Undisclosed Location
Before interrogation interviews start
“They are called Azguardians, Moff Zell.”
“I know what the @#%$ they are called. Please tell me we know something more about them than their @#%$ name?”
“Oh, of course, sir! Of course, we know much more.”
The panel of scientists and xenobiologists walked on either side of the retired Moff as he made his way down into the depths of the facility.
They entered a room where various people were pulling back skin and muscle tissue from dead aliens.
“Look over here, Moff Zell!” the head of the Xenobiology Department said, pointing to the remains of an Azguardian lying on a white operating table.
There were several autopsies being performed on the surrounding tables, the operators ignoring the Moff and his entourage.
The head of the Xeno Department removed an already cut skull fragment off the alien and Zell stared dispassionately inside.
“Their brains are arranged in a very peculiar manner.”
“How did this little @#%$ die?” Zell asked.
“Killed himself.”
Zell turned his head away from the alien remains to give the Head of the Xeno Department his full attention. “Explain.”
“It seems, from the security footage we’ve taken from Kamino sources on the Reef City, it seems that individuals such as this poor bloke served not only as noncommissioned civilians, but also doubled as warriors.”
Zell’s eyebrow rose slightly.
“It’s true! Apparently there is some chemical reaction in their brains that allows for these ‘split personality’ changes to occur. So we have civil engineer joe here.. but come some battle or fight they ‘change’ into a ‘battle mode’ if you will.”
Moff Zell’s eyes were scanning the bodies on the tables surrounding them. “This is for the entire race or just a localized mutation?”
“It appears to be the way this particular race evolved.”
A small smile formed on Zell’s lips, as the problems inherent with this evolutionary process came to mind.
“So engineer joe would have no idea what soldier joe would know or vice versa?”
“That is correct, Moff. Our typical interrogation methods do not apply. If soldier joe were given design specifications for a galaxy gun, we could not persuade, no matter what methods we applied, engineer joe to divulge the specifications.”
“Unless it WAS engineer joe who built the bloody thing.”
“Exactly! And now you come up with the fallacies of that particular evolutionary devlopement. One personality does not know what the other personality is doing. Their soldier personality is very fanatical to the point of extreme self destruction if captured.”
“But you have these.. bodies?”
“The self destruction is mental, Moff.”
“But we
have prisoners..”
“Not at first. There were hundreds that off’ed themselves before we figured out what was happening. Imperial Intelligence began leaking information to the captives that the Empire was expecting the Mon Calamari to respond to the Kamino conquest instilling in them the hope that they would be rescued.”
“Why kill yourself if you are going to be rescued? You might still be able to stick it to the bad ol’ Empire eh?” Moff smiled grimly.
“Something like that. It gave us the time to stun the rest of the prisoners and keep them under until we could figure out an appropriate method of interrogation.”
“And?”
“Well, the with the hundreds that killed themselves, they gave us the necessary material to experiment with!”
Zell nearly grinned at the excitement the scientist showed at the opportunity of studying a strange and new alien species. “How accommodating of them.” He murmured dryly.
“Quite right!” the scientist excitedly continued. “We have their anatomy down their DNA figured out.”
“So you began to hypothesize and bring each prisoner out of their coma to test the theory?”
“Yes, indeed. And what we found is most interesting! Take a look here at these charts.”
“What do they show?”
“Brain development.”
“This is the soldier personality and this is the civilian?” Zell asked holding two reports.
“That is correct, sir.”
“This alien soldier is stupid.” Holding up the report with almost no development.
“In a sense, yes, sir.”
“Explain.”
“Let me see if I can do this…hmm… Well, Sir, like any living being, for abilities and intelligence to increase, the being needs.. time. Their brains assimilate, learn and grow.”
The scientist gestured to the alien on the table. “But with
two separate,
developing personalities, that time is split.”
Zell narrowed his eyes as he began to understand. “So while we have a soldier with 2 years experience..”
“They have a soldier, at the same age, with 1 year experience.”
“Because the other year is developing their civilian lifestyle.”
“Exactly! While you sir can be both soldier and civilian at the same time, these Azguardians ‘switch’ back and forth
at will!
“So if you take their civilian to a planet by transport and he switches into soldier mode..”
“The soldier will not know where he is or how he got there.”
“But he will know how to fight..”
“If that is what he was trained for.” The scientist shrugged. “I suppose the social structure of these aliens is quite unique. Perhaps during their schooling they also switch to soldier mode and indoctrinated with combat training or specialized military training.”
“Such as..”
“Well, operation a starship.. navigation duties, weapons, computers.. things like that.”
“So their civilians have combat training?”
“The basics…yes. I mean there is nothing specialized about their training.. I mean why waste specialized schooling on individuals who’ll never see combat? But, because they have evolved their minds to two personalities, then they have to develop their combat personality at least somewhat.”
Zell was not very interested.
“So if their combat personalities were not developed, they would be.. blank?”
The scientist smiled. “If you keep a baby in the dark and do not speak to it or train it in any way, but keep it’s body alive, will it be of any use?”
“I see your point.”
“So most civilians.. or Azguardians who have chosen to live as civilians, while they have this ‘combat’ personality, it’s only very basic training.”
“They become drones for the direction of an Azguardian with a more developed combat personality?”
“Exactly, Sir! There are those Azguardians who prefer military duties so their civilian personalities are underdeveloped.”
Zell barked out a laugh. “So their soldiers can only reproduce if they rape one of their own because they are socially challenged?”
“They aren’t made for propagation. They are trained to fight, or serve in some other specialized military function.”
“The fishhead @#%$ were smart to exploit these stupid aliens.”
Zell peered into the chest cavity of another autopsy victim. “But what does this do for interrogation?”
“Well, Moff, one of their basic training for their combat personality is to kill themselves if in a no-win situation. A very basic command like the proper way to button up your combat uniform.”
“So, if the civilians feel all is lost, they kill themselves?”
“No. If the civilians are captured and feel all is lost, they know they have to switch to their combat personality. They do that and the personality takes an assessment and then, if it’s no-win, attempts to kill itself.
Because these aliens can control at will their switching back and forth, it gives us hope. You see, then the function becomes something like a conscious use of muscle.”
“A muscle we can stimulate or deaden externally!” the conclusion was firm to Zell.
“That is correct.”
“So when you wake the sons of @#%$ up, you have their muscle deadened already, so they can’t switch into combat mode to kill themselves.”
“Again correct, Moff.”
“But do their civilians know anything?”
“Sir, when the other’s killed themselves, our scans reveals this area of their brains active.” The doctor doing the autopsy commented between incisions. “When we woke them, most of them showed this area of their brains active. We measure each part to see how developed they are. This gives us an idea of how much time a particular Azguardian has spent as a soldier or civilian.”
“The civilians will know more than you might think.”
Zell snorted at that. “And interrogating their soldier?”
“Harder to do, but possible..but only in some circumstances. What is nice as that even though these aliens hold two personalities, both personalities use the same body. So if the civilian is deprived of sleep for three days, and we stimulate the muscle to turn them into soldier mode, the tired effects of their body are still felt.”
Moff Zell picked up a report and flipped through it until coming to one with a highly developed civilian personality. “I want to talk to this one. And I want another live one put into the cell so he can see me kill it.”
“Why?” the scientist frowned.
Zell grinned. “You’ve made great strides in understanding their anatomy doctor. But doesn’t an alien race who puts it into the minds of their combat personalities to kill themselves if caught or a no-win presents itself show itself to have a particularly psyche that we can use?”
“Such as?”
“The fact that these @#%$ would rather kill themselves than live with the possibility of failure. Imagine the psychological impact of being faced with a situation where you have to face the consequences of your actions? Imagine that there is no easy way out like death and they have stare into the face of accountability?”
Zell began to laugh harshly. “These @#%$ aliens are cowards! They are all set to kill themselves and that can be used to our advantage. They are about to face their accountability to the Empire. Copy what you’ve learned, encrypt the data and deliver to the Grand Marshall Kaine. This data is also going to Commodore Gevel?”
The scientist nodded.
“Excellent. Now show me the little shitface.”
Battle of Corellia
The enemy ships were being fired upon from the front, from above and from behind. Several vessels in the rear of the enemy formation were experiencing engine problems due to Trachta’s assault … Sensor and tracking damage from Admiral Chandler’s assault, and weapon emplacement and structure damage from Lupercus’s assault.
Because the ships were…
…going at a reduced speed to keep [their] formation.
and were…
following them [damaged Stealth Intruders] in
,
they were not escaping the wide trajectories that Chandler’s Fleet commanded and the Imperials had time to continue pouring on the weapons fire though mainly on the Viscounts and the Yunos, Admiral Chandler having the Sith direct their weapons to converging points on those same vessels.
Before the fleet’s shields came back up the alien commander must have issued an order to advance for the Yunos Command Ship broke it’s formation on the 3rd tier, suddenly taking the lead.
”All ships, follow us in.”
“What the hell are they doing?” Admiral Chandler murmured as the enemy was moving at a reduced speed under their many guns. The Corellian Anvil Fleet was continuously laying down a kill zone of weapons fire that the enemy seemed bent on plunging straight into.
The TGC Fleet had hesitated as it allowed time for the Yunos Command Cruiser to advance to the forefront of their fleet to lead the advance.
“Continue to focus weapons on these locations on those larger ships and that Command Ship. Rotate along our axis 180° and move forward a quarter engine thrust. Stay above them!” Chandler ordered, turning to the Sith on his bridge noting that the man’s eyes were closed, lips moving wordlessly as his orders were being relayed to the rest of his fleet.
Deflector grids, and gun positions suddenly exploded on the larger vessels, as the continuous fire was starting to travel along the super structure of the enemy.
The Yunos Command Ship finally crossed the space to clear the positions of the Viscount’s wedge formation and then the rest of the fleet fired up their engines to match the speed of the Command Ship.
“They are increasing speed!”
“Continue rotation, increase our speed and elevate the bow to keep our underside guns trained on them!” The Sith would keep it all running smoothly.
Trust them to do their job, Chandler. Just do yours!
The Defiance Hover units and shuttles had finished exiting, Chandler opted to continue firing on the capital ships. Their shields came back up.
So much for that..
“Centerpoint Task Force matching their speed! Continuing to fire!”
Admiral Chandler turned away from the scanning officer and glanced at the tactical screen.
Trachta is not going to let them get away! This alien commander thinks these capital ships move like fighters.
Against the kill zone weapons fire the Corellian Anvil Fleet was still laying down, the alien fleet still moved forward as fast as they could. The shields on their forward positioned ships were taking a beating, namely the Yunos, the Viscounts, and the larger capital ships.
The engines of the Coalition fighters flared and they began to speed up leaving their capital ships behind with their greater speed.
Admiral Chandler turned sharply to the Sith in his battlemeld and rattled off a series of orders.
The Fire Class Light Cruisers, the Shrouds, and his entire fighter compliment left his fleet behind using their increased speed ability to move forward.
“All capital ships keep firing on those weakened deflector grid areas. I want holes punched in their shields! Do not bring them down totally!”
And then the Coalition Fleet broke apart, the massive, tight, 3 tier formation suddenly scattering.
The Corellian Anvil Fleet had arrayed itself in a battle line, the support ships positioned in groups of three. The RSD, ISDs, SATAPs, and VSDs forming the backbone of that line.
“They are attacking ship to ship!” Chandler’s Executive Officer exclaimed.
“They
want to, but look!” the Admiral answered. The Coalition Fleet was at the moment in extreme disarray as their capital ships began to block each other’s line of fire as they were trying to separate in attack groups.
“They have no communications!” Ibren Chandler grinned. “They cannot coordinate their attack plan. THAT was why their fleet hesitated before following the their Command Ship. They must have gotten off that command before our jamming took over!”
OOC: Jan – 9/19/03 4:00 pm
I think that all our communications are jammed, and no-one can communicate(except for line of sight lasers which only the Shrouds have).
*mutters about wishing he could communicate with his ships*
The Coalition fleet, though in confusion was attempting to form formations to attack the Corellian Anvil (amid the kill zone of fire still going on from the front, from behind, and from above [though behind]).
“Look at our position..” Chandler motioned to the tactical battle monitor.
The Corellian Anvil Fleet was between the Coalition Fleet and Corellia. The Centerpoint was moving in from the rear. Chandler’s 256th was positioned at a higher plane between the TGC ships and the Centerpoint Task Force.
“Hammer and Anvil!” the Executive Officer exclaimed.
“Indeed. Trachta is going to smash them against Lupercus. We will soften them up for the killing stroke.”
“Lupercus’ ships will take a hell of a beating!”
“He’s the anvil that everyone is striking against.” Ibren answered quietly. “A man like that has something up his sleeve though. Inform our advance forces to attack before the Coalition get’s back into position.”
“Aye.”
“That Sith battlemeld for coordinating our fleets was a stroke of genius!”
“The Coalition will rue the day they ever were born, Captain.” Turning to the Sith, “Instruct
K101 and
K102 to lay down protection to the yards.”
The Coalition Fleet lost valuable time to sorting out their complicated maneuver (complicated in the sense of having what ships accompany others to attack specific targets) without the use of communications.
From above the fast attack craft of the Admiral struck.
The continuous firing from the capital ships had punched holes into the Viscounts and Yunos Command ships. The rate of firing overloaded circuitry but the Coalition didn’t let such holes remain for long.
But there were too many and deflector grids were already overloaded due to being struck without shields at one point.
One Shroud and 100 TIE Devils shot through such holes among various topside and rear locations in all three Viscounts [one Viscount has no shroud] and the Yunos in the confusion of the Coalition Fleet attempting to sort itself out. The speed of the craft and their relatively small size allowed for this maneuver to be carried out flawlessly, the attention of the Coalition being on the Corellian Anvil Fleet.
The rapid firing ion cannon shot out from the TIE Devils along the gun lining the sides of the Viscounts removing them from action.
The shroud itself began moving along the striking against the deflector grids to open holes for the approaching Sith’s ships, targeting sensors and scanning towers.
The tiny fighters were too fast for the turbolasers of the Viscount to strike at and the blind spots they created in the firing arcs served to protect the Shroud as it moved.
The Imperial ships being too fast for the weapons of the Viscount were also protected by the Coalition Ship’s own shields.
The constant firing of the Chandler’s capital ships and the reaction of the Coalition to plug those holes discouraged any slower Coalition fighters to attempt to follow them.
With 400 Tie Devils with in the Viscount and Yunos respectively, the remaining 920, using their 166 mglt speed over flew the Coalition confusion catching the..
(summarized)
majority of the fighters attacking the TNO fighters ahead of them..
And began to fire their rapid fire laser hitting the Coalition Fighters from behind removing them from space.
With Corellian Anvil fighters from ahead and Chandler’s TIE Devils from behind, the Coalition fighters caught in the middle would not live long.
..but others kept close watch in case other fighters became evident.
These fighters did notice the TIE Devils streaking by at a high rate of speed and tried to break formation, perhaps hoping to catch the Devils from behind since they were just too fast.
However, that was when the Fire Class Ships attacked, specially designed to remove the threats that fighters proposed.
Six squadrons of fighters were eliminated at the surprise these fighter killer craft gave.
The Coalition somewhat sorted out their confusion finally and began to attack each capital ship of the Corellian Anvil Fleet from their position though the Anvil was still firing.
Tralus/Talus
Admiral Ckeller watched impassively as the Coalition Forces exited hyperspace. Her hard eyes glanced at the tactical screen that showed the formations of the enemy ships.
“There is a lot of them.”
“Communications are down with Corellia?”
“Yes, Admiral.”
The older woman paused for a minute to reflect on that bit of information. “Send communiqué to Grand Marshall Kaine. Contact with Corellia lost, enemy fleet sighted at Tralus and Talus. Copy to Commodore Trachta’s office as well.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
She was inspecting the facilities of the Mechis Cluster Protectorate for the Grand Marshall when alarms had began blaring.
That report will have to wait., she thought irritably.
As well as my grand child’s fifth birthday. Being naturally a tidy and neat person, he was not sure which bothered her more.
“Prepare the planet for bombardment and general assault. Their garrisons are at battle-readiness yes?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Grand Marshall Kaine’s orders were very explicit. Commodore Trachta also added his.. uh.. incentives to us as well.”
“Excellent.” Admiral Ckeller said approvingly.
“Open a channel.”
“Open Admiral.”
“To alien invaders, this is Admiral Ckeller of the Imperial Navy. You are hereby ordered to surrender your vessels and power down your weapons and shields. Such action will spare your lives.”
She smiled, her best grandmotherly smile.
“You have two minutes to please acknowledge your compliance and act.”
Who says we don’t have balls too…? Eat your heart out Zell.
Damages:
Capital Ships
1 Viscount: 1 Shroud and 100 Tie Devils between shields. Banks of weapons inoperable creating weapon blind spots throughout. Some shield grids destroyed so shield failure in certain areas.
1 Viscount: 1 Shroud and 100 Tie Devils between shields. Banks of weapons inoperable creating weapon blind spots throughout. Some shield grids destroyed so shield failure in certain areas
1 Viscount: 100 Tie Devils between shields. Banks of weapons inoperable creating weapon blind spots throughout. Some shield grids destroyed so shield failure in certain areas
1 Yunos Command Ship: 1 Shroud and 100 Tie Devils between shields. Banks of weapons inoperable creating weapon blind spots throughout. Some shield grids destroyed so shield failure in certain areas
Stealth Intruders: Structural damage on 15 ships (opening round)
Note: Running the gaunlet of weapons fire from Lupercus, Chandler and Trachta would create quite a bit of damage but I have only mentioned that from my Fleet. Trachta will mention his and Lupercus will also list damages from running the kill zone in his next post (I would imagine).
Fighters:
Over a thousand fighters destroyed between Corellian Anvil Fleet and Chandler’s Tie Devils.
Six squadrons destroyed from FCLCs
Expect all fighters to be destroyed by Lupercus in next post.
TNO damages
Shields way down on all of the Corellian Anvil ships
Positioning:
Corellian Anvil Battle line (with support craft in groups of three for fighter skirmish screen) between Coalition Fleet and Corellia.
Coalition Fighters between Corellian Anvil and Chandler’s Tie Devil squads.
TGC Fighters used for reinforcements above their Fleets position, drawn out with fly by of Tie Devil squads. Attacked by FCLC.
No fighters/or very small amount of fighters remaining with TGC fleet.
Admiral Chandler’s is between Centerpoint Fleet and Coalition Fleet though at a higher plane, now in a horizontal position (parallel) to Coalition forces.
Centerpoint Fleet is bringing up the rear (maintaining weapons range).
