Conquest of Capricia: Part II - Shadow of the Invaders
  • Posted On: Nov 24 2001 3:04am
<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Minos Orbit...<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->


Tallien watched as the warmaster's arm, Tslah Vhess, howled in fury.

The Military Leader wanted that large abomination of a machine very badly.


Unfortunately, the operation, their mission...their purpose took priority.



But how it would please Tslah if Tallien could find an answer...



The Master Shaper smiled.



Already, out of range from the infidels machine's tracking systems, the fleet was moving off to their new destination.
A fleet of cruisers, destroyers, command ships full of warriors...full of slaves.


..and full, of his special creations..


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Our purpose here is complete.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> he smiled, stroking with tatooed hands, the round leathery egg he held.


Then his smile fell as he heard the songs of their fleet...his ships fall silent.

Each had made the ultimate sacrifice according their beliefs...but it pained him to see his creations fall at the hands of infidels.

The coralskippers were doing their job magnificently, protecting the larger destroyer and cruiser Vong vessels until, at that moment, when the infidel weapons came burning through the yorik coral skin.

The songs had stopped...

Most of the Cruiser and Destroyer size ships attacking the infidels were special....different from those slipping away.


Created by Tallien for one purpose and one purpose alone.


That the hard yorik coral organisms could traverse and actually hold their own against the infidels was a testament to the Yuuzhan Vong's biotechnology.

The fact that the yorik coral organisms could smash through the meager vessels was a testament to the organism itself.

The Master Shaper stroked the egg and looked outward.

The space surrounding Minos had been slated for the spawning ground....


..and looking at the yorik coral ships fall apart, after giving their all to chase down the intruding weaklings, he felt a sense of wonderment at the creation of life.

For as their "capital" ships exploded, in it's place was left a hazy cloud of plasma...

Soon the area would be filled with such "clouds"...his creation.

The guardian vessels, both 8 km long, holding a stationary orbit over Minos began releasing several spherical objects.

The cruisers and destroyers engaged in the combat (that were not destroyed) also began releasing the spheres.

The plasma clouds were growing slightly, having effect upon the holographic scanners of the infidels.

The planet became blacked out of the sensors and soon Yuuzhan Vong ships were appearing and disappearing, depending on their proximity to the cloud.


This battle was dying down....as the SSD held it's postion.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The ship would be moving out of their range soon.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


..And Tallien felt a small surge of envy as he knew they would die.

He heard Tslah Vhess give the order to an attack wing of their fleet, (including some of his "special" ships) to follow and destroy the large machine of the enemy.


He noted that there were other infidels that had intruded.


They too would feel Yun Yuuzhan's wrath.


..And as the plasma particles touched the spheres, their hard surface began to crumble apart leaving the larva open to space.


As soon as the vacuum of space touched the creature, it violently lashed about, it's skin also hardening.

Tallien smiled as soon the could see scores of larvae hatching.

"Blind Wyrms" is what Vuas had called them.

Using their surrounding gravitational pulls of celestial bodies, even artificial bodies, they zipped through space, their own bodies contracting and contorting as they moved.

Because of their nature, they could not travel very far from a planet before they began to drift helplessly.

Their design was simple:

Eat through durasteel and destroy the organics of an enemy.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Millions would be hatching soon...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->



The fighting around Minos would die down soon..



Tslah Vhess was ready...


The dovin basils had located the next target....


A place where they would touch ground and start the next phase of their future glory...


The fourth planet out from Capricia....



a place the infidels called....


<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Providence...<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->
  • Posted On: Nov 24 2001 8:41am
Creaking noise...

"What the?..."

Alright, no need to flip out Miles, there's a good explaination for that noise.

He let out a small whistle. He had been standing around for hours, not really doing anything. Well, he was doing something, but nothing that related to the ship itself. That wasn't Miles' area, he was just a business man. More like a very nervous and stressed out business man at the moment.

He laughed suddenly, the kind of laugh one made when they were losing their mind, or just half nuts.

He could just picture Vinda right about now, bitting down hard on his cigar, twirling it around with his mouth.

"Mr. V...I hope you brought enough of 'em, I think I'm going to need one too..."

Miles wasn't a smoker, but there was always a first for everything. He smirked, shook his head and adjusted his tie.

Time to move on out, I guess, see if I can help out Mr V any...

Miles headed for the bridge, the creaking noise never leaving his mind.
Posts: 3599
  • Posted On: Nov 25 2001 4:49am
<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> The Outmarches...<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->



<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...Undies in a knot!?...settle down!?...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*Shaking his head, Vinda turned around to face Omar indignantly...*

"..Did you get all that?..."

(he asked him increduously)

*..Omar looked decidely worried, but it wasn't at the Tactical outline Mattimus had given, for it seemed sound enough, in fact pretty much standard practice...
It was the fact, that it came from a Yuuzhan Vong...
...quite simply, Omar didn't trust him....*

OMAR:<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> "..yes, sir...."<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*...Vinda eyes narrowed in annoyance as he sensed the subtle hint of suspicion, He lifted his head up to look directly into Omars eyes, and spoke...*

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> "Then do it..."<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

*..Omar quickly nodded, acknowledging the command, he too had picked up on Vinda's mood.
Managing to stammer a reply, he looked a little sheepish, after just remembering his place....*

OMAR:<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> "..er, very,very good sir...."<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*Vinda got out of his chair and walked up to the huge View-screen , observing intensely, as he clasped his hands together behind his back...
He watched, almost in morbid curiousity as the strange vessels moved into formation, and he concurred...*

"..Captain!, get the Hapes Cruisers into squads of three, along with the Battle dragons, they can supplement each other...
Move the Dragons up front, I want a wall of fire so thick they won't be able to see us, let alone target us...
...Keep the Gunships, close to us, they're faster, and can target their fighters..."

*..Vinda's voice had become, precise, and almost suspiciously calm, he flicked open his Comm unit.....*

"..Mattimus, you've got your fighters... we engage on your mark...*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ..well, Mattimus.... you'd better be right about this.......<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->
  • Posted On: Nov 25 2001 5:30am
*Cool* Mattimus thought. Well without any further hesitation Mattimus blasted over the intercoms.

"Alright everyone here we go, on my mark......mark!"

With that he could see the fleet start to reposition themselves while the ships Vinda had designed covered them. Mattimus disengaged from the rest of the fleet with his fighters. All he had to do was to destroy a large dovin bassil directly. He guessed it would be like a story he once heard about how some people had gone into the middle of a battle station and blown up the core.

Already there were massive amount of firing going on around him. His fighters dodged the swarm of skippers however some did follow them. He ordered that his fighters rid themselves of these. On a dime, his skipper whirled around and shot another skipper easily. The remaing fighter disengaged, he knew they were going for back. Him and his fighters quickly darted towards the war ship in the farthest back. He knew it would be the least defended with fighters because they would be trying to stop a front assault. Him and his fighters swung up from below the great ship and were met with about 100 coralskippers. He figured his squadron could take them. Then his skipper opened up and shot the first shot of what would be a great dogfight.
  • Posted On: Nov 25 2001 8:16pm
OOC: Achinta the ships name is the SHADOW HUNTER for future reference. This is only the initial resistance also. They have the element of surprise in this post. But well face heavier resistance in the next post.

The communique device was just that when C4 scaned it just to be safe. One never knows the dangers that a new tech may bring. Tractor beams locked onto the cavernous opening in the derlict battle cruiser he shot into the ship. Repusors brought the shadow hunter to a complete stop they incountered the mass of the ship. All around there were scarred and unscarred beings with some sort of a starshaped organism over their faces. Some that had crustacian like hands were interrupted from their "molding" process posibly to mend the ship. Several guards were apparent bareing arms in the form of staffs and some sort of a armor surrounding them.

They turn to meet his ship and are rewarded by incinerated by his forward guns. C4 and a group of 4 phase 2 dark troopers and 2 phase one troopers in stormtrooper armor disembark down the ramp. Fireing plasma charges into the enemy as they acuired them. The ship had gravity so he called to the ship to send out his two destroyer droids. The two roll out to position. And lastly a hunter trainer with several small hunting drones. The ships security systems are set to shot any organic forms that come with in range.

One of the phase ones has a grenade launcher and fires at the nearest wall that indicates a atmosphere. It takes aim and fires. The explosion breaches the hull. venting oxygen and organic crew alike into the vacum of space. Non of them on the other side were prepared for the sudden lose of atmosphere so they are sucked out immediatly. C4 and his droids enter the ship continueing the destruction to a wall that must have sealed in the vacum. The process is repeated with the same result. Behind them their first entry way is closeing up and sealing itself. As it does there are warriors wareing the same protective masks and some sort of transparent covering to protect them from the vacum. They come wordlessly their faces displaying their rage at being attack. At that point all droids opened fire with heat seeker missles plasma shells and blasters.
Posts: 70
  • Posted On: Nov 26 2001 9:01am
<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Minos...<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->



<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...Good luck!...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*...Achinta Waited until C4 had safely entered the enemy vessel, pulled up tight, then veered off away from the ship..*

"...Report in every half-hour from now, then I know you're still safe, if time goes past and I don't hear anything, I'll be coming back for you..."

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...whether I'd be able to help you or not, is another matter altogether...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*..As C4 responded, Achinta was already covering a lot of ground, heading for the SSD command ship, but it was still some distance away....
Punching in the vector Co-ordinates on the navi-comp, Achinta throttled the ships engines to full, blasting through the melee of fighters and cruisers....and the engines responded with a roar...
...Two coral skippers rushed past , no three, there were too many to count....he grimaced slightly as they turned to follow him, Achinta calculated the odds....
All he could do is try to out-manouver them...*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...so much for the planned route!...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

Achinta banked hard right, barely scraping down the side of a Caprician cruiser heavily under fire, if they were going to destroy him, they would have to work hard for it...*


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...something tells me I should have followed C4...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->
Posts: 4195
  • Posted On: Nov 27 2001 8:31am
<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Providence Orbit....4th planet out from Capricia

..aboard the Caprician Star Destroyer <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Judicator<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->
<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->





"..there's a colony there all right." spoke a Lieutenant over the drum of the usual ship vibration.

The engines on the Star Destroyer had to maintain a constant state of thrust to keep their current orbit.

The next planet in was an unusually large gas giant (Kendra), which played havoc with several instruments.

Every five years, the gas giant Kendra and the planet Providence switched orbits. This was one such year, and at the end, Providence will assume the inner orbit around the system's primary but until that happened, both planets shared an extremely close trajectory.

"That's why they aren't responding to our hails!" another officer called out studying the gravitational sensor readings in detail.

Tsycio Korban moved over, itching to do <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> something<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->.

He, Leia and the thousands of battle ready Caprician soldiers had boarded the capital ship and with each passing kilometer, the anxiety increased.

With word of Adalric Cronus' ship engaging the enemy at Minos, the mood on the <!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Judicator<!--EZCODE BOLD END--> thickened.

There had been no word from the Minos task force since..


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Of course, being subject to the gravitational disturbances in this region, we are pretty much cut off from the rest of the system anyway. Perhaps, Caprician has heard word..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


His hand absently tried to scratch his shoulder but he hit the flexible yet hard battle armor provided to him.


He felt strange having a blaster at his side and his lightsaber opposite so he concentrated on the readings.


The Captain of the ship was with the navigator and suddenly the vibration stopped, as if the great vessel had found the eye within the surrounding gravity eddies.


"Launch our task force, now.." the Captain ordered.


Turning to Leia and Tyscio, he stared at them for a moment and addressed Leia.

"You have 10,000 soldiers at your command, my Lady. You are being given this command, in part, due to your experiences in fighting the Galactic Empire and your experience in negotiating with different peoples."


He turned to the circling planet briefly. "From what our sensors can tell, Providence has a population of just over 2 million. Their main city is named after the planet. The climate conditions on the planet are almost the same as Capricia. However, it is a bit cooler..." he paused, "which means their nights may be pretty damn cold.."


"Providence cannot communicate with us nor we with them from orbit because of the gravity forces coming from Kendra. Therefore, your first objective is to establish some type of understanding with the local ruling body and dig in. Assume that the enemy is coming..and in force. If the general population does not agree, make them!"


The Captain noticed Tyscio's eyes narrow.


"We don't have time to coddle them. Let's save them first and salve their wounds later. My task will be to protect your sky as best I can and hold off till reinforcements can arrive from Tyscio Zier and the fleet at Tirus."


"They are going to have questions. Korban, your job is to answer them and support Ms. Solo in her defense preparations. You should have surface communications but since the surrounding spacial effects negate our ship to shore transmissions, there is plenty of opportunity for things to go wrong."


"Keep your heads and good luck..."


Tyscio smiled a tight smile. "Good Hunting Captain."


The man nodded but was already focusing on his next order.

"Lieutenant, prepare a communications drone. I want to see how far these effects go.."


Tyscio and Leia made their way to the assault shuttles and Leia was soon surrounded by division leaders.

It appeared that the entire force would be landing outside the Providence main colony structures.

The Jedi Master was strangly quiet during these proceedings but Tyscio couldn't blame her. He too was lost in his own murky thoughts.. memories, worries, things he forgot to take care of in his house on Naboo.. all came rushing in.


The shuttles left the <!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Judicator's<!--EZCODE BOLD END--> hanger and the Star Destroyer's underside shrunk the farther down the battlegroup
descended.
Posts: 79
  • Posted On: Nov 27 2001 11:16pm
<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Blaze of Glory<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->.... Minos...<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->


<!--EZCODE HTML START--> <font color="red">"All damage control sections report to outer red level. Red level is off limits to everyone but Engineering Corps."</font><!--EZCODE HTML END--> CORE's droning voice rattled throughout the empty halls of the Super Star Destroyer.

Battlestations were manned and crew quarters were locked down. Only the damage control teams, the few remaining Clan soldiers and Republican Guard moved with precision protecting and moping up battle damage.

Nickoli gripped his heavy blaster rifle as he escorted Ambassador Arien from the Engineering Deck. Just outside, on the far side of the Engineering section, behind closed blast doors was vacuum. Behind those doors, Joine had been lost.

He had known the Ambassador's aide by reputation only but his loss was very evident on Scipio's face.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> What did they hope to accomplish?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> he wondered. The Yuuzhan Vong did not have a large boarding party. They could not have taken the ship. It was only their creature's resilience to the defender's weapons and the element of total surprise that their success was owed.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Keep telling yourself that, Nick..maybe you'll believe it one day.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


"How many invaders were there?" the Ambassador asked in a flat voice, coming up on the commanding seargent of the Clan honor guard.

"My lady, there were roughly 25 invaders. Reports are a bit sketchy."

Scipio made no effort to acknowledge his words. "How many did we find dead outside of Red Section?"

"64 ma'am."

"And how many were lost, of ours, in exposing the entire level to space?" Scipio's voice became harder.

"132 and an indeterminent amount of invaders as well."

"Not good statistics Seargent."

"No ma'am."

Scipio wanted to feel anger....wanted it to coarse through her as she planned to stalk on the bridge and confront "High Admiral."

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> One would think a strategic specialist would come up with something less drastic.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

She shook her head at the action so utterly ruthless, so .. so.. <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Imperial<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->..

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Why?.. why why why?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

She wanted to pound the walls...

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Unless..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

..and suddenly she became cold inside.

"Walk with me Nickoli.."


*****

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Outside the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Blaze of Glory<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

The orange-greenish plasma cloud continued to spread, taking on an almost nebula effect.

All around the area, little points of light shined out as the blind wyrms wiggled their way through the vacuum and yet they were out of range of the SSD, moving ..gaining speed behind the checkerboard alignment of the Yuuzhan Vong Minos Occupation Force.

Several wrecked Caprician warships, coralskippers and larger Yuuzhan Vong vessels drifted in the wake of the SSD's path..the flotsam of extreme interest to the Vinda Corp's droid, C4.

And the checkerboard setup that were the Yuuzhan Vong positions coupled against a plasma backdrop effectively hid the planet from sight.. both physically and sensor-wise.

The checkerboard had split into two flanks, with the two massive 8km guardian ships and Cronus' task force moved to compensate as best they could.


***

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Blaze of Glory<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->


"High Admiral?"

Adalric turned his grimacing face to the one that intruded into his thoughts.

"CORE's holographic BAC projections when we engaged the enemy indicated that the enemy fleet size extended beyond the planet. Before that plasma cloud blacked out our sensor readings in that area, CORE took one more solid look and it seems the numbers have thinned.

Whatever they had held behind the planet, they did not want us to see... and now it looks like whatever was there..is gone."

"CORE, probability that it was another fleet?"

<!--EZCODE HTML START--> <font color="red">"97.8% probability. After reviewing the attack patterns of the enemy: The cruisers and destroyer class vessels they threw at us were not really equipped to defend against our weaponry. They were designed to damage the enemy and die, their main purpose to discharge the energy/plasma cloud that is interfering with my sensor readings of the planet."</font><!--EZCODE HTML END-->

Cronus grinned wickedly, "Any chance those 8km ships are not equipped to defend themselves?"

CORE responded, <!--EZCODE HTML START--> <font color="red">"Scans indicate that those are what they appear to be. Yuuzhan Vong military capital ships. In fact, most of ships in flanking formation are full military capable vessels."</font><!--EZCODE HTML END-->

"Damn.." he muttered.


****


The lone Chazrach warrior had made it. He knew his trail of dead would eventually lead the infidels to him but that no longer mattered.

He had a purpose.

With pride, he stood, holding his face to the wall as if he could feel his target.

Then, without preamble, he ripped off his chest armor, the crab-like creature floudering at the sudden move.

The warrior's exposed chest revealed a creature's mouth protruding and at the exposure to oxygen, the mouth began to scream...


louder and louder it screamed, the warrior's body suddenly taking on a bioluminescent glow....

...the heat causing the warrior cry out a yell of his own..

..louder and louder the creature's scream went...

...several crew members bursting into the hall, weapons in hand at the noise.

but before they could fire a shot at the creature, he,


quite suddenly,


exploded.



The bow of the ship shuddered as the interior shockwave, overloaded computers exploding all around the High Admiral.


..and still the mighty vessel held position.


"CORE! Status.." he called as he saw the BAC tactical system go offline.

<!--EZCODE HTML START--> <font color="red">"T...Tracking systems..ddd doown. Weapons fired manually must....senso...offffffline.... hyper...driiiive down....*click* *click* ... maximum thrust in 5....4....3....2.....1...*click*"</font><!--EZCODE HTML END-->


and the bridge went dark.


"CORE?"


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> silence...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->
  • Posted On: Nov 28 2001 3:27am
The destroyer droids were holding the forcs at bay but they had some kind of organic armor that seemed to absorb and shrug off blaster fire. The proton genades were doing better and so were C4's own plasma shells and seeker missles. The Invaders were being cut to peices but they just kept coming they were screaming something over and over again. His mind raced to tranlate that word at least.

Translation complete: Meaning- Unnatural, demon, plague, Abomination.

They were not gaining any ground and he had to find out more. He ordered The destroyer and the two trooper drones armed with grenade launchers to hold position at the ship. While he 4 phase two troopers and 2 phase one troopers boarded the ship further. The room had sealed a gain and they was oxygen. He drops a proton grenade on the ground and moves safely out of the way. The explosion throws all attackers to the side and blows a hole through the floor.

C4 and his attack group moves forward through it landing among a barrack of soilders that must have been heading for the boarding party. The soilders fully amored launched some sort of projectiles. Most of them bounced off on them but some became imbedded on their armor. They swarmed the group be for they could use long range weapons. Amphistaffs cut through the air. C4 attivated his repusors and waded into them useing his superior mass to ram down 6 of the warriors. The Phase ones wareing stormtrooper armor were fighting with vibro knives and their balsters as a defensive weapon to parry with. ONe of the amphstaffs went limp and wraped itself around the blaster arm of the droid. with a pull the staff cut through first the armor and then the metel skeleton. The arm fell off aat the elbow. The warrior expected him to lose concentration becuase of the injury. But the droid felt no pain and impailed the soilder with a vibro nife driven into his chest. The arm sparked and the circutry was clearly visible. Another vong took the death of his comrade as a oppertunity to decapitate the droid. The neck also sparked and whine as the circuts and wires wer exposed.

the droids continued to fight but many of the vong pause as they realized that their foes were abominations. Their faces contorted with rage and with the war cry that must have been some thing allone the line of "death to the Aboinations" They pushed forward even more.
Posts: 1584
  • Posted On: Nov 28 2001 11:28pm
The familiar jolt as the assault shuttle left the Star Destroyer <!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Judicator<!--EZCODE BOLD END--> didn't even cause Leia's gaze to waver on her datapad, of which she was so intently focused on putting information into.

She stood out from the rest of the armored soldiers seated silently in the assault shuttle. She was still in her faded grey fatigues, the only noticeable change in her wear being the heavy utility belt that now hung low about her hips, blaster on the right thigh, lightsaber shining proudly on the left. She had refused to put on the armor that had been presented to her by the Capricians, preferring to stay in her more 'vulnerable' attire for now, an element which she hoped would work towards their political advantage once they touched down and were faced by the local government.

Nevertheless, she knew that the crates in the hold of the shuttle that she had been very specifically told contained the rest of her issued supplies and the armor, she would soon have to break out for the real battle.

Too soon.

But that was the more distant future, however near it seemed. First she had to figure out a way just to get proper admission and reception onto the planet, and so her thoughts returned to the notes for the speech she anticipated having to give soon. She added another sentence or two. Paused again.

Tyscio had been somewhat quiet and withdrawn since their meeting with the higher officials of Capricia, Leia had noticed. But most were, heading into a situation like this. Everyone else seated in the shuttle were relatively quiet as well.

She herself had been absorbed in her own thoughts. But her own thoughts no longer dwelt on herself, as was the price of power and command. It dwelt on everyone around her. The Yuzzhan Vong, The Republic she had taken leave from, the Jedi, the people on the planet she was about to take control of forcefully if needed. She studied the faces around her, grim yet full of anticipation, she felt the tension both in herself and around her. Buried under that somewhere was her own weariness, which she dutifully ignored.

There was a viewport in the bulkhead opposite of her, though made small for battle safety reasons. Through it she saw the shields glowing as they shed energy from the friction in the atmosphere as the ship descended towards the planet. Above the planet floated the rest of the task force, silent and filled with quiet menace. The guns would roar soon.


The next jolt came as she was putting away her datapad, having completed her task. They had landed on Providence.

The soldiers around her shifted in their places, the anxiety had come to a new high, but they did not rise from their seats. Leia did however, and walked towards the hatch, where two men were dogging it open and lowering the ramp. She descended slowly down the ramp, faintly aware that Tyscio was following close behind, and watched the numerous troop and supply shuttles land around them in the field and begin to disgorge their cargos of humans and equipment. The noise of the repulsor drives and sublight engines was deafening, but she had tuned it out.

Before her was their destination. One might even say target. She stared at it's outline. They were plenty far enough away to safely stage from here, their landing had been precise. That was a rare occasion in her experience, in the confused and rushed fighting of the Rebellion, and the silent scatter techniques of the Jedi. Already nearby a makeshift command station was being hastily erected. Soon they would have their plots and charts to use to make the final plans. Leia hoped they would have a rather easy time getting in.

Leia glanced back at Tyscio, whose attention was elsewhere, though not needed at the moment. The Commands and their troops already knew what to do at the moment. So she caught his attention with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you think?"