The starlines flared again through the mottled sky and shrank back into stars, and the Black Dragon Empire fleet had arrived.
<img src="http://home.earthlink.net/~zolanhunter/images/TIEs.jpg" align=left>
"All fighters and assault transports: launch," Captain Anre called, throwing a quick look at the tactical holo floating over his display bank. They had come out of hyperspace exactly as planned, within easy striking range of Saheelindeel and its defense traffic. "Response?" he called to the tactical officer.
"Defending Z-95 Headhunters engaging BDE forces," the other reported. "Our fighters are destroying them one by one."
"Get a lock on the closest gunship formation," Sully ordered, "and pummel it with our ion cannons before they shield themselves."
"Yes, sir."
Commander Pegent could see the Tion gunships now, coming at them like swarm of angry mynocks. Off on the
Sleeping Death's starboard flank, a Carrack cruiser was moving toward their base, its TIE fighter wedge sweeping ahead of it to engage the gunships. "Change course toward Saheelindeel," he ordered the helmsman. "Carrack cruisers are to set up an advance screen. They will take the gunships and cripple them." He looked to his superior. "Any special orders, Captain?"
Sully was gazing at a mid-distance scan of the planet. "Stay with the program for now, Commander," he said."Our preliminary data appear to have been adequate; you may choose surface targets at will. Remind your gunners once again that the plan is to hurt and frighten, not obliterate. We need those cities intact to colonize and produce. The gunships will be eliminated. The Saheelindeel government must be crippled at all costs. Have Lt. Cmdr. Davin and his commandos ready to disembark."
"Relay that," Pegent nodded toward the communications station. "Have Sij Olith and his team so reminded, as well."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the captain engage a small holoprojector, and an image of Sij Olith appeared. "Olith?" he said. "What's the status of your team?"
"We are here. We were sucessful with our infiltration and have destroyed several shield generators within two day's time. You may commence disembarking your strike forces."
A Carrack cruiser flared into oblivion on the display. Pegent frowned at the captain. "Sir--?"
Sully turned to him, a warning gleam in his eyes. "Attend to your duties, Commander," he said. "Give the order to Davin to begin landing his troops and dispatch his wings."
And with a sudden flash of insight, Pegent realized that this attack on the Tion Hegemony was more than simply part of the setup for the new administration of the Black Dragon Empire. It was, in addition, a test. A test of his captain's ablilities, yes; but also a test of his willingness to accept orders and carry them out. "Yes, Captain," Pegent murmured, and turned back to his displays.
Sully turned back to the image. "Excellent, Sij. Continue your infiltration and elimate all planetary defenses as you see fit."
"Yes, sir." The hologram vanished.
The
Sleeping Death was in complete engagement now, and tiny sparks started to appear on the tactical holo as the Star Destroyer's huge turbolaser batteries began firing. A pair of Tion gunships swept in from starboard, the
Sleeping Death's TIE fighter screen breaking formation to engage them. Off in the distance, the other BDE TIE's were blazing against the Headhunters; and even as Sully watched, one of the gunship's engines flared into vapor, crippling it. The battle seemed to be going well.
Remarkably well, in fact...
On the surface of Saheelindeel, the shriek of overstressed metal filled the air, and the far end of the passageway was lit by a blinding actinic flash. Somewhere down there the little cluster of armed crew who had passed by minutes before had encountered the shield generator's attackers. The new arrivals were storm commandos armed with blaster rifles. The invading troops entered and began firing up the corridor. In seconds, the passageway was filled with smoke and crisscrossing beams of energy.
Green and red blaster bolts ricocheted off polished sections of wall and floor or rippled long gashes in metal surfaces. Screams of injured and dying Saheelindeelians echoed piercingly above the inorganic destruction.
"To the engineering section!" Sij Olith shouted, "the reports state the ion generators are there!"
The knot of invading troops held their ground, and began to make their way toward the lower levels...
~~ * ~~
Lieutanant Commander Kix Davin was in the best shape of his life when he joined Captain Anre's crew a month ago by consent of the BDE. But getting used to the ravages of the resistance on Argai the past days had been pure hell from rigorous patrolling, and the constant barrage of battle that engulfed it.
Kix did not have the time to be homesick or lonely, although his thoughts sometimes drifted to his homeworld of Naboo. He wondered about his family nowadays, especially being stationed this far in the Tion Hegemony.
Minutes after the announcement from Captain Anre, Kix marched up to the quartermaster and collected his commando gear: heat-reflective armor, comlink, filtermask, blaster rifle, temperature-control body glove, utility belt, energy source, and concussion grenade launcher. He staggared to his cabin under the load of equipment.
Kix donned his helmet with automatic polarized lenses. Fully outfitted in storm commando gear, he clunked to the mirror in his small cabin and looked himself over. Like it or not, he was finally chosen to be assigned to escort the captain on Saheelindeel, once the planet is theirs. There was no higher honor than that, although the rumours of Anre's past of being a smuggler did disturb him. He wondered if the captain would address this, once he became more personal with him.
He used his chin to click on his chinmike, activating the comlink. He tapped into the garrison's radio traffic for his detachment. A series of voices checked in. Kix recognized the trooper's voices under his command.
There was a long pause of silence. Sounding irritated, Commander Pegent's voice came over the comlink. "Lt. Cmdr Davin? Are you up and ready?"
It took Kix a full two heartbeats to realize that Commander Pegent was speaking to
him.
"Davin online, sir. Detachment is ready."
"Report to the landing area. Your team will soon be disembarking from
Sleeping Death. Move it!"
Although Kix was the last to board the assault shuttle, he was set into his station before all the other storm commandos in his detachment. The very thought of going to battle again sent a chill through him. He never participated in the final takeover of Argai, but at least he spent a good deal patrolling the prison camps and on occassion quashing its resistance before being reassigned here. It sounded too surreal to start over again.
The storm commandos sat mute as they left
Sleeping Death, their home for the past few weeks. Visual images of Saheelindeel flashed inside their helmets, transmitted from the intelligence network aboard the bridge of the BDE Star Destroyer orbiting the planet. Computer-generated graphics pinpointed the most tactical points to siege on Saheelindeel and its spaceports.
Kix was tasked with spearheading into the city after the AT-AT's and AT-ST's laid cover fire and cripple any possible defenses the spaceports would offer. He hoped the commando team led by BDE agent Sij Olith would take care of any ion cannon defenses, as well as the shield generators. With the generators destroyed, the assault wouldn't take long and Saheelindeel's defenders were sure to surrender.
He gripped his blaster rifle and stole a glance at the rest of the storm commandos waiting patiently in two rows beside him under his command. Everyone studied the data dump from Captain Anre's Star Destroyer high above. He wondered how the others could remain so calm when they were about to embark on an invasion into the Tion Hegemony, which had quite a resistance for a small sector.
The assault craft landed with a bump. The side yawned open, spilling in warm air and brilliant sunshine. Kix pushed out and joined the other storm commandos, who quickly lined up in front of him. No one spoke over the comlink until Kix heard Commander Pegent's voice.
"
Sleeping Death is mapping Saheelindeel with a sensor scan, trying to locate each and every defense point. The AT-AT's will provide barrages of cover fire from their heavy guns, while Davin's TIE squadrons will bombard and destroy any craft leaving its spaceports and as well destroy any shield generators not destroyed by Olith. The mission is to enter the nearest city and quash any resistance fire from the port's defenders. The AT-ST's will assist in this as well. The ultimate objective is to subjugate Saheelindeel to BDE authority. From there, we'll spread out and take the other towns nearby. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir!" came the shouts over his comlink.
"Very well. Listen up. 131st and 153rd squads, cover the next quadrant. 181st squad, head toward your assigned quadrant. Start a circular attack pattern. Dropships should be at your mark. Now move!"
Saheelindeel's terrain was featureless, ever-shifting. Lt. Cmdr. Davin crunched his way through the ground, not sure where to begin his attack, but knowing that some kind of defense would soon present itself against them. He climbed a small hill. The landscape was spread out in every direction. They might as well been the only ones on the planet. He then spotted one of Saheelindeel's spaceports in the distance.
"Okay, men! Spread out and take cover behind the AT-ST's. They will spearhead themselves into the city."
Seeing the spaceport ahead of him, he scooted down a ridge and leveled his blaster. He noticed in the distance the dropships unclamping their cargo of AT-AT's and AT-ST's onto the grounds of the lush planet. The rest of his men quickly followed suit and made their ways toward the heavy guns of their counterparts. Kix subtly rose his head and listened intently for the sounds of their air assault.
The invasion had begun...
