The Rebel Faction

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


"Korban!" came a shout and Tyscio turned suddenly, narrowly avoiding a projectile hurled at him, slamming into the opposite wall and exploding.

With one arm he raised the rifle and continued firing it's last shots as the power cell went dead, and with the other, pulled himself out of the trench....The reptilian warrior continued to advance.

Tyscio raised his arms holding the heavy rifle slightly over his head and, giving a large battle cry, charged the oncoming alien.

The wind was whipping past his head and ice crystals were starting to form at the ends of his hair but he felt none of that, being carried by the adrenaline of his own rush.

The Chazrach saw him charging and raised a bladed weapon but Tyscio slammed into him before the alien could start to bring his weapon down.

The reptilian creature and the Caprician went down, Tyscio on top...and with another yell, the Caprician brought the bulk of his weapon down on the Chazrach's face....


...again..


...and again..


....and again..


And when his strength was spent, his eyes gazed up to see yet another Chazrach heading right toward him, weapon already in that downward motion.

Tyscio's head suddenly bowed down, his hands letting go of the dead rifle and his feet pushed out causing him to roll forward.

The downward swing of the warrior's blade just missed Tyscio's back and he suddenly went to his feet igniting the lightsaber strapped to his side (his he found on Tatooine with Amalia). The blade took a mean slice at the back of the alien Korban had suddenly found himself behind.

The blade struck the warrior hard, but the Chazrach did not fall. He, in fact, had started to turn to answer the challenge when a rifle blast struck him from behind killing him.

Tyscio saw that others on the line had started to charge...spots leaving the trench to carry the fight to the invaders.


The alien momentum faltered and, as if in response to the Caprician resistance, plasma lit up the sky...


"Back to the trench!!!" shouted Tyscio.. and the soldiers scrambled to find some type of cover.

Dirt sprayed everywhere and ice fell down upon the trenches.


But the invaders had stopped their charge.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> What now?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->, Korban thought to himself as he snuck a peak at the dead bodies littering the lightly snowy ground just outside the confines of his trench.



*


The night was turning extremely bitter and the reptilian masses of Chazrach did seem to be thinning.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> For every fifty of those damned reptile aliens, a Yuuzhan Vong was found with their annoying crablike armor.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

However, all that escaped from Tyscio's chapped lips was, "See anything?"

"Not yet..." an older soldier spoke, his breath being carried by the wind. The soldier nestled down by a military issue heater, trying to warm some type of liquid.


Suddenly a runner came up, breathing hard.

"Communications with the inner lines are down... some kind of damned interference from those plasma blasts."


"How do the lines look, Soldier?" Tyscio asked, handing the runner a warm drink from the older soldier's supply.

The runner gratefully accepted. "The irony is that the first line is still holding though there are gaps that you could move an AT AT through, without being spotted."

"That bad?" Tyscio asked, eyebrows raising.

"Most of the invaders seemed intent on getting past the lines and not exactly destroying them completely. They could flank this line so easily..."

"How far back did they get?" the old soldier interrupted.

The runner sighed and then took a sip. "All the way to the third line."

"Second line took a major part of the beating with the plasma blasts..." Tyscio started the beginnings of a plan in the back of his mind.

"You know...they have a purpose for doing whatever it is they are doing..." the old soldier started but the runner stood up handing the cup back.

"Thanks...but I've got to get to the other end of the line. If communications don't return soon, we are really going to be in a world of hurt."

.and with that, he was gone.


Tyscio glanced up and around at the snow-covered bodies of both Capricians and Invader alike.


"That infernal noise has started again." a nearby soldier commented.


The night was becoming brighter as the top of a large white ball was starting to become visible....as if someone had put an extraordinary large moon too close to Providence.

"That would be the gas giant Kendra, Sir."

"Looks too damned close.."

"The orbits change every few years and they pass really close... plays havoc with all sorts of equipment."

"It's going to get bright..." another commented. "The sun's ionization of Kendra's atmosphere is going to light up our sky as if it was daylight."

"Not quite..but close enough.." the older soldier near Tyscio corrected.

The soldiers followed the spreading grayish light as more movement was spotted starting to surge forward.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Again?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


They got ready for the next push...

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



*...Still dodging and weaving Achinta, had finally managed to slip through the Vong's line of attack, carefully piloting his way past the wreckages, Fighters and plasma barrages, all focused on the same target as him.... The SSD......

He hailed it again, and once more the reply was nothing more than a haze of static, if it indeed was a reply....
As he got closer the huge ship seemed to dwarf him and his small fighter...It seemed motionless this close-up, only the fact that it was still firing at the Vong fighters, gave him the clue it was still operational....

Achinta's eyes scanned the surface of the vessel for a suitable Boarding point, as his craft skimmed along its vast structure....
..The landing bays were out of the question, as they were in lock-down, in an effort to repel boarders....

..but this wasn't a problem for Oni, nor Achinta....

they were both designed to slip past security, in fact that was the easy part, Achinta's biggest worry was being mistaken for an Vong intruder....*


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...Best not think about that.... <!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


*...Pushing that particular thought algorithm to the back of his mind, Achinta spotted something on the top of the huge Ship....

...a Breach?....

vectoring in for a closer inspection, a small smile began to form...*


"...perfect...."

*...Achinta activated Oni's Landing Modules, that were specially adapted for landing on unusual surfaces...
a small flick of a switch activated the magnetic charge, and with a loud clunk, and a heavy shudder the landing gear clasped itself onto the metal surface of the SSD....
..Oni had clamped itself onto the vessel, like a limpet...

...Achinta paused for a moment, so far so good, they hadn't shot at him...(yet)...*


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...now comes the difficult part.... <!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


*...After setting Oni's Programming to look after itself, Achinta made his way to the Airlock, as it de-pressurised, he performed a few final checks to his bionics...

a small red light and an alert sounded, signalling the process was complete. Satisfied with his final check, Achinta opened the Airlock.... and clambered down outside onto the surface of the SSD...A quiet "thunk" of the Airlock closing behind him, prompted a quick glance upwards, as Achinta quickly observed the fighting still in progress...
...the Breach was only a few feet away, and Achinta moved as quickly as he could, but due to the Zero-Gravity effect, he had to be careful, all it would take is a bad-footing and he could well find himself drifting home....

...Achinta eyes narrowed slightly as he got nearer to the hole...it was big, practically a crater, untidy,

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...(most likely a plasma-blast).... <!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

Achinta thought to himself...

*..no Rush of Air, no Power readings...*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ..., they must have sealed and shut-down that whole area of the ship.... <!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*...Suddenly Achinta caught sight of a rapidly moving shadow from the corner of his eye, A Vong Fighter!.
Looking up just in time to see it bearing down towards him, Achinta gripped a hold of the ships Surface with both hands, just barely managing to pull himself towards the deck as the Fighter Flashed past skimming both him and the surface of the ship...
...Virtually lying down Achinta quickly glanced around, to try to get sight of the aggressor....and he did....





...it was coming round for another pass...*

During the lull that had followed the first wave, Leia had succeeded in locating and getting ahold of a military storage depot despite the communications failure. She then had ordered sniper rifles issued to every soldier in the third line who could shoot one fairly well, and dispersed what was left of the stock she had swiped throughout the second line in addition to their usual assortment of weapons.

With sniper rifles, the soldiers could easily pick off Vong with one shot without endangering their own side, also allowing the forward lines far more support than they had recieved the first time around.

The trenches were slick with ice, much of it red and black tinted ice. The night's cold seemed to penetrate Leia's thick armor, even with the thermal controls on high, as Leia located a trench that connected the first line to the second, and set off to the front line. Flurries continued to fall.

She spotted a small number of soldiers near a small heater and a dim lamp. But they were pressed up against the trench wall ignoring the heater, their eyes were fixed on the horizon. She walked over to them, and followed their gaze outwards.

The enemy stirred again.

Leia turned to make eye contact with the soldier who had turned to look at her.

"Here we go again" He said, and nothing more. Silence better conveyed the shared feelings of the people in the first trench at that moment in time.

Leia rested her rifle on the trench top in front of her and sighted down the barrel. The shadows were even larger now, the enemy moved swiftly as before.

Thud bugs began to whiz past over their heads, easily audible in the silence that had fallen over the trench.

Leia could not count the numbers of this wave in the dark, and she found only nothingness in the Force. Only now did she notice the moonlike object rising in the sky, bizarrely huge and like nothing she had ever seen on a 'normal' planet before.

She didn't have time to revel in the sight. A sudden thought occurred to her.

"They're attacking again... but where are the plasma volleys?"

The sky was empty, except for snowflakes and the huge form of Kendra.

In front of them the already too familiar battle cry of the enemy rang out, echoing in the night, and the shadow advanced faster. Individual moving shapes could now be deciphered in the mass.

They seemed to be holding back something. What were they hiding back there?

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Capricia, Antioch..... several hours ago..<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->




The Clan leaders met for the first time since the Yuuzhan Vong threat became evident. Due to the nature of the meeting, and since the Tracking Station #14's destruction, the building housing the Galactic Board sank into the ground as it was lowered.


Outside the building, citizens and clan personnel alike took brief glances at the structure lowering itself from Antioch's skyline.


"Military Command is secure," Leantre Vio, leader of Clan Leantre informed as the building settled, a slight vibration announcing the halt in descent.


"Herridian should be in the Elrood system about now." responded Mescian Roul, Leader of Clan Mescian.

Borianus Capal, of Clan Borianus, looked at his reports from the many regions making up Capricia.

"Planetary waterworks have been secured, Agriculture depots have been scattered.." he started. "However, Gomorran, all these preparations are for nought if our military is unable to stop them. Water and grain will be the least of the people's concerns."

"Emergency infrastructures are ready." Mescian picked up.

"Medical facilities are as secure as we can make them with redundant power sources. Mobile medical units have been activated. Emergency shuttles and civilian transports have been 'drafted' into service."


Gomorran nodded, thoughtful.

"Resources are critical if the invaders intend to seige our positions. However, if they attack in mass, then our response teams, from both the Clans (government) and Houses (civilians) become the critical factor."


The Regent looked at each of the men, noting the empty seats for Clan Tyscio, Clan Scipio and Clan Herridian.


"So the big question is what will they do?"


"We've analysed what we know of their attacks and it appears that while they are being methodical in our destruction, they don't seem to have time for a drawn out conflict. The fact that we've heard nothing from Adalric's Command or Minos suggests that the invaders attacked in overwhelming numbers. This fact is also suggested by the drop in civilian traffic from outside our system."


He turned to the others, "It has been a while since an outside transport has gotten through."


"The 'Leveler of Empires' also is a statement of that fact." Leantre added. "Tyscio Zier reports that more people are dying every hour."


"They may push for an even quicker end, especially since they do not seem to be attacking Tirus. I think whatever time tables these Yuuzhan Vong are acting on are drawing to a close. To meet this timetable and save time they may end up using a virus, or perhaps some other type of doomsday device."


"So.." Mescian Roul started, his brows narrowed, "let me see if I am understanding this." The man put his elbows on the conference table and leaned forward, "You want US to draw these invaders into a prolonged conflict?"


Gomorran smiled grimly. "I know how that sounds, Mescian. But if they come to Capricia intent on executing whatever actions they are planning we may not have the time to respond, given their timetables."


"Of which, we are only speculating." Borianus intoned.


Gomorran breathed out in annoyance, "That's right Borianus. I don't know what their timetable is. I don't really know what has happened to our task force sent to Minos. For all I know, they could be drinking Jerreb Juice watching the sunset on Minos. I don't knwo what's happening in the Outmarches. All I know is what we've noticed. We've drawn conclusions based on effects rather than causes. Could they be totally wrong? Of course, but if anyone has any better ideas, please let me know? Anyone?"


The Regent's stern gaze flickered to each of the Clan Leaders.


Leantre broke the silence. "We could always surrender."


Mescian reddened and Borianus nearly jumped out of his chair. "Out of the question!"


Gomorran nodded a silent 'thanks' to the eldest of Clan Leaders and continued.


"Let's assume that the 'Leveler', the bug on Tirus, was simply a test. Furthermore, given it's seeming success, let us assume that they are going to attempt to release it on Capricia. Leantre, what do you think would be optimum conditions for such a release?"


The white haired Clan Leader mused on that for a second until remarking, "Since our turbolasers can reach them in orbit, I would imagine that they would need to silence our major defense works around their chosen area. For quicker effects, assuming it's an airborne.."


"The worst," murmured Mescian.


"..airborne pathogen, then their delivery system would have to be as close to the surface as they dare go."


"So, we need to identify their delivery system, if it exists, and prevent it from entering our atmosphere at all possible. We've been on the receiving end for far too long gentlemen. It's time we started acting instead of reacting!


Therefore, this is what we are going to do..."

His rifle emptied itself of it's few remaining cells of power and Tyscio suddenly hurled the dead, cold, hard object at an onrushing Chazrach...

"CLEAR THE TRENCHES!!!" the shouts rang out from soldiers running up from the battered second line.

Tyscio grabbed another man, intent on continuing to blast away at the hordes, and half dragged him over the rear wall and they found themselves on the surface once more.

..and not a moment too soon for aliens were jumping in from the opposite wall, some even leaping over the trench..

"CLEAR!" the 2nd line soldiers called and threw something into the trench.


As they ran from what they threw, the soldiers ended up grabbing Tyscio and others, drawing them away from the trench before Tyscio's legs crumpled from under him.


Exhaustion was overtaking him...


Suddenly, massive explosions ripped through the first trench tearing apart the alien invaders unlucky enough to get caught in the massive blasts.

"Mining charges...packed a punch eh, soldier?" one of Mathias' militia men shouted over the ringing in Korban's ears..


"Damn... what do you mine? Diamonds?" Korban asked rather shakily.


But the militia man was already off, offering cover to others fortunate enough to fall back...


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The first line had fallen...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


..and the trench looked more like craters than the straight lines they were at first.


Truth be told, the 2nd line didn't look all that inviting either and the strategy the invaders were using played itself fully across Tyscio's mind.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The 2nd line will hold maybe one charge..but two? After the plasma pounding it took? No wonder they were overshooting the first line so much...

They were already thinking of the next assaults..


damn..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->



"Got a warm place soldier?" he asked, nearly stumbling into the 2nd trench.


"Over there..." a female voice returned, the female soldier's mind on other things... like scanning the terrain in front of the lines with some strange looking magnification binoculars.


He found a warm blanket and stared into the a fire another soldier had generated trying to erase from his mind the screams of dying men and women.



He drifted off..








Only to be unceremoniously stepped on by some strange ghost of a person.


Kendra was fully in the Tirus night sky, it's gaseous atmosphere reflecting the sunlight to a superlative degree.... as if someone had turned the moonlight up too high.


..and fell around the figure of one annoyed Leia Organa Solo.



"My section didn't have these luxuries..." she was stating without preamble..


"You're not dead?" he murmured wryly, in response, thankful that at least the combat didn't totally numb his sense of humor... bleak as it was.


"Wake up.." she snapped and Tyscio's eyes suddenly opened and the Jedi Master's ghostlike appearance brightened to include scrapes, scratches, battered armor and grime.

Tyscio didn't look much better... His hair reaching outward at the most unlikely of places.


"There's a war on and we need to have a real important quick chat.."


"You're proposing to me?" he grinned, the grime spreading with his smile.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Why is it that women picked the damndest times to 'want to talk'? ..and it always being when a guy is trying to sleep?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


As he stood, the wind blowing across the surface of the ground cut against his skin and he was brought back to reality.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Something needs to be done about their artillery creatures..and quickly. We are getting chopped to bits..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


and his focus rested on the agitated Jedi..