The Rebel Faction

Efreeti-class Battlecruiser Husdant, somewhere in the Trax Sector


“Look at how the star destroyer, not that one, the Victory-class, right here never leaves its orbit...”


Kre'fey, still in the guise of Commodore Dha'tey, swept his furry hand across the briefing room's holo-projection of Deysum III. The intelligence gleaned by both the infiltrating ships from Task Force Delusion and Seic'lar's slicers had given him an unusual luxury: not only did he have many of the intimate details of the world's defenses, but he also had the time to sift through them all, along with a nicely built in network of spies and other subversives. Perhaps even more importantly, he had the opportunity to go over it all with his more senior commanders. As he savored the various schemes brewing his head, the bothan turned to a human wearing a similar crimson uniform.


“Commander Syfonne, your thoughts?”


“Geosynchrous orbit like that suggests two things to me. Either the ship is geosynchrous orbit because it's guarding something on the surface, or at least keeping an eye on access to a certain portion of the earth below. Alternatively, the ship is in orbit in order to rendezvous with other ships, either for repairs or supplies or to join up with other vessels for a combat or movement operations.”


“You are correct,” nodded Kre'fey, his fur rippling, “the duration of the star destroyer's orbit, several weeks now straight, suggests that it is your first idea. More interesting, while Fossk has other starships present, including an Imperator which have more leeway in its movement, the victory is the largest all atmospherically capable ships present. This suggests a link to something important on the ground itself. But can anyone hazard a guess at what could be there, since it's not in orbit over Fossk's capital, or any other populated area of note.”


No-one raised their hands. A brief moment of silence pervaded throughout the room. Kre'fey's fur rippled yet again and his pivoted on his foot. His gaze swept the audience, looking for any clue that someone else might be thinking or scheming about the latest piece of intel he had just fed them. But none of them seemed to change their facial expressions. No wheels turning here...


“Neither do I,” replied the Commodore, “but I have ideas of what it could. Let's state the obvious, it's something valuable enough to guide a star destroyer with. The area around it isn't populated. This could suggest it is so valuable that he doesn't want to risk people getting close enough to easily discover or steal it, or alternatively, that it is something dangerous. My personal thoughts are divided between two lines. What Seic'lar, and I too, at first thought is that the large dome structure over which it orbits houses a prison, likely for the thousands of political prisoners we have not recovered yet. My second thought is that this could be Fossk's retreat, where he directs the efforts of his Trax Sector Authority. Thus far, none of our intelligence sources have gotten even close to discovering what is going on there. There are no satellites near it, no populations by it for over a hundred kilometers in any direction. Our customs vessels report that that specific area is even outlawed to them. Only a few ships go into that aerospace over the dome, and it's always directly to the dome or away from it to one of the two star destroyer's presence. This obviously confirms to us that we're looking at a strictly government facility, albeit Seic'lar has stated that it is possible it could be a joint venture with one of his closer, and perhaps darker, corporate associations. So, let us discuss how we should start going about securing this facility...”
 

Deep Space near Ventil II

The dark void rippled with activity as ship after ship moved into position in preparations for the last jump. The massive form of Courageous sat between two smaller star destroyers which had moved along side her and stopped awaiting the order to jump. The fleets Carrier took its position at the rear of the diamond formation now forming in the void. The forward lead position of the formation remained open waiting for the two Majestic-class heavy cruisers to move into position. On the flanks of the formations Sacheen-class escorts and Ranger-class gunships formed up into escort and picket formations  flanked by formations of starfIghters. The entire bulk of the Courageous Battlegroup sat poised to pounce on the imperials and the world of Deysum III. INside thirty thousand Alliance army troopers of III Corps suited up and loaded transports ready to take the fight to the world and its Imperial subjugators. The three thousand Marines of the 1st Marine Regiment prepared to lead the charge and prepare the world for the army to make its assault. The three hundred marines of 1st Company clad in the new marine Power armor boarded their Kartan-class boarding shuttles and Bantha Assault shuttle ready to free the world of Deysum III and its people. As the men and women of the infantry readied so did the 8th Alliance Armored Regiment. Thier armored vehicles fueled and ready to respond when the order came. The Alliance war machine had never been so ready. The last few months of the Mid Rim champagne had passed slowly as world after world was freed from Vossk and his Imperial hold. The time to finish the war was now and the Alliance forces of newly formed Mid Rim Fleet would be the fist that crushed Vossk and his hold on the mid Rim. 

"Admiral, The fleet is nearly in place. I must join my marines  and prepare for the assault."

Holt nodded to Colonel Conners  and smiled. The man was still angry about having been pulled off Messert before his job was done. It had given him no joy that the world was liberate anyway. Connors was a man of pride and his had been wounded by the alliance. It was something that could not have been avoided at this point. The timing of the assault on Deysum was not his doing. the situation could never have been any better for the assault and waiting on Conners and his men  was not an option he needed them.  Agent Black had proved more than effective at Messert which rattled Holt. The man could not be trusted it was clear but he had done what he had been ordered to. Just not the way Holt had envisioned. That was not important at present, now Deysum III was all that mattered. Holt watched as the two heavy cruisers came to rest at the point of the formation and Captain Krant informed him the formation was ready.

"Captain, is my fleet ready?"

Captain Krant smiled and looked out at the two cruisers taking up the forward view port. The new ships had just joined the fleet and were marvelous to see. He had been XO on a Majestic  and had grown to love the battle sturdy ship. He turned to Holt and answered.

"Admiral, All line report readiness, Condition one is set fleet wide and all stations report ready sir.  you orders Admiral?

Holt looked over the data streaming down his chairs data screen. The co-ordinates were set and the battle in the Deysum system had already begun. General Kre'fey had softened up the enemy and sent back the pertinent information and battle environmental information. The war for the Mid Rim would soon be over and Holt could go back to his normal life. Reshmar had pulled him out of retirement for this and he wanted nothing more than to get back to his life and his cabin by the lake. He finished looking over all the information and then out to space in the distance. 

"Captain take us to the Deysum system."

Efreeti-class Battlecruiser Husdant, high orbit above Deysum


Kre'fey turned his head to watch a cascade of explosions ripple across the Immortal's right side as Syfonne lead his Cerberi cruisers in a harsh flanking attack. Their disruptor and plasblast missiles began to eat away past the armor and tear into the very heart of the ship itself. Superheated debris and limp bodies began to flow out of the ship into the depths of space. More inferno vessels had surrounded the craft, pouring their own fire into the craft. Beset on all sides by her attackers and suffering grevious injuries, the star destroyer had attempted to leave the engagement, but the many tractor beams of its opponents had securely latched onto the vessel's hull, dragging the vessel down to the crawl of a one-legged bantha stuck in quicksand. The bothan turned his eyes from the fight back to the Nodens' assault on the Victory-class Star Destroyer.


The Nodens was the second Efreeti-class Battlecruiser that they had been able to produce, and since the crew was a mixture of raw recruits and Inferno veterans, Kre'fey wondered just how well the crew would be able to work the warship in battle. While the Nodens had already undergone its shakedown cruise, the Efreetis were proving to be a somewhat tempermental design because of their technological complexity. Kre'fey half-expected one of the ship's systems to malfunction during battle, hence he had assigned his second group more ships than the ones that accompanied the Husdant. Kre'fey's old command, the Armageddon's Hammer, held the Nodens right flank, while a motley array of the fleet's converted freighters moved from the Nodens' left side to envelope the aging Imperial starship.


Most of the star destroyer's missiles had been rendered inaccurate due to some timely jamming from the hacked satellite system, whose sensor stations projected various signals on the same frequencies on the missiles, while the comm satellites attempted to flood the missiles' link to their home vessel by the sheer depth of Deysum III's communication's network. Yet despite a few mishaps at the start of the engagement, the Nodens group was performing well; their prey had quickly been overwhelmed by the sheer number of starfighters from the new group, allowing the rebel's small craft to harass the star destroyer with almost near immunity or shoot down any missiles that got too close to the larger Alliance vessels. Bandor felt a furry claw rest itself on his shoulder.


“How are we doing?” questioned Seic'lar.


“Any moment now...” replied the bothan, who then squinted his eyes, “Cease fire for all starships. Let us ask the Imperials if they wish to surrender.”


Fire quickly faded out from the Inferno vessels, followed shortly thereafter by that of the Immortal's, but the Victory Star Destroyer, the Swordsman continued to fight. Kre'fey narrowed his eyes as the Swordsman continued to fight. His fur rippled.


“All units are clear to fire on the Swordsman...”


“Message from the Immortal, it's the ship's captain. He wishes to discuss terms with you Commodore.”


“Let's hear it,” said Bandor, getting in his Commodore Dha'tey persona.


The holo-projector in front of him whirled to life, its red and yellow light particles fading to display an almost too average looking man in front of them, wearing a sweat-stained Imperial-style uniform. He offered a brief bow to the alien.


“I presume I'm speaking to Commodore Dha'tey, of the Inferno Fleet.”


“You are.”


“I wish to discuss the terms of my ship's surrender. I want your word that my people will not be harmed, nor that our weapons will be used by terrorist.”


Kre'fey's fur rippled, “I give you my word that your people will be unfairly treated. They will likely be interred a POW camp until the war is over, but they will be treated better than your General has treated our own people. As for your weapons, I guarantee they will not be used against civilian targets. I cannot guarantee that they might not be used against your comrades in the future.”


“Fair enough. If you cease fire now, Commodore, we will continue to hold fire, and then I will formally surrender in one hour.”


“Why an hour?”


“I wish to destroy any weapons that might fall into...the wrong hands.”


“I cannot guarantee the safety of your people if you choose to do that, Captain. If my people do not have some material reward, something that will be of practical use to them, they do not tend to treat prisoners very well, nor would I blame them. Surrender now, that is, if you care about your crew's well-being...”


“Sir!” interrupted a voice from behind Kre'fey's shoulder.


The bothan turned to watch the Swordsman explode from the inside out as one of its missile magazines detonated. Slabs of hull armor and debris blossomed out from the craft to batter at the shields of the nearby Inferno fleet vessels while more debris began to plummet to the earth below. Kre'fey turned his eyes back to the captain.


“Now you've seen your comrades fate...”


“We surrender to the original terms.”


Kre'fey's fur rippled, “And you give me your word that you will not tamper or destroy any of the equipment or any objects onboard your vessel?”


“I do.”


“I accept your surrender captain. We will begin to move ships and personnel to aid in any efforts that you may need for the well-being of your crew.”


“Thank you Commodore.”


And now the space is secured for the rest of the fleet to land...
 

Colonel Connors watched as the last of his marines boarded the transports. In the center of the hanger three massive mole miners were being moved into position to launch.  The marines first mission was to get the Mining operation down and underway. After that The assault on the Domes would begin.  The massive mining vehicles floated out of the hanger and out into space headed for the planets surface. Connors watch as a group of E-wings moved into formation outside the hanger and escorted the mole miners down. He turned and walked up the ramp of the last Bantha shuttles to finish boarding. He watched as the Kartane shuttles launched and began moving their forces down. The Banthas launched last  and moved into position with the rest of the group. Connors watch as the aft rim of Courageous lit up in a display that would rival any fireworks display. Heavy torpedo after torpedo moved out and down towards targets on the world below. A few moments later and small plumes began to appear on the surface.  Connors and the men standing at the front of the transport had a front row seat to the show.  They watched as more and more fireballs ignited below as the heavy torpedoes found their targets or were shot down by flak and anti projectile defenses. As the last of the torpedoes hit Connors saw the the formation of K2-wing assault fighters speed past moving down to finish off the planetary defenses. The the largest formation of fighters Connors had seen fallowed behind clearing the was for the miners and assault shuttles. The Alliance had been planing this operations for a long time. It schedule being accelerated seemed to not effect the operation. The pieces were falling into place. Soon the world of Deysum III would be liberated. The last of the major worlds in the Mid Rim and Capital of the Sector would mark what many saw as the winning blow of the war against Vossk and the Imperials in the central Mid Rim.

Connors knew it was not that easy, nothing ever was. They had a world below them which if intel was correct was fully garrisoned and hardened against assault. What ever lay down on the surface was ready for the Alliance and had been for some time. Connors knew the battle was not be as easy as the analysts and politicians thought. He knew Admiral Holt knew that too. What was before them was unknown and anytime he did not know what he was getting into bad things happened. Memories ignited in his mind. visions of Randon and the bombardment that had killed half of his first company.  He fastened his helmet on his power armor and sealed the vapor lock. The Bantha had started descending while he had been watching the scene below. He and his marines were ready, he just hoped what ever surprise awaited him was not his last.

Admiral Holt sat watching the assault forces move down towards the world below. Transports, shuttles, freighters, and gunships one by one descended into the hail of anti-aircraft fire racing towards the surface. Smoldering craters marked much of the planets surface where anti- orbital batteries had once stood. Smaller mobile defensive batteries had survived the first assault  but now were poised for what would be the end of the defenses of Deysum III.

"Cobra this is hen house, you are go, green light for engagement."

"Copy hen house cobra is hot and on the hunt."

Commander Stensi and his squadron skimmed the world below moving in on the largest collection of mobile air defense batteries left on the surface. The six K2 attack fighters now on course and ready to end the air defense around the main dome for good. 

"One to group, twenty seconds to target. Weapons free,"

The six bombers flew just meters off the surface dodging terrain and fortifications on their way to their target. The newly arrived assault craft were state of the art and were truly a thing of beauty. Terrain mapping and target acquisition software still in its testing stages allowed the craft to use real time mapping being transmitted from the group above. Auto course correction programs guided the craft almost without any correction from the pilots. The craft were lock onto their targets and were more guided missile than fighter at this point. Still the perception of a skilled pilot was  far more reliable than any computer and the mix of the best of both pilot and computer made the K2 a lethal foe.

"Cobra one, Hot."

with that the six fighters broke out of the valley they had been moving through and over onto the plateau which housed the main dome and the last of Deysum III's air defense. In the distance a line of AT-AA walkes fires on the ranger gunship which had been the decoy. The ranger rained turbolaser fire down on the installation  while smaller Bantha shuttles supported with turbolaser fire of their own from outside the air defense effective range waiting to move in and deploy. To the south west the massive form of a Acclamator moved in to drop armor to support the marines now waiting to move on the dome. Commander Stensi's HUD lit up as each target was highlighted and targeted. His weapons officer assigned each a tag and released weapons lock. 

"Cobra one to group, release."

The six K2 assault fighters ignited their boosters and shot up into the sky. each ejecting their payload and relying on pinpoint planning and inertia to do the rest of the work. twenty four massive heavy bombs struck the delivering a kilometer wide path of plasma heated explosive pressure igniting everything combustible in their wake. The six craft now sped out of the engagement zone and back to Courageous to rearm for ground support. The air battle was over now as around the world of Deysum III Alliance transports landed  and began the task of finishing off the last of the Imperials. Admiral Holt turned to the group of officers now looking over a details recap of the battle so far.

"Get me Colonel COnnors on the horn captain."

The officer saluted then did as ask. A moment later the armor clad frame appeared on the screen.

"Colonel, General Forlon sends his regards, he said he was sorry he could not be here to join us. He had Admiral Reshmar seemed occupied to say the least.  Now down to business, That dome was the center of the Imperials mission here and what ever is inside will most likely be important. Get in there and figure out what the hell Fossk is up to." Connors nodded them spoke into his helmets com reciever.

"Aye admiral, we will crack that egg open within the hour. I will report when i have any information Conners out."

The screen went blank and Holt went back to watching vid feds from around the world. The southern domes had signaled surrender once they had been left defenseless and Alliance troops had landed outside. Most of the northern domes had put up a fight  many still stood in challenge,  engaging III Corps and hold their own  for the most part. That would soon change once the armor arrived and took up the fight. The capital and Fossks mysterious dome however were far more fortified and protected. The air may have been won now but the ground battle was far from over.