The alarms began to blare across the scope of Grand Isle, sending people fleeing into pre-arranged shelters and causing military personnel to scramble to their stations. These particular alarms meant that an enemy fleet must be inbound to attack Vladet. At the time the alarms went off, Park Kraken was in a lunch date, entertaining the ambassadors from Isht and Diamal. While the two planets had cooled off towards each other since the Empire "helped" them to settle their differences, relations were still cool, espically about fighting over who got the right to mine a newly discovered asteriod belt at what used to be the borders between their empires. When the alarm was heard at their location, the two ambassadors were herded off to his private bunker, while Kraken himself was escorted by Imperial secret service agents to the military complex, where he would join other top commanders in an undergroud bunker.

Less than five minutes later, he was inside of the battle bunker complex, and demand to know what the latest was on an enemy fleet moving into the Vladet system. He was met with sheepish and embarrased smiles from the commanders and aides.

"Sorry sir, but there is no enemy fleet moving on the capital. The alarm was sounded because the system we normally use for alerting top commanders has had mechanical problems." reported Rear-Admiral Jokeen, the man responsible for maintaining the ground and space defenses around the capital planet.

"Well," said Park, twisting his head side to side as he considered the consequences of a false alarm, "What do you have?"

"An enemy fleet has been detected in the Bilbringi system. Preliminary scans just arrived indicate that this is the same fleet that has been gathering strength for weeks in the Ord Mantell system. Friendly forces have backed up the planet, and are waiting for the Coalition to engage." as Vice Admiral Brand finished saying this, a flash traffic priority came in over the datalink from Imperial High Command.

"Hmph, so the Galatic Coalition has decided to come in for a scrape after all. Well, we should prepare for our own counter-attack. Have the state of our forces increased to full red, and let's...." ordered Kraken before he was cut off by Brand.

"Sorry governer, but another message has come in from High Command. Coalition forces have opened fire on Imperial defenders. War plan Charlie Delta is being put into effect. That is all." repeated the Admiral, reading from the sheet of flimsiplast that he had been handed.

"And so it is." stated Park with some finality. He looked up to gauge the officers in his command complex. The older more senior ones snorted and lightly chuckled at the Coalition sealing it's own fate, while some of the more junior ones paled slightly at the seemingly stupidity of the Coalition in attacking their own powerful goverment.

"Okay, put all forces on red alert, as we are now in a state of war with the Galatic Coalition. And immediatly put into effect war plan Charlie Delta. Send authorization for plan Charlie Alpha Delta Sierra across the secure channels to the commanders of the Grand Fleet of the Mid-Rim. We will soon meet to begin the splintering and ultimate destruction of the Coalition." ordered Kraken. His orders was met with hand clapping from the more senior officers and little cheers from the more junior ones. While he hadn't meant for it to be a speech, his current reign of governer meant that he was will within practice of doing so.

"And on that note, I will be heading out to personally head this campaign. Wish me luck, and I will soon return to celebrate with you all the triumph of the Empire." said Kraken as he turned and headed out from the command room, followed by several of his commanders who would be accompayning him on this mission.

Minutes later, he arrived at the military spaceport, located near the command complex, and was being herded towards one of the shuttles ferrying personnel up to his flagship. There was a line of several tens of shuttles, both in descension and ascension, between the surface of the planet and the Imperial fleet holding orbit above the planet. His own shuttle lifted off soon, with him aboard, and soon there-afterwards, docked in the hangar bay of his massive fleet flagship, the command ship Superior. He rode a tram partway down the ship, and walked the rest of the way to the bridge, a light sheen of sweat breaking out on his forehead due to the many luncheons and lack of normal rigorous exercise that he had been getting lately.

All conversation on the bridge ceased when he had arrived, and took his position at his command chair. Park looked over to where the captain of the ship, Gullitone, stood at his personal station, looking between him, his command staff, and the fleet that was now beginning to leave orbit, such a change from where they had stood from less than an hour before.

"Well captain, let's get underway, we have an rendezvous with destiny, and I intend to not keep her waiting." ordered the vice-admiral. He could feel the deck beneath his feet shudder as the drive engines of the massive vessel ignited, propelling her from an orbit into the outer confines of the system. Around her, other vessels in this particular fleet detachment, consisting of star destroyers, heavy cruisers, and escorts, formed up around their flagship, as the flotilla entered hyperspace, bound for the gathering place of the Imperial fleet tasked with destroying the Cren Alliance.

Farquak

Sicilia Frenon was one of the many workers at the food processing facilities that dotted the face of this planet, having been transferred to this assignment recently from another planet within the Coalition, taking the place of a day shift manager who had come down with a mysterious illness and had to take his leave so that he could travel to a medical facility and get all doped up on panancea, the miracle cure all for the citizens of the Coalition.

So important was the task of keeping food supplied to the citizens and military members of the Coalition, including the workers in the orbital shipyard facilites where the best ships in the Azguardian Empire were being built, that she worked ten days a week, for twelve months out of a fifteen month year, her off time being in between the harvesting and planting seasons. For her service she was paid fifteen credits an hour on standard pay, and twenty credits for overtime, meaning that when she did take-off, that she had a pretty substantial paycheck.

But being fired was one thing she never had to worry about. For unknown to the bankers of the Coalition, she had money stored in accounts that they could not reach, money that she had not, and probably would never, have reach to. For while she worked during the day, during the night she was a member of Imperial Sleeper Cell number 41sFt, assigned to attack the GC's economic flow of goods and income on this planet. Her cell was made up of twenty five people scattered about the planet, some workers on the ground facilites, others stationed in the shipyards above, the longest two or three people here having gained acceptance into the ground defence crews.

Their composition was a mix of humans and natives of the planet, the latter having been attracted by the promise of a better life and being rich once they had accomplished their duties and fled the planet. As leader of the cell, she knew that this fate was not likely to be accomplished, that all members of the team were likely to end up dead. But still, being a loyal Imperial through and through, although outwardly cursing it and praising the goverment she was working for, she was willing to accept her fate, and give her life for the glory of the Empire. All that she and the other members of the team(s) stationed throughout the Cren Alliance needed now was the signal for them to being their operations.

* * *

Farquak System

The intrusion occured so suddenly that presumably the defenders were caught off guard. It was not known if this was the case or not, indeed, without observers being present, one would have no idea what exactly happened when the intruders made themselves known. But none the less, at about that same time, twenty five of the latest and most advanced Automadan Viper Probots emerged from the confines of hyperspace and deployed. Many of them scanned the planet, moons, and surrounding areas of the system, taking in all of the information, encoding it, then transmitting it back to their mothership.

However, a few probes, instead of scanning for data, instead hurled a wide variety of electronic data, a modified form of radio frequency, that caused all the pagers, comlinks, and other communications devices across the planet and moons to go off, creating a deafening amount of noise that was the signal for the Imperial sleeper cells in the system to prepare to go about their operations. With the scanning and signaling completed, the viper droids self-destructed, leaving nothing behind but a few pieces of scrap metal for the presumably scrambling defenders to find and anaylze.

* * *

At a point in space near the Cren Alliance

By the time the command ship Superior and rest of the task force had arrived from Vladet, ships from other task forces, having been in orbit around planets closer to the rendezvous point, had already arrived and set up station in this point in space in the middle of nowhere. From the bridge of his personal flagship, Park Kraken could spot the dreadnoughts and heavy cruisers with support from Isht and Diamal, bearing the planet's respective emblems next to those of TNO. The Imperial fleet was almost at full strength, with a hundred capital warships of various kinds present.

The centerpiece of this operation was a stripped down and modified Golan II battle station that was serving as a docking and command platform, replenishing the vessels present as a stream of Titan class resupply vessels heading into and out of the system kept the station stocked with ammunition, fuel, and consumables, plus an assortment of spare parts. In addition to warships such as star destroyers, heavy cruisers, and gunships, there were also support vessels like fleet carriers and repair ships, and special needs warships such as interdictors, gun vessels, and shield ships present.

As his eyes swept over the impressive sight splayed out before him, one ship caught his attention as it exited hyperspace. The Imperial Reign class star destroyer Tyrannic, having deployed over a hundred viper probots to the Cren alliance systems, collected the data recieved, and then gone through a complicated series of hyperspace jumps to avoid pursuit, came into the system, and began to broadcast the recieved data, pre-sorted, to the various vessels of the taskforce. Turning away from the viewport on the bridge, the governer walked down the command walkway and headed aft, towards the war room. He wanted an early look at what they would be up against when they made their move....

<b>Cren Central Command</b>
<b>Onboard the spacestation</b><i> Defender 1</i>

"Captain, Imperial Probots detected!"

"Sound Code 1. Wake the Admiral. This is no drill people."

As the Code 1 alarm rang through the space station, com, radionic and laser-line of sight signals were sent to the other space stations, the space ships (which were not THAT much of an impressive fleet, especially considering the firepower the Imperials were expected to have) in the system and the defensive structures across the planet. As well a general alarm went up across the planet, informing the populace of an appearance of enemy ships (such as they were). Immediately active ground troops and those troops who were on reserve moved to go to their local headquarters, to report for possible duty. The fact everyone's coms, pagers, etc were going off made a rather annoying racket, but most people had the common sense to lower the volume on the ringers. Unfortunately sense isn't necessarily common, so some people just let their various communication devices ring at high volume until the probots left the system. Police, security forces, military police and militia all began patrol various assign areas in on the planet and its moons. They would look out for uncommon activity, incase there were spies, as well as help those who were in need of it.

Admiral Dawara was already awake by the time the alarms went off, he was just preforming a usual early morning task that required privacy. The Imperials had not only caught the Coalition in relative surprise, they had caught them with their pants around their ankles. Having finished his task, Admiral Dawara left his quarters and walked towards the command deck.

There was some surprise that the Imperials were here, for there was always surprise when an enemy showed up in your system, as much as some people may believe otherwise. Despite reports of a fleet amassing near your space, despite the knowledge that the enemy had hit you once before, even despite a spy showing you the enemy's battles plans for an invasion of your system with a time set for when the invasion would begin (this wasn't true in this case) there was always some surprise when the enemy did arrive. Because no matter what, no one ever WANTED that enemy fleet to arrive. There was always the chance that they were a feint and that the real fleet was headed elsewhere. However, despite this relative surprise, and despite the Imperials catching the Cren commander with his pants around his ankles (for Cren truly did wear pants), the Cren were still prepared. They had lived under Imperial rule once, and they weren't about to return to that.

"Admiral on deck," came the call as the Admiral, and Supreme Commander of the Cren Alliance Military strode onto the command deck.

"As you were. Captain, what seems to be the situation?"

"Imperial probots detected in our system. We activated sensor jammers to prevent the Imeperials from getting good information on our fleet and dispatched some Defender Gunships to deal with them....sir, the probots have just self-destructed, should we retrieve the wreckage?"

"No, pull back those gunships immediately and activate the interdictor's grav-well generators, give the Imperials a bit more of a surprise. What civilian traffic do we have in the system?"

"We had a lot of bulk freighters carrying material for the shipyards, they have been re-routed, many are going groundside on Farquak, some have been divereted out of system. Droid ships make up the bulk of those ships diverted to go out of system."

"Ok. Send out a general message to space travelers that the area around the Farquak System should temporarily be avoided starting immediately, for at least the next hour, due to the sitting of Imperial ships in the system and for them to watch for other updates. Begin powering up the defenses on Gernon, Farquak and Farquak Junior, but keep all hidden defenses of all kinds hidden. Have ships launch fighters, power up shields, leaving launch vectors open for the fighters. And have power ready to be transferred to weapons."

Admiral Dawara finished walking to his chair and sat down, staring out the viewport ahead of his. Around him people hustled and bustled around, getting status reports, sending people to different areas and doing system checks. And there he sat in the center of it all, in the eye of the storm as it were. A storm that paled in comparison to what it would be liked when the Imperials arrived.

During this time, Admiral Dawara thought back to his comments with Regrad and the other major commanders prior. He had claimed the Cren couldn't hold by themselves. This was an exagerrated comment, given that he wasn't even sure what he was facing yet. Hopefully that would not be the case, hopefully Ion would be able to get some reinforcements to Farquak before it was too late. In the meantime he'd deal with this issue as best he could. Fortunately the Imperial commander wasn't going to be exactly sure of what he was facing. He'd know there was some fair sized space stations, a couple Dominator HBC sized ships and some smaller ships between 1000 and 1600m, plus the 4 Defender Gunships who had attacked the probots, those he would know for sure, but he wouldn't be positive on the other ships. And he would probably be wondering a bit about where all the other gunship and light cruiser size ships were that seemed curiously absent, but he wouldn't know where they were. Once he arrived in system he would immediately identify the presence of the Interdictor Cruiser and would more than likely also identify the rest of the ships. He would probably also detect the presence of shield generators on Gernon, Farquak Junior and Farquak, and could possibly even detect that there were ships alongside the shipyards, but would be unaware of what those ships were, until he arrived in system and got closer.

Admiral Dawara did not know what he would or wouldn't detect for certain, there was too many maybes. Even the appearance of an Imperial fleet was still a maybe. He hoped they weren't coming, but he knew they probably would be.

The captain came over to Admiral Dawara.

"This is going to be fun, isn't it sir?"

"Pardon me?"

"This will be fun. I mean we have all the surprises, lik-"

"Captain, let me explain something to you. War is not 'fun'. War is never 'fun'. Nor are we likely to 'win'. You see, in war no one 'wins'. One side might lose more ships than the other, one side might even surrender to the other side. But no one 'wins'. Both sides lose. They lose men. The second one side loses a life, that side loses. And in war, both sides will undoubtably lose far more than just one life. The question is not 'who wins', its is 'who loses the least'. You are from Sapuni, and young. You have not seen a real war. This planet, these people, these Cren, have seen far too much war. Much of it was instigated by each other, but much was also instigated by the galactic powers. I support the Coalition's desire to fight against the Imperials, I really do. I realize fighting is a necessity. The strike on Bilbringi was a necessity, the Empire had to be shown we would not allow them to continuously attack our convoys, our people, our systems. But I do not like fighting and war. Not true veteran enjoys war, unless they are sick and mentally deranged."

"I see. Excuse my comments sir."

"There is nothing to be excused. You knew not what you were talking about. Yes we may take enjoyment from our accomplishments in war, for no doubt the other side will. But do not view it as fun. War is not a fun business."

With that the Admiral turned back to the view port and waited for the Imperials appearance...

At the edge of the Farquak system

"Sir, we are coming to our cut-out point in five...four...three...two...one...disengaging hyperdrive." said the chief navigator as one of his subordinates pulled on a pair of levers. Outside the viewport, the enlongated stars turned back into their normal pinprick shapes. The Imperial flagship had arrived in Cren alliance space. One of the stars was a little bigger than the rest of them, signaling the location of the Farquak system.

"Smooth transition navigator. All right sensors I want a full report on the surrounding area of space. Raise deflector shields and prepare weapons just in case." ordered the captain of the ship.

"Sensors detect nothing visible. Preliminary anti-stealth scans reveal nothing out of the ordinary either." reported the sensors station chief.

"Good. Admiral, the fleet is at your command." beckoned the captain as he returned to his post.

The vice-admiral in charge of the Farquak system blockading fleet stepped forward onto the command podium and spared a brief glance all around for the crew of the vessel. Then his eyes scanned the holotable where a map of the system and the vessels in the fleet were located at.

"Have the interdictors activate their gravity well projectors. Put the guardians out forward to deploy their shield barriers. Have the rest of the fleet form into a protective cocoon around the interdictors and behind the shield barriers. Be prepared to launch starfighters as needed. And have a message sent to command. Inform them that the Farquak blockade forces have deployed successfully and that the system is shut-off to traffic." ordered the vice-admiral.

The shields aboard the combat destroyer came up to full power while a slight shudder ran through the decks as the interdictors powered up their gravity well projectors. The other ships formed into the protective formations around the interdictors as a massive field of gravity ran through-out most of the Farquak system, blanketing the planet and her two moons to the point that ships would take forever to reach or depart the planet in sublight speed.

* * *

Imperial Command, Command Ship Superior

"Admiral, message recieved from the Farquak taskforce. They say that they have reached the appointed position and have deployed their blockading forces accordingly. No enemy opposition has been met, and they have deployed their interdictors accordingly." reported the communications officer.

"Excellent. Deploy the Sapuni taskforce now as well. And then prepare Task forces Eta and Iona for their missions as well." ordered Park Kraken.

"Aye sir. Sending messages now." replied the communications officer.

Outside the viewport, the Sapuni taskforce entered hyperspace, as two more groups of ships prepare for their jumpoff point as well....

"Sir, priority transmission coming in from Imperial High Command." shouted up the communications officer.

"I'll take it in my personal quarters." replied the admiral.

Probably an update on Bilbringi, but safe to take no chances....

"I want a(n) status update report, what is the latest status of our blockade forces?" inquired Park, coming onto the bridge after gaining some much needed rest in his personal quarters.

His senior aide, Commander Farlax, provided the answer by handing him a sheet of flimsiplast before summarizing what it said.

"Blockade forces for the Farquak and Sapuni systems are in place as we speak, Admiral. The two systems are sealed off from the outside galaxy. Interceptors report destroying a few trapped freighters and a few enemy pickets or patrol vessels caught away from the system." informed Farlax.

"No organized enemy resistance to the blockades?" asked Park, his eyes glazing over the longly written and comprehensive report.

"No sir, our scouts have indiciated that enemy battlefleet forces are staying in close to their respective planets." responded the commander.

"How are the minelaying operations proceeding?" asked Park, turning the subject aside slightly.

"Most of them are completed or almost completed. Already a few commerce ships have fallen prey to the minefields laid in the more heavily traveled corridors." said Farlax.

"Very well. I shall be in the mess below. Inform me of any other changes." said Kraken as he turned and started to walk away.

"Sir, a quick question. Any idea of how long we'll be here?" asked Farlax.

Kraken turned to give him a slightly hard look. "As long as we need to be here, commander. The Cren alliance chose to send warships to aide in the Coalition's attack on Bilbringi. As long as they support the Coalition, they shall suffer the wrath of the Empire." said Kraken, before proceeding to get something to eat.

"Sir, the emissary has just arrived." reported the Lieutenant. The report was not needed, for Park could see very plainly the flash of light that indicated the courier ship coming out of hyperspace.

When the Cren alliance had first sent out a communication, asking for a chance to have talks with the leader of the Imperial offensive, at first Park had been wary, suspecting some kind of treachery. However, a number of things had changed his mind, mainly a signal from High command to proceed with the talks when queried, and the fact that the Cren alliance seemed to be different than other opponents that he had faced in the past.

Despite the fact that their ships had been involved in the attacks on Bilbringi, they didn't seem to be the dis-honorable race that they had been made out to be. Perhaps, suspected Park, the Cren alliance had either been "heavily influenced" or else outright coerced by force into supplying ships for the attack on Bilbringi. Certainly that hotheaded leader that had commanded the Bilbringi attack could probably scare most anyone into complying with his wishes.

And so, with a chance to end this conflict (and go back home to his family, and resume his duties as governer), Park agreed to hold talks aboard his personal flagship.

Right now the Superior orbited the space station along with several other large star destroyers and numerous support vessels and other warships, making a very fearsome sight indeed for those who saw it with their own eyes. No doubt the couriers were gasping and awing this very moment as they made their way to the flagship. As the shuttle grew closer the admiral turned away from the viewport and headed towards the conference room.

The couriers were to be met by the captain of the ship and an honor escort of stormtroopers. He had his planned concessions for their surrender planned out, what he would like to happen, and what he absolutley wanted for the Empire's victory to be completed here.