was: in the forward position of the complex where the Vinda Corp employees and the Jedi’s groups were, the invaders had already begun to rush. That made him much more nervous, staring at the dark still-distant shapes on the horizon. Was the enemy bringing more of their forces to bear on the rear guard position of the complex? Where he was?


There were vague outlines of much larger creatures in the distance but still too far away to make any difference.


“Why attack the forward positions aggressively if they are not set up with the rear?” he asked out loud to no one in particular. The invader strategy ever since the beginning had always been to overwhelm the Capricians. No matter how unlikely their movements or unsuccessful their movements seemed, there was always a catch that ended up amounting to a massive overwhelming action against the battle hardened defenders.


Would they change their strategy now? At the end?


Altos didn’t think it likely and those with him, civilians mostly from the inner regions of Paroulsia, Opitlion, and Baskeria Provinces also agreed. People from small townships that had been razed to the ground by the advancing horde in it’s effort to overwhelm the capital cities of the Regency.


A plan successful so far.. Altos’ mind thought bitterly.


He fidgeted in nervous anticipation but also with some irritation.


Something WAS wrong!



***


Something is wrong!, thought Communcations Runner 3rd Class Leantre Vessalis as she moved from the 4th Armored Battalion Corps to relay their strategy to Command.


The creatures of the invaders seemed to emit some type of wail that interfered with military communications. So many specific zones were affected that Command felt the creature’s wailing was more than it seemed. Hence the mobile communications standards were put into effect.


She jumped onto her modified speeder bike and zipped away from the Armored Corps intent on avoiding the plasma volleys that seemed to vibrate the ground underneath her.


Interference was beginning to play havoc with their wireless instruments.

“I need something more powerful…” she mumbled to herself before the shockwave from a nearby plasma volley threw her from her vehicle.


Everything went dark.



***


“The bloody things are getting our range, the @#%$!!” shouted Kip. “Mark!” he shouted himself hoarse as the onslaught of Yuuzhan Vong rapidly closed in on the front lines.


Another person crawled up and hefted his rather large projectile launcher up onto his shoulder. “Range!” the person called.


“Give Mark covering fire!” Kip blasted out as the smell of the invaders began to creep into the wind.


The alien yells were almost as unnerving as their tattooed and mutilated bodies.


Support fire began to sound out striking Yuuzhan Vong soldiers squarely, though few fell.


Very few were falling.., thought Kip in sudden panic.


Their organic armor was absorbing the defending energy weapons rather well..


Frell!!


“Mark!” he shouted again, but unnecessarily as the rocket shot out of his friend’s launcher leaving a small trail.


The winding rocket shot over the heads of the invading masses and struck a rather large bulky creature in the distance causing it to loose balance. Another volley of plasma was building to be launched when the rocket struck. The creature, in surprise, let the energies go and the volley ended up landing among the invaders…



The fiery pain the plasma wrought could not be contained as both Warrior and Chazrach alike screamed…


Kip heard some Capricians let out a yell of delight at the sight and felt a small surge of pride well up inside him.


He took his eyes off of his grinning friend to gauge the oncoming enemy for a brief second. They returned in time to see several razor bugs sally forth striking Mark in several areas throwing him several feet back.


Kip kept his head down shouting out to his friend though his eyes knew what his heart refused to believe.


Mark’s neck was broken as he lay several feet behind the line, his body positioned awkwardly.


Through tears, Kip shouted, “Keep firing and hold your edged weapons nearby!”


“STOP THEM!!!” his voice broke.


The chanting grew increasingly loud.


“HERE THEY COME!!!” someone else yelled quite unnecessarily.


The shooting, shouting, and fighting all merged into symphony of death…

A song the invaders were masters at..

A song the Capricians were beginning to learn through practice..

The front lines had been reached..

Battle of the Yard


Tslah Vhess’s narrowed and a predator-like smile played across his mutilated lips as the Grutchins began to swarm over the invaders.

Every yell from the infidels he cherished for a confused enemy would soon break if the hammer struck hard enough.

Already the yard was being encircled…even while the forward positions charged at the enemy.

As the creatures hurling the plasma volleys found their range it was only a matter of time before the defenders have their fill.

Better to die well pleasing to the Gods than scurry for one more breath of coward’s air!


Alas, though, the shining Caprician sun was descending under the horizon and Tslah cursed that the flying creatures had not left their hatcheries sooner.

With darkness setting, their instinct would be to go to ground.

Even so, Tslah’s temper was soothed that his forces would continue to charge on into the night. Fresh reinforcements would be crossing into the Plains and join the attacking Yuuzhan Vong by midmorning.

Tslah saw the light-weapons of the infidels strike out at the sky but he knew there were too many creatures to let a few dead hurt their effectiveness.

He knew the infidel leader must be feeling the noose tightening.

//War Coordinator. The first lines of the forward position are holding strong.// a religious servant spoke, tactics as alien to him as the infidels themselves.

//Come dawn, our forces surrounding this holdout will be in position and the defenders will face harsh charges on all sides.//

//It is the beginning of the end.// the Yuuzhan Vong of the religious caste stated.

//It is the end!// Snapped the War Coordinator to which the other bowed in humble submission.

Tslah turned his attention to the battle at hand as the twilight began to fade. The plasma volleys cast their own erie shadows as they sailed across the air.


*

“Hold the line! Hold dammit!” came a rough voice from the past, explosions from plasma volleys striking everywhere.


The defenders had staggered at least three lines before entry into yard could be accomplished. The lines were not something hastily crafted either for Leantre, in designing the yard and sunk enough reinforced durasteel to halt an armoured charge.

Unfortunately, the defending turrets had not been installed before the invasion began and the status of their installation fell by the wayside as cities began to burn.

Leantre’s Command Location monitored the advance, which seemed to be coming at the forward position of the yard only. This surprised the Regent but he would not argue with providence. He’d take any break he could.

The forward positions were reinforced with some heavy military units (including the personnel from the Judicator, Tyscio Korban’s Corps and the Vinda Corporation Personnel) but the transmission monitors shouted confusion at him.

Yes, they were in the thick of it!

“There’s too many of them! Gather your men, swing around to the left! The Left!”

An officer brought Leantre a new report as he listened to the battle going on. “The creatures seem to be lessening. They didn’t hurt us as bad as I thought they would.”

“They burned sunlight just flying to this province. If they move against us tomorrow, expect a very hard time of it.” The Regent answered seriously. He pointed to the transmission, “Instruct the AT-AT’s to concentrate their fire just in front of the first line. Let’s reduce the pressure on our forces…”

“Yes Sir!”

The sounds of the battle were ferocious and harsh. The snap-hiss of an ancient weapon and the hum of it’s swing suddenly entered the transmission and an old soldier’s shout, “Leia! Look out!”