The Rebel Faction

Royal Hapes Military Base, Surface of Tholatin.

The fighters scrambled quickly, forming seamlessly into the battleline of Tholatin ships as they drew up for combat. The droid command centre instantly sent a warning message to its sister station on Zonama Seklot issuing a red alert and signalling for them to begin long range offensive scouting for enemy forces stumbling across the Galaxy.

The 72 Raptors remained together, working the background of the ISD, picking off isolated assaulting fighters. Unless backup came, the commanders knew it would simply be a matter of how many enemy they could kill before being overwhelmed.

Ktaruuk watched on with morbid glee as the orbital mines descended into the atmoshpere, rocketing down onto the surface with ferocious impact in a hail of explosive fire. Thier sheer velocity coupled with thier explosive yield, the mines would no doubt cause immense destruction down on the surface.

The evidence was clearly visible even from up here . . .down below, tiny circles of fire twinkled on the planet like a shimmering back-lit blanket.

"Send an additional four squadrons of Bio-Fighters to engage those approaching from the planet. Signal gunship attack groups one-a through four to engage the enemy capital ships, groups five, six and seven take flanking positions behind those fighters . . . give them cover fire. After they have disposed of the fighters, continue onward and take out your assigned civilian targets, groups one and eight, hold your positions and remain in protection fo the carrier.

Down in the lower atmosphere, the first three bio-fighter squadrons engaged the Hapan fighters, laser blasts firing, soon they would be joined by another three squadrons, and three groups of gunships. Another four gunship groups headed steadily to engage the Tholatin warships, thier torpedo launchers letting loose a small barrage of missles as soon as thier targetting computers gained a clear lock . . .

Twenty four proton torpedo's sailed towards thier targetted Imperial Star Destroyer . . .soon they would hit its belly, and the ship would be crippled.

Kenshin blinked as he read the words on his datapad for the third time.

The news of an evacuation had travelled quickly throughout the castle, but the urgency of it hadn't really registered until now. Now he had written proof of the approval of this manuver.

There was a pause as Kenshin allowed the news to sink. Thinking quickly he issued the evacuation orders to the squad captains.

"Tell the guys to grab the necessities and head for the hanger. We're going to Juutral."

The Demosthenes
Tholatin Orbit

The Emperor swept into the war room, his two ISS bodyguards trailing slightly behind. Those men, attired in pure black with blaster clipped to their hips, stood at ease just outside the doorway as it lifted open.

Seated around the command table were half a dozen of the Empire's ranking officers, among them the Polemarch of the Fleet, Trayden Locke, and Admiral Bhindi Drayson, the woman who had just recently seen the massive defeat of a Tholatin battle group outside Commenor space.

Mostly that victory had been achieved through superior technology... but the use of the Twilight Class Craft there had been magnificent in its simplicity, and had been responsible almost entirely for the destruction of a Jutraalian Defender Star Destroyer... the same ship that Fearsons had captured from the Rogue Sith, Xilen, at Mon Calamari... the ship that carried that Emperor's name, and was said to be his preferred vessel.

The loss of that ship had broken Jutraalian moral across more than a dozen systems... it was, Seti reflected as he entered the room, what the loss of the Demosthenes would mean to his Empire. The destruction had had far-reaching affects, and he reminded himself to find a suitable promotion for Bhindi...

Those two commanders, along with a smaller team of personelle, including Captain Edwards, who had led the Silencer Sqaudron responsible for crippling the Spirit of Fearsons, leading to her destruction, and two members of the Imperial Security Service, there in place of Ton Karlos, it seemed. KTaruuk, the leader of the Retenarri Swarm was also there, via holocom from his flagship.

"Gentlemen, lady," Seti said, smiling warmly at the assembled officers, "good day. You have all seen the Polemarch's report?"

There was a chorus of agreements, and Seti nodded once, happy enough for now.

"Excellent. Then you will know that as of this moment, the Holy Demosthesian Empire has officially declared war on the Tholatin Empire and the Jutraalian Empire. We have also recieved reports of pending action from the Bith Monarchy, including a mark of some ten million credits on my head."

The Emperor smiled at that, glancing towards the two ISS Agents that escorted him.

"It is nice to know that I am so very, very valuable. I believe that Fearsons' has posted Lupercus Darksword at 250 000? Yes? Very good... very good indeed."

He paused, considering.

"Where is Lupercus, anyway?"

It was one of the ISS agents that responded, his voice silk and smooth. This was, Seti thought, was an actor. And a fine one, at that.

"By last report, he was assisting the New Order in their assault on Kamino. We haven't heard from him since, I'm afraid."

The Emperor nodded, finally taking his seat at the head of the table. The assembled officers all shuffled nervously, rusting papers and tapping at datapads unconiously.

Ashar allowed this to go on for a moment, then spoke quietly, slowly.

"The Jutraalian Empire has declared war on us. They will be moving to strike out against our worlds within the week, I am certain. Despite what Fearsons may claim about wanting peace, he will not hesitate to launch an offensive against the Empire. He is as transparent as he is stupid."

There was a chorus of agreements with this statement, and the Emperor nodded slowly.

"With the aide of the Swarm," he cast a respectful nod to KTaruuk, "we shall be able to combat the forces of Jutraal. Even with the aide of the Tholatin Remnants, and the Bith Monarchy, a victory should not be doubted." He paued, eyeing each of his commanders for a moment. "We have superior machines, we have the best trained crews, and... we have the most proficent, most dedicated, most loyal, and smartest, fleet commanders outside the New Order."

There was some smiling and a moment of applause at these satements, which the Emperor put down almost immediatly. There was little time to waste.

"We must choose a target that interests the Jutraalians, and we must strike at it. We must obliterate a single world, leave nothing alive. We must prove to the Jutraalians that the Holy Demosthesian Empire will fight this war on every front they can imagine. If they wish to fight us, the Jutraalians must be prepared to sacrafice a hundred billion of their own in order to see us crushed."

There was a still silence as the Emperor finished speaking.

"Do we have such a target?"