Freughte was not a teeming metropolis. In fact, the only inhabitants-other than the Chiss-were a completely unevolved species of human. Completely repulsive from scanner reports.
The laughter of the bridge having died down at the holographic display after Desaria remidned them all that their anscestors, several billions years ago, lookeed the same, the busines of battle began. The captured Chiss missiles cruiser had to be subdued and an ingenious officer from the tactical analysis department decided the issue as to how. " Release all atmosphere. But not normally. The droids on board-there are at least a hundred-can be remotely controlled and we can use one to cut a hole in the hull of the ship, venting the atmopshere. Then, the droid can patch it and route remote computer control to me. I will restore atmosphere to the bridge, gunwales, the engine, and a few other places which I think are officers' quarters."
Desaria looked at Captain Vorran, who nodded. Desaria looked down at the young lieutenant. " Execute."
Within twenty minutes, the ships atmosphere had been leaking into space, and what a site that was; from the viewpanes of the Intimidator debris and bodies could be seen flying out into the vacuum of space. One man cheered. When asked why, he said his best friend was on the bridge of the Merciless.
Stormtroopers were dispatched and the ship taken. The young now-lieutenant commander set out to making a completed form out of the puzzle of the Chiss computer system-all the Empire knew of the language was a few translated log entries from the late Thrawn.
* * *
Probe droids were dispatched down into the planet's atmosphere to glean as much information as possible from the surface. They would find where the Chiss were-and destroy them.
Probe droid 00976X-VB7 was responsible for relaying back the coordinates of the Chiss base-right before it dutifully exploded as a squad of blue-skinned soldiers were approaching.
" What do you think, Captain?" Desaria asked, eyeing the holo on one of the transparisteel panels.
Vorran looked up from his terminal in the crew pit. " They're fortifying sir. They've been expecting an attack for some time, and their spatial assault was only a diversion to buy them time."
" That is what I thought, as well." Desaria turned to the special officer sitting at a normally vacant portion of the bridge near the aft control corridor. " Commander Tallox. have your recordings been successful?"
" They have sir. But I only have holorecorders on the warships and fighters. If I am to record and then analyze the coming battle, I shall need to take my team down to the planet with the troops."
Desaria nodded, his gaze now a blank stare into the crew pit. he quickly came to, thinking about how to run the ground operations. " Your team will go in with the first wave. And disperse them, I want every inch of the field covered and not a shot missed."
" Yes si-"
A rather rotund officer then stormed onto the bridge, his uniform the dark tan of the Imperial Army, whose troops had been slected for the assault previously rather than stormtroopers or Fleet troops.
" Colonel Desaria! Why have you not begun landing my troops?" the officer impetuously asked. His grey mustache twitched.
The Colonel turned, slowly and with great measure, to face the Major General. " Major General Aradontin, a pleasure as always." Desaria was merely being nice. After this campaign he would be relegated to a desk in High Command and the Brass Protectorate would be rid of him for good.
The General sneered. " Why haven't my troops begun their landing? You want the planet taken, you can't do it with TIEs and Destroyers?"
" You're right General. Captain Vorran, begin deploying the Army troops immediately. Drop all sheilds to insure better communication, and keep all aerial support aloft, for it cannot win battles."
The eyes widened. " That's sucicide!"
" yes, it is. What's even worse is you suggested it. You want me to begin landing your troops before the rest of my patrol groups have reported in and established an Abolisher field. Without defenses, a Chiss Destroyer could park itself under our prow and pick off every landing barge and transport with great ease. And I would be able to nothing about-except continue to launch your troops towards the planet. -That is, though they would probably never reach the planet."
The General blustered, but was able to keep iron from his words and simply saluted, turned on his heel before a return, and marched away.
DEsaria smiled.
***
An hour later, Abolsiher fields were raiased, the Patrol Groups were in advantageous positions, and the landing could commence. And commence it did.
One, then two, then a dozen troop transports swarmed down to the surface like so many Ithorian wasps, under the murderous hail of the Fleet's big guns. In five minutes, 6,000 Army troops, their officers, and an entire company of heavy walkers, with three supporting light walker detachments, were penetrating the atmosphere of the Chiss sepratist world.
On the surface were three thousand Chiss soldiers-in an excellently prepared and well-dug in position. Four concentric lines of defense had been organized around a rather large hill. On the top was a series of bunkers and communications equipment. No walkers could be found; what could were heavy anti-armor weapons, projectile mortar battereies, and Small-bore concussion missile launchers.
The transports of the Empire came in over the blazing guns of the Chiss and landed around the perimeter. As the hive cam down, massive explosions rocked the ground-Imperial planetary fire at its best. Bunkers exploded, launchers were torn apart, and entire sections of earthworks were seemingly lifted out of the ground and scattered about the landscape. The Fleet had eliminated over a dozen heavy weapons emplacements, as those were the only ones its droid had seen. The remaining emplacements fired in rapid succession, felling shuttles from the sky. Blaster bolts crisscrossed the valley as the Empire moved in.
In twenty minutes, four thosuand of the attacking troops had ben landed and were moving up to distract the first line of defense. And a marvelous job they did.
Their distraction paid of, as well. With Chiss cannon aimed at supporting assault shuttles and light repulsor tanks, gigantic walker barges touched down. Their bows opened as if a steel mouth was yawning, and out marched the jungle-camouflaged splendor of the Imperial All-Terrain Assault-Transports. They formed into two wedges which plodded over the tall grass and weeds, stomping on the enemy when they arived. Their chin cannon never ceased to fire, tearing up whole strips of earth and changing them from lush plant-ridden into barren waste.
The troops on the ground followed the penetrations made by the walkers and vicously assaulted their enemy. Many at virbo-bayonet point.
It was then that the Chis fell back, in a most unorganized way. They ran away from the walkers. Laughing at the aliens, the Imperial followed hotly, until it was too late-
The Chiss had fallen back on either side of the penetration to form entirely self-capable defensive rings. From the side of the hill-one of the bunkers, actually, came a long barreled cannon. It fired only once, its jade bolt striking a walker in the chin. The bow exploded and the rest of the walker fell to one side, crushing dozens of its allied soldiers.
On the other side, the concussion missile batteries that survived now ceased firing at the incoming shuttles and bombarding the walkers. Two more were lain low by the missiles before a frantic call to the Rothgar's starboard gunwales silenced them with a mighty clap from her turbolasers.
There were now four thousand troops on the surface, and two thousand Chiss.
" send in the TIEs."
moments later, three squadrons of TIE Interceptors and three squads of Scimitar asault bombers were wreaking havoc on the Chis, enfilading their entire breadth of defense. They fell back to a final ring around the bunkered hill, and a made a valiant stand. The walkers and their smaller counterparts fired mercilessly, the Army troops attacked with all the courage the Empire could afford.
In another thirty minutes, Freughte was declared secure. Only fifteen Chiss were taken prisoner, one of them a naval ensign and another a major of engineers.
* * *
" That bunkered area is already fortified and we have troops to defend it. land the Inquisitor and his 'team.' let us see what they can accomplish before I send him th gate..."
[size=1]Requiem en Terra Pax[/size]
