Onslaught of the Empire

[Miss-Pandemica]

“Thank you, Lady Nightwind. Again I am deeply honored to be under your command. All I have ever wanted was to be acknowledged and taught the ways of the Sith.” Nova bowed her head and would have done more to show how grateful she was for this but her body still seemed to refuse to move under her command properly. Raising her head back up she looked over at Ilia. “Will we be returning to Kaas, milady?” Nova asked curiously. She had wondered if Ilia had another mission besides the one that brought her here to Ruuria.  

[ElladanKenet]

"We might later, but not for a while, I think." The woman admitted. "I am attached to the primary fleet, which this operation is a mere part of. My duties are wherever the empire dictates they be. For now, they are here on Ruuria, but that may change when revised orders come in."  

[Nelowulf]

NPC
┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
Type: Republic Frigate
Number: .5/2

Type: Republic Corvette
Number: 4/7

Type: Republic Transport
Number: 10/12

┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛

(to tie up this loose end, sooner rather than later)

The sith fleet had won; they knew that before the conflict ever started. As the first transports began to hit the jump to hyperspace, the support craft of the sith fleet moved accordingly to block their lanes. With the corvettes under heavy fire, more than a few begun to simply make the evacuations permanent. The fleet of the sith did not care; as long as people were on board, they were to destroy, crush the fleet as was Cinn's orders. Within five minutes, the last of the republic envoy had been crushed, flaming in the lithosphere and slowly crashing towards the planet's surface. A mere three freighters had gotten away; the skies had been won today by the sith, as the fleet prepared to mobilize.

The sith were bound to follow their prey to point besh, sooner, or later.  

[Miss-Pandemica]

Nova nodded and took another sip of her water. “Is there anything I can do to help at this time?” She wanted to be useful and prove that she could do anything.  

[ElladanKenet]

Ilia shook her head. "For the moment, no. Go rest, recover. Practice your skills if you will. Get to know the people in the facility. Some will end up staying as part of a permanant garrison, while others will accompany me on future operations. As my servant, it would do well for people to know you, and whom you work for. Beyond that, you nee simply be on hand for when I require you."  

[Miss-Pandemica]

Again she nodded in agreement. Before getting up to leave she thanked Ilia one last time. Once she was out of the chamber and back in the hallway she fought to keep her legs from buckling beneath her. The effects of the painkillers was wearing off and she could feel her muscles screaming at her. Mustering up her will she once again forced herself to stand tall so that she could address one of Ilia’s guards and ask if they would show her to her room.

After leading her down the hallways she finally made it to her own room and collapsed on the small bed. Not bothering to even change, for that task would have been torturous, she simply closed her eyes and let sleep take her.
 

[ElladanKenet]

~~~ End Chapter One ~~~


Nelo's note: Was this really that necessary to randomly post this? It's not like I'm going to post the introduction to chapter two anytime before January 1...  

[Nelowulf]

Chapter 2
34 Days since first contact...


All the forces in the world are not so powerful as an idea whose time has come.

 

[Nelowulf]

The last two weeks had flown by; in several days, the smuggler had met up with the rendezvous point, and after a quick goodbye, Jian had been nearly carried off to debriefings and other military protocols which to him seemed as nothing more than a formalized version of folly. They asked him when it had all gone wrong, and he answered as plainly as he could just the numbers of ways things had failed. Still, in spite of all that had transpired, the detail work and relative quick work Jian had done (or at least stumbled acrossed) impressed the right person. Or annoyed one so much that he was sent to his current destination: Thule.

Even the bookworm had to read up on this place; sending information out to the core and back took several days to collect all that material. What free time he had spent reading up on the planet's history seemed trivial before being shuffled into this tiny shuttlecraft. It was designed with even less commodities in mind. Find the planet, hyperspace to it, land, and do one's duties as needed to succeed. no fancy rooms or hatches, the thing was little more than a rocket with stabilizing fins, a scout craft could easily rival this tin bucket.

What kept gnawing at Jian was the fact of the sheer speed and subtlety the Sith had planted themselves. Rumor had it the Republic was already starting to just get warmed up to start preliminary discussions... a lot of words which meant senators getting heated up to talk about nothing. Even with eyewitness accounts, the coverup of the failure of their plans had only emboldened a seperatist movement in many concerned folk, but Jian was at this point going to have to speculate how politics worked: he himself had only a trite amount of experience outside the practical. Formalities were something he simply didn't wish to experience, aside from what etiquitte he had already learned.

Pushing thoughts of dead sith lords out of his head, Jian watched the shuttle bank towards the dark side of the planet, revisiting instead the teachings Danika had given him to mask his presence, and the constant practice when he could spare a moment to make him seem as normal as one can get. ..  

[lady_skuld]

Sythica went through a whirlwind of events in the last few weeks. Someone had proposed that the basic platoon she was a part of wasn't enough. Transferring to another squad was her current orders. Part of the fleet was supposedly going to track those rebels down to wherever they went. Sythica's talents had not been forgotten by someone, somewhere. Because of what she had done on Ruuria she was getting a promotion of sorts. Now she headed to the front lines of the new offensive. Ruuria had been an easy backwater place to be. Now they were ambitious.

The shuttle she was on landed onto the destroyer. Her duties were to meet her new commander, help with replenishing the strong arm of the Empire. The ramp descended er ship, another squad, she was the rookie in a new worldas she stepped down in full armor and gear. Her rifle slung over one shoulder and her gunny sack over the other. Sythica looked around. There was no parade or formal ceremony. Only another soldier, dressed in formal uniform there to receive her. Others exited the shuttle as she moved over.

"Private Ephese, transferring from the 429th. Your reputation precedes you. Welcome to the front lines. You're the new recruit into DAGGER squad. The name sticks, trust me. It's not just a nickname, but a designation. Designated Attack Group Geared to Eliminate Resistance. You'll meet the rest of the squad later, but for now, you're assigned to the 328th, and we're hitting every major conflict in the Minos cluster in short time. I wasn't expecting someone quite so good looking to join though. You just might be the poster child for us."

Sythica cracked a grin. She was home.  

[ElladanKenet]

Ilia was on the bridge of the Star Destroyer Twilight. The ship was cruising smoothly through the new Imperial staging ground, on the outskirts of the Minos cluster. From here, the Imperial fleet was amassing, preparing for it's many operations in the area, including the retaking of Thule and the conquest of the Minos Cluster. There were many objectives in the area, the largest being the prime target of Sluis van. The removal of the shipyard would be the nail in the coffin for Republic resistance in this theater. She watched as a pair of Harrow-class star destroyers, identical to the one she was on, passed each other.

Knowing her apprentice wasn't far behind her, Ilia cleared her throat, leaving the Imperials in the room to their jobs. "Nova..."  

[Miss-Pandemica]

As always Nova stood off to the side of her master, ever ready to receive a command. “Yes, milady…what are your orders?” Nova spoke solemnly. She had learned much in the few weeks that had passed since their meeting on Ruuria. And even though she was not an official apprentice to the Lady Nightwind her tasks were by no means small or trivial.  

[ElladanKenet]

The woman nodded, motioning to her side. "The Imperial military is in the final phases of planning for the campaign in the sector. There are three targets of import: Sluis Van, Thule, and the systems of the Minos Cluster. Are you familiar with them?"  

[Miss-Pandemica]

“Only in passing, milady,” Nova responded. She could understand the importance of Sluis Van and Thule but the Minos Cluster she had the least knowledge of. Nova had never been to any of these places in person, but she hid her anticipation as she waited for Ilia’s orders.  

[ElladanKenet]

The woman nodded, launching into a quick explanation. "Sluis Van is a shipyard planet, much like Kuat and Corellia. the planet is surrounded by factories and construction yards, and fairly heavily defended, relative to the worlds we've razed so far. It's the Republic stronghold in the area, and breaking Sluis Van will mean breaking the Republic's grip in the Outer Rim.

"Thule is an ancient world, one of many the Sith colonized and laid temples on. While not a fortress world, it is still very important to us, and contains many secrets. Some of our forces, led by Lord Cinn, unless I'm mistaken, are heading to seize the planet. It's location, however, is on the other side of the galaxy, and not of strategic importance to our immediate invasion.

"The Minos Cluster, as the name suggests, is a cluster of star systems. Almost a miniature Republic, if you will. Most of the worlds are independant, or with the enemy, though because of their distance, are poorly defended. Taking the Minos Cluster will be an inevitable move to our eventual push further into the galaxy.

"I tell you this because here, the Imperial fleet is beginning to spread out. As my agent, I am giving you the choice of where you wish to go, to act as my eyes, ears, and fist. I have work I can have you do at all three locations, but there's no time or resources available to send you to all three in a timely manner."