Dayark
The transport bucked only slightly as it entered the atmosphere, the skill of the Imperial clone at the controls and the ship’s high-tech systems easily compensating for the severe winds outside the craft. The smooth ride into a landing position was a far cry from what was seen in the old war films – Imperial shuttles bravely evading enemy fire and shaking like wild beasts as they descended into the atmosphere of an enemy world, ready to spread the Empire’s righteous rule over the rest of the galaxy.
In some ways, Lieutenant Davin wished that the scenes depicted in the films were accurate. There was something unsettling about the smooth, quiet ride as the Pelican made her final descent, vectoring in on her target and firing a few quick bursts from her ventral turret to clear the land of enemy soldiers.
Davin was not wearing the normal armour of an Imperial Stormtrooper, or the black armour of the Ubiqtorate’s soldiers. The distinctive armour had been traded for a nondescript combat jumpsuit in a deep black. A utility belt fit around his waste, holding his two heavy blaster pistols, and two shoulder straps carried additional power packs, a pair of backup hold-out blasters, and a variety of vibroblades in sheaths. The Pelican’s black and gold Ubiqtorate colour scheme had even been painted over, replaced with a monstrous dragon in reds and oranges that was the symbol of the Kal’zhan Pirates.
Since the collapse of the Kathol Protectorate under the guns of the Outer-Rim Sovereignty, and the corruption that was rapidly eating away at the Kathol Republic, the pirates had managed to gain a foothold in the sector, raiding and pillaging nearby worlds at will.
It was a mark of the Kathol Republic’s determination that they had not reached the capital at Dayark before now.
As the shuttle touched down, Lieutenant Davin led his soldiers, all similarly dressed, down the landing ramp and into the hailstorm of laser fire. The defenders were determined, there was no doubt about that. As soon as the shuttle had landed they had directed their fire towards it, pitting the hull with insignificant marks where their small arms struck. But if they could get a heavy weapon set up before the Pelican managed to get her shields back up, the shuttle could be in trouble.
“There!” Davin called, sighting an ancient E-Web repeating blaster that a group of armoured soldiers were struggling to set up as quickly as possible. The Republic soldiers had a number of the weapons mounted on repulsorlift platforms, sweeping positions and paying out incredible prices for the pirates’ imprudence in coming here.
Tark, the group’s sniper, stopped and lined up a shot through the scope on his blaster rifle. The shot struck the weapon just below its barrel, severing the power and control lines before impacting on the concrete wall behind the operators.
Those men backed away from their now-useless weapon, firing a handful of scattered bolts at the new arrivals before dropping back and repacking the weapon. It could be repaired, and there was no use in leaving it for the enemy.
If only they had known…
“Move forward!” Davin ordered, and small unit left the landing pad, just as the Pelican took to the skies, steering away from the battlefield and driving hard for space. The soldiers watched their only link back to the Empire depart with a mixed feeling of dread and hopefulness. When the Pelican returned, they would be greeted as heroes. But for now, they had to survive.
The spot the Republic soldiers had abandoned had once been a flight control centre for the spaceport. The soldiers had barred the entrances and turned the heavy concrete structure into an effective bunker, and the single entrance that was immediately met with a small outer room provided them with the ability to hold it indefinitely against enemy soldiers.
They had left a good deal of weapons and equipment behind, including several boxes of grenades and portable generator for recharging their weapons. Around the Imperial team, the spaceport was quickly being run over. Three more transports, all far more battered than the Pelican had landed behind them and offloaded their own compliments of sinister-looking pirate forces.
Intelligence hadn’t pointed to such a large operation, but if they were actively raiding entire worlds, it only made sense. On the other hand, they must have emptied virtually every ship in their fleet to land this many ground troops. They wouldn’t stand a chance against a determined counter-attack.
Only a few short weeks had passed since the official entrance of Pembrick 2 into the Empire. Admiral Barbossa had been offered a commission by Isard in Imperial Intelligence, which he accepted gratefully, and had gone on to reveal his own complete network within the Kathol Sector.
Including an agent amongst the Kal’zhan Pirates. It had been he who had argued so strongly that the time was right for a raid on Dayark. To undermine the authority of the government and teach them the value of fear. The pirates had taken the bait, and the Pelican had joined them in time to join the attack on the capital. With the Outer-Rim Sovereignty next door, and the government of the Kathol Republic unravelling a little more each week, the time was right to move.
The pirates were spreading out faster than the Imperial team could track them, but that was all right. Lieutenant Davin knew full well that his was not the only team on Dayark. Several groups had been placed before the pirates begun, to monitor them and apprise the newcomers of their movements. It would be some time before they were all dealt with, but it would be done.
“Everyone geared up?” He asked, looking at each of the soldiers in turn. There were a dozen of them, plus the Lieutenant. Each was expertly trained and equipped with the finest gear the Empire could offer. They were clones, each with identical features. Their host was a long-forgotten Stormtrooper, promoted to be one of the Emperor’s Royal Sovereign Protectors. The finest soldier in the Empire, genetically enhanced and modified for expert performance.
He received twelve affirmatives from his soldiers, and smiled grimly. Leading a group of men that had been literally created by the Empire bothered him not in the least. They were bred for a single purpose, and he would make the most of all assets he had at his disposal. They were ready and willing to die for the Empire, and if he had to send every last one of them to their death to further the cause of the New Order he would not hesitate.
Davin himself would die to see the Empire victorious. He knew this, and his soldiers knew this, and they trusted one another. They operated as a single being as they left the building, moving forward in turns in the traditional leapfrog style. Their guns were equipped with silencers, and the pirates they encountered were dead before they knew what hit them.
They reached the edge of the city with little interference and no casualties. The Kathol Republic forces had been taken by surprise by the pirates coming, many of their defences compromised before the attack actually began. More work, Lieutenant Davin assumed, of the Empire.
Some of the pirates were busy pinning down what few positions the Republic held, while others loaded freight trucks with money, precious metals, and artefacts from the world’s past. The unit under Lieutenant Davin met up with another, commanded by Lieutenant Gunnar, and they made their way through the city, quietly and efficiently eliminating enemy positions as they went.
Slowly, the city began to quiet. The pirates had, by this time, discovered the wake of dead in the path of the group, and realized too that it was not the work of Kathol Republic soldiers. As one observer would put it, “Only Imperial Stormtroopers are so precise.” But the man was of little importance, and the idea that soldiers of the Empire might have been on Dayark was not heard by most of the pirates.
If they knew the truth, it might have saved their lives.
At about the same time that Lieutenants Davin and Gunnar were making their way into the city, a small Imperial task force exited hyperspace above the world and opened fire on the pirate vessels in orbit. With most of their crews on the ground and unsuspecting of any external threat, the first few minutes of the engagement leaned heavily in the favour of the Empire.
Even with a relatively meagre fleet – a pair of light cruisers and a single Illustrious class ship, the pirates had a hard time managing to repel the attackers. Some ships attempted to flee, leaving their soldiers stranded below, only to be pulled out of hyperspace by the ring of Constrainers stationed by the Empire to cut off their retreat and engaged by the squadrons of TIE fighters that waited for them.
The space battle was nothing short of a route, the few capital ships the Kal’zhan pirates could field quickly taken apart by the Imperial forces. Then the ships began to land soldiers.
Legions of Imperial Stormtroopers were put on Dayark with no official request from the government. They quickly moved forward, securing the spaceport and thus, trapping all of the remaining pirates on the planet’s surface. Without a fleet overhead, and facing the superior might of the Imperial Army, the majority of them surrendered.
Some would choose to honour the oaths taken upon joining the Kal’zhan Pirates and take their own lives, but nearly two thousand were taken into custody to be put up on a variety of crimes by the Kathol Republic. The Empire officially handed the prisoners over to the startled Kathol Republic officials, and informed them that representatives of the New Order would be coming shortly.
The Kathol Republic thanked them for their aide in driving the pirates off their world, and invited the Imperial forces to stay, for the time being.
They accepted.
24 Hours Later
Captain Ariel Trinity stepped onto the surface of Dayark scarcely 24 hours after the Pelican had touched down, her dark eyes taking in the ruined spaceport and swearing under her breath. The pirates had caused more devastation than was necessary in securing the spaceport. She instantly spotted a dozen structures that had been destroyed with little or no need, and sighed.
“Pirates!” She muttered, stepping over the broken concrete and into the waiting landspeeder.
The vehicle was piloted by a young man in a turquoise uniform, who welcomed her to the planet with a smile. He tried several times during the trip to make conversation, but Trinity sat silently in the rear, taking in the landscape as the speeder made its way into the capital city.
Repair crews were already setting about repairing the damages, and citizens were started to emerge from their hiding places. The last of the pirates had been moved, to various prisons or morgues, and all that was left to do was repair the damaged infrastructure.
“Easier said than done.” Trinity thought as they passed a neat hole in the street, caused no doubt by a Thermal Detonator.
They arrived at the government complex, remarkably untouched, after half an hour of travel. Trinity did not thank the driver, but followed her new guide quietly up the steps and into the lobby. Here there was some evidence of the recent conflict, but crews were working even harder here to remove the stains of blood from the marble floor and reset the broken countertops.
They rode an elevator to the top floor, where the President greeted Trinity with a toothy grin and a handshake.
“Captain Trinity.” He said, almost breathlessly. “I cannot thank you enough for your actions. If it were not for you and your men, we would surely be much worse off. As it is, we have lost nearly one billion credits worth of material. But without your intervention, it would have been far worse.”
He talked with such a rush that Trinity could hardly find time to insert a comment. When he finally stopped, she smiled and nodded.
“It was nothing, Mr. President. The Empire does not condone piracy – we could hardly sit back and watch them terrorize your world and do nothing about it.”
If he only he had known the truth of the matter. But there was no time for that.
“None the less, Captain, thanks are in order. But surely you did not come all the way here simply to receive words of thanks from an old man.”
“No indeed.” Trinity thought. But instead, she said, “I was nearby. But now that you mention it… you are aware that that Pemrick 2 recently submitted an application for membership in the Empire?”
“I am aware.” The President said. “Admiral Barbossa may have overstepped his bounds in doing so.” He added, with a hint of bitterness.
“None the less,” Trinity returned, “he was the recognized Governor of Pembrick and fully within your laws to do what he did.” Her voice was hard. “Pembrick 2 is now officially considered a member of the New Order.” She did not have to add, “whether you like it or not” – it was inherent from her tone.
“You want Dayark to join your Empire.” The President said.
Trinity nodded.
“You are very perceptive, Mr. President. Let us hope you are a smart man, as well.”
He leaned back in his chair, considering. Then he spoke again. “The pirates. They were a ruse. You only wished to land your troops on the planet. You knew we couldn’t withstand…”
“As I said, you are quite perceptive. And we do now have a complete legion on your surface, and our fleet is in orbit waiting for orders.” She smiled thinly.
“You compromised our defences.”
“Yes.”
“It seems I have no choice.” The President says. “What would you do if I refuse?”
“We would be forced to launch a full-scale ground campaign. Your planet would suffer greatly from the warfare, and many innocent people would die because of it.” She paused, and pulled a file from her case. “These are the applications and approval for Dayark’s entry into the Empire. All you have to do is sign the dotted line.”
Suddenly, the years in office weighed heavily against the President. He had not served so long in the Kathol Republic to see it come to this. The Empire, simply walking in and seizing everything he had worked so hard to attain…
But his primary concern were the people. And after that, the planet. And any way he turned it, Trinity was right. Dayark could not withstand war with the Empire. It was inevitable that she should rule. Slowly, painfully, he nodded.
“I accept.”
With a ball point pen, he signed the pieces of paper, one after another, and Dayark entered the Empire. He leaned back in his chair, becoming aware of the pain growing in his chest. Trinity radioed for an ambulance.
Two days later, the President was pronounced dead in hospital. The official report indicated he had suffered a massive heart attack, and all efforts to revitalize him failed. Captain Ariel Trinity was automatically appointed Governor of Dayark until a suitable replacement was found.
Star Destroyer Nirvana
Three Days Later
“Quiet an ingenious method, really.” The hologram of Bhindi Drayson said. “Conquering Dayark with minimal bloodshed and in record time. I doubt I could have done better myself.”
Trinity said nothing. She did not allow herself to feel overly proud of her accomplishment. It was all part of the job, and she knew it well.
“Was the death of the President part of your plan? Or was it purely coincidental?”
“It was not part of my plan at the time. But I knew he would have to be dealt with eventually. He was obviously unhappy with the Empire taking control of his world. This way, at least, there are fewer questions.”
The hologram nodded.
“Very well. What do you propose is next?”
“There are rumours surfacing that the pirates we encountered are only an offshoot of a larger organization, based in the Kathol Outback. I believe we’ll move next to eliminate them. We cannot afford an enemy, however insignificant, at our back.”
“Excellent, Captain. You are doing well.”
“Thank you, Admiral. If I may ask, how are things on Yaga Minor?”
Bhindi hesitated slightly, but recomposed herself and went on.
“Deteriorating.” She replied. “The Coalition has officially declared war on the Empire, and the words are flying fast and furious now.”
“At least it’s only words.” Trinity offered, and Bhindi smiled.
“For now, Captain. Gloria Imperium.”
“Gloria Imperium.”
On the other end, Bhindi cut the communication. Trinity’s room was plunged into darkness.
Kathol Outback
At the same time
“Your information led us into a trap.” Captain Kal’zhan said. The room on the ship was dark, lit only by a few dim glow panels near the doorway. On the floor was a short man, whimpering miserably and begging for his mercy from the towering giant standing over him. “A dozen good ships and thousands of men, lost.”
He lashed out with a kick, breaking the hand that reached for his ankle and getting another cry of pain from the man on the floor.
“What do you have to say for yourself, scum?”
The man looked up, his eyes dead, and saw the raging fire in his tormenters. At once, his will snapped and he lay open in front of him.
“Barobssa.” He cried once. “Barbossa!” Again and again he cried it, even as the pirate continued to kick him. He beat him until the cries stopped and the room was silent.
The body was dragged unceremoniously from the room, where it would be dropped out an airlock to float forever in the vast expanses of the Kathol Outback.
