“What?! How did this happen?! I want the names of everyone assigned with security in those areas! You assured me this wouldn’t happen again.” The General yelled out, food spitting from his mouth across the table as he did so and smashed his thick hand down on table.

The man standing beside him wore a steel gray uniform and stood ramrod straight. He stared ahead with his head held high and his arms clasped behind his back.

“Sir, we detected nothing that suggested such an attack was coming… at least nothing of this magnitude.”

The General took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, sitting back in his large expensive chair, afforded him by his position. “Sorry Almar, I just thought we had arrested the last of the leaders. They shouldn’t have regrouped this fast.”

He paused and looked out the massive stained window that filled the entire side of the large dining room. “Please, sit my friend. I know you would have done everything in your power to stop this from happening if you would have known. Tell me, how bad was it this time?”

Colonel Almar Brunta relaxed and pulled the chair out of the table and sat down beside the General. He had been General Kartar Tolmin’s right hand man going on over six years now when they had worked together in rebuilding the Lantillies Planetary Defense Forces. Since that time Almar had been placed in charge of the Lantillian Internal Security Bureau after the reformation of the government two and some years before, right after the Reavers had swept this this part of the galaxy, consuming everything in their path. For reason unknown, they had stopped only a few systems away, right at Lantillies’ doorstep.

Since that time they were a constant threat to the survival of the planet. That threat had actually presented the opportunity the General had needed in order to take hold of the government and restructure it in the way he saw fit. That of course did not sit well with the old crowd and so now here they were, 2 years into a civil war that had almost been won, with the other side reduced to an insurgency.

“We got off pretty easy this time. Casualties seem to be very low civilian wise from the factory and news station attack, however, military and security forces have twenty KIA and thirty-six wounded. They attacked two security checkpoints and a Peace Enforcement Squad convoy that was heading on a mission inside Sector Forty-Two.” Relayed Almar has looked over at the General, silently eying the large meal the man was having while the rest of the planet rationed what little food was left in the military secured warehouses.

The General listened closely, but did not stop eating as the causality numbers were announced by his Colonel aid. He simply nodded while carefully and culturally cutting pieces of his food, delicately savoring them as he moved the fork to his mouth. Over years the man had seemed to have built up a tolerance to losses and the numbers, whether civilian or military hardly fazed him. The only indication of feeling was when loss of properly or projections of power were mentioned, such as the damage to the factory and destruction of military material. These things had been the hardest to replace and procure even before the start of the war, but became almost impossible after it. At any time these lost resources might be the difference between the planet falling victim to the Reavers and stopping their advance. The General truly believed that without him the planet would be lost and perhaps he was correct in those thoughts.

When Almar had finished the General seemed to be lost in thought for a number of second. As he held his knife and fork floating above the gold embroidered plate, he stared off into the distance, his head turned slightly to the other side of where Almar sat. In the silence that befell the room, seconds seemed to stretch on for what could have been hours.

Finally General Tolmin took a long, loud breath and turned back towards Almar, gesturing at the man with his knife and a small smile on his face. “Report all of this to the press, but instead of low civilian casualties, you will inform them that, in fact, there was a huge loose of life. Let them know that I will make a formal statement later today when more of the facts can be ascertained.”

Almar was shocked of what he heard, but externally he remained emotionless. “But sir…Yes sir. It shall be as you wish.”

“Good Almar, I know I can trust you to do what is best for Lantillies. Now, once that is done, seal off the area and take all survivors into custody. No one is to talk to them or even know of their existence. Let the Peace Enforcers handle the task.”

As these instructions left the General’s lips Almar could be silence no more. He was horrified at the moment that such a thing was happening. “General, you cannot be serious. These people just survived a horrible attack. Most of them need treatment and their families need to know about those that made it through.”

“Colonel! Are you questioning my orders and judgment in this matter?!” The General yelled out instantly, before bringing his anger under more control. “Would you like to be replaced? You are good at what you do, but there are others would kill for your position and carry out my orders without question.”

Colonel Brunta could not let that happen, he needed this position. Taking a deep breath to help calm himself, Almar lowered his eyes to the table and away from the General. “Negative, sir. I will carry out your orders whatever they might be. I trust your decisions entirely. I was just…concerned.”

“It’s always good to be concerned Colonel, but being indecisive could be the difference between life and death these days.” The General smiled as he took another bite of his steak after all this time. “I want you to supervise this entire investigation. Have Caberon interrogate any suspects and anyone that survived these attacks.”

“Of course, right away General.” Almar acknowledged as he pushed the chair away and stood up quickly. He felt sick to his stomach for a second when the name “Caberon” was mentioned. That man was known and hated throughout all of Lantillies. Everyone called him a soulless monster, but very few people have ever not given up the information requested during his interrogations.

Colonel Brunta offered the General a crisp solute before turning on his heels and quickly walking out of the room. He had much business to attend to.

With that the General went back to enjoying his meal, which had by this time gotten colder. He had just finished his meal, still leaving a good portion on his plate to be thrown out later as he wiped his lips with the napkin draped over his thighs. Kartar leaned back into his lavish dinning chair and reached over for his goblet of imported wine when one of his other Officer Aids rushed into the dining hall carrying a secure datapad.

“General! We picked up a small fleet of ships coming out of hyperspace!”

“What?! Reavers??!” The General almost choked on his wine.

“Negative sir. It doesn’t appear to be Reavers. They stopped as soon as they excited and are holding position. The ships are like nothing we have seen before. We are scrambling the Home Defense Fleet, but some of the units are out on patrol near Reaver space….Wait… There is a transmission coming through.” The man paused and listened to his earpiece.

“They say they would like to meet with the leader of this planet to discuss ways they can help us. They seem to be representatives of Stellar Enterprises.”

At a distance of roughly over 400,000 kilometers a small fleet of ten warships dropped out of hyperspace. Their sublight drives kicked on only for a moment as they repositioned slightly before extinguishing once more, casting the fleet into a slow drift towards the planet ahead. Centering the battle group was a Dalson Class Carrier, flanked by two Jackal Class Destroyers. Adding to the security of these heavy ships were seven Nova Class Corvettes interspersed between and around them.

“Sir, shields up, weapons on standby, course slowly and steady. We are simply adrift sir, as per orders.”

Commodore Regala Brok’fya nodded slowly in acknowledgement as he sat in his command seat and stared out towards the large curved display screen at the front of the bridge. Ahead of them slowly rotated the somewhat forgotten world of Lantillies. It was a shame that a world with so much history had been mostly lost in the strife that filled the galaxy over the past decades. That planet had one time been known as a leader in trading around the galaxy, second only to the Corellian trading guilds in terms of size and profits. However, unlike the Corellians, the Lantillies’ accepted membership from all races and beings as long as they chose to work hard. Such tolerant views had sparked a large immigration boom to the planet, making it one of the largest worlds, in terms of population, within the surrounding sectors.

Not resting on the trading enterprise, the Lantillies’ had founded a shipyard and went one to produce a few freighter and warship designs. While the warships had never really sold in large numbers in the rest of the galaxy, the freighters the planet produced became somewhat popular.

The planet’s golden age had lasted until the fall of the New Republic and the rise of the New Order. Once that happened, most of their trade agreements collapsed as they were caught in the middle of the two warring parties and could no longer honor some of the previous agreements to planets behind those territory lines. A lot of those planets had been major income sources. As they dried up Lantillies was left to suffer and scout the galaxy for any work it could find. The planet was managing to survive while on the verge of going bankrupt when the Reavers emerged into the galaxy. These horrid creatures had devoured some of the only economic lifeblood the planet had and caused a constant spiral of events that all led up to this day.

The Bothan Commodore studied the planet rotating before them for a few seconds more. He noted that the only real habitable region on the planet was a strip running along the equator and extending 25 degrees latitude north and south. Almost everything to the north or south of those latitudes was a constant winter landscape in which very few people lived and no consumable food could grow.

“How does it look out there Mr. Jostin.” The Commodore ran his hand through the fur on his chin and asked the sensor office.

“No real change in their defense fleet, in terms of ships. Whatever the EagleEyes reported before still holds true. They seem to be sending out ships on patrols out of the system every few days and rotating the ones that return back into the defense fleet.” He paused for a moment as he checked something and keyed in a few quick commands.

On the forward display three dimensional models started popping up in front of Lantillies. Most of them were ships of the defense fleet, but a few of the larger ones were of the shipyard facility and the two defense stations guarding it.

“Well they finally seem to have noticed us, sir. They are forming up into a defensive combat formation. The Majestic Cruiser is taking up the lead. I’m reading three Lantillian Cruisers, two frigate class ships, seem to be of Lantillian origin, one Corona Class Frigate, two Nebulon B2 Frigates, a single Corellian Gunship, and what look to be refit freighters of various classes.”

“Very well, thank you Mr. Jostin. I think it is time we let them know who we are and why we are here. Let’s not startle them more than we have to. Ms. Zorcia, would you like to take over the comm?” Regala asked as he leaned against the right armrest and gazed ahead to study the fleet formation opposing him.

From behind the Commodore emerged a rather stunning woman in a stylish gray-silver business suit and skirt. She looked to be in her early twenties, but was in fact almost in her forties. Everyone always seemed she was just a pretty face and she used that her advantage as much as she could, often catching people way of guard. Elana Zorcia pushed a few stray brown hairs from her eyes and smoothly glided towards the center of the bridge, fully aware that most of the military men were eyeing her the whole time. It was something she had gotten used to long ago.

Once in position she turned towards the communications station and smiled at the sailor sitting there. “Open up the proper channels and put me through please.”

A second later the channel was opened and broadcasted all the frequencies used by Lantillies and its military.

“Lantillies’ people and government please do not be afraid of our presence in your system. I am Elana Zorcia, Representative of Stellar Enterprises. I request a meeting with whoever is in charge of the planet to discuss ways that we may help your planet and perhaps form a partnership and friendship. Take however long you need to discuss this proposal. We will be holding position and awaiting your reply. If you wish us to leave this system, we will do so with no hard feelings. I thank you for your time.”

With her short introduction speech finished, the lady turned around gracefully, her medium length hair flowing, and walked away to the rear of the bridge. There she sat down in her visitor chair and reached over for the cup of tea that was sitting on the nearby table.

Only slightly over a minute had passed before the communications speakers crackled to life. The static slowly dissipated as a voice could be heard. The voice was echoing and resounding as if the speaker was in some tightly enclosed space.

“To the ships in orbit, this is Nor’kitan Olpar of the Lantillies Republic. I have heard your call and request immediate assistance for my people. I do not know how long we have, but I beg of you to help us in any way we can. Do not listen to General Tolmin. He is not the true leader of this planet. He is a military dictator that has destroyed everything the Lantillies society once stood for. Please meet with us and hear us out! The General cannot be trust…” The transmission cut off quickly at the source and replaced with a holoprojection of a portly gentleman wearing a crisp gray military uniform, with rows of medals and patches.

“Ms. Zorcia, I am General Kartar Tolmin of Lantillies. I am very sorry you had to hear and witness that. Someone hacked into our communications system, I can assure you that will not happen again. Lantillies and I would be happy to welcome you and accept your request for a meeting.” He paused for a moment and smiled. “We have not had off world guests since the Reavers attacked this part of the galaxy. Please give us some time to properly set up this meeting.”

Elana slowly set down her cup of drink, her mind already racing with how this could all turn out. What was to be a simple mission has turned into something very complicated. They had come to a planet in turmoil, but it was worse than they had originally thought.

“General Tolmin, there is no need to apologize. Please take all the time you need. There is no hurry. Shall we have our aids coordinate the details?”

“Yes, I believe that would be best course of action. I will have my aids contact you shortly with the final details.”

The diplomatic shuttle slowly descended down through the thickening atmosphere and punched through the layer of accumulating clouds. There seemed to be a storm coming from the large sea to the east, apparently they had arrived just in time for the storm season to begin. A bright light flashed over the right side of the shuttle and Elana looked out to see another bolt of lightning strike out from the sky into the sea below. The heart of the storm was still a ways off, but getting closer to the Capital of Lantillies by the minute. A shudder ran through the craft as it hit turbulence again.

Elana looked down from the viewport and saw the blue gray sea below them change into a grayish-black outline and rooftops of a cityscape. Like most other “city-worlds”, Lantillies didn’t really have a specific capital city anymore. The seat of power and control rested in large palace compound along the Pallamo Ridge that overlooked the large Totralia Sea. The senate building was situated more inland, close to the center of what used to be the Capital city of this world, but over many years surrounding cities had merged into the capital, making it impossible to discern which city was which anymore. Since the government takeover by General Tolmin, though, the palace had become the place were all decisions were made and it was there that Elana was headed.

As they neared the Palance it could be seen that the entire coast around the sea, as far as the eye could see was alight. City centers and neighborhoods stretched around the seas of Lantillies in concentric circles, making for a beautiful scene to those observing the planet. The only thing off was the mass traffic or lack thereof, that usually accompanied worlds with such populations. Only a few lanes of speeders could be seen moving between the buildings below and the pilot pointed out that a good percentage of them were police and military speeders.

The shuttle moved into the restricted airspace around the Presidential Palace and was quickly contacted by the Palace flight controllers in order to reconfirm their flight plan and identification. A certain flight path was assigned to the shuttle and the pilots were explicitly instructed not to violate it.

“Someone’s paranoid.” The pilot laughed and turned back towards Elana, who stood in the flight cabin entrance way with her arms holding the frame on either side.

“They seem to have some sort of Civil War going on. Perhaps they have to be overly cautious?” Exclaimed the Stellar Enterprises representatives just as two streaks raced by the shuttles viewports and started to turn back around towards them.

The pilot paused momentarily as he received new information through his comm system. “They say they will be our escorts for the rest of the flight. Apparently we need protection.” He smiled back again and shrugged.

Both fighters were back seconds later on either wing of the shuttle. Elana could see that both had seen better days and were of a design she had never seen before. The fighters were probably a local production, a mix between TIE Avenger wings and an X-wing body. It seemed as though the Lantillians has simply redesigned parts of both ships and repurposed them for local production.

Finally after another five minutes of flight, the shuttle settled gently on the rooftop landing pad of the Presidential Palace. As soon as the ship touched down soldiers in full dress uniform ran out and formed two ramrod straight lines outside the shuttle’s landing ramp. Every second one of them held a flag in their arms, which Elana assumed to be the new flag of Lantillies. Upon the ramp’s descent two figures emerged from the enclosed hanger bay on the far side of the pad. One wear a soldiers dress uniform, while the second wore an immaculate gray General uniform and head cover. On the man’s chest were row upon row of medals.

When Elana stepped down her two designated bodyguards were already standing at attention on either side of the ramp. A first visit to a not yet friendly planet would usually have called for at least four security personnel, especially to a planet in the throes of a civil war, however, the General’s staff had not allowed her that courtesy. They had insisted that such a detachment would be seen as hostile and that Stellar Enterprises should trust the Presidential Palace security to handle any problems if they arise. To help build a level of trust with the government Elana had agreed to take two bodyguards with her. They were dressed in basic, but stylish black suits on top of blasterproof combat vests and armed with specially designed blasters attached to the inside of their suits.

The woman moved between her two protectors and smiled at the two men that came forward to greet her as they paused before her. Her hair waved in the wind and blew across her face, which she quickly corrected. She was somewhat unsure of their new customs or if they even had any, so they allowed them to make the first move. Elana wondered what they thought of her, a beautiful young woman, coming down to try and negotiate with them. They were probably already underestimating her abilities based on her looks, but she would use that to her advantage.

“Miss Zorcia, may I present General Kartar Tolmin.” Stated the tall man standing beside the General.

The General smiled, but made no attempt to reach for a hand shake, so Elana did not press the matter and held her ground with a smile. “It is a pleasure to meet you General. Thank you again for seeing me on such short order.”

“The pleasure is all mine Miss Zorcia.” The General replied as he turned back towards the hanger exit and moved motioned her to come with them with his hand. “I have to say, I was more than a bit surprised when my people detected your ships coming out of hyperspace. We haven’t had much activity in this sector since the Reaver’s pushed this far in.”

Elana nodded slowly and smiled as she moved with the General. From the corner of her eye she saw the other uniformed man step in line and follow them closely. She noted the man’s Colonel rank badges and guessed that this was the Colonel Almar Brunta that her aids said could greet her with the General. Her bodyguards also fell in behind them, surveying each step them took cautiously.

The woman walked slowly and apologized for the sudden appearance of the Stellar Enterprises task force. She once more reassured the General that they were in no way hostile to the planet and simply wanted to render any assistance they could. Kartar agreed that any help against the Reaver threat would be appreciated, but made a point to say that the Lantillian military would handle any threat posed to the planet and were monitoring the Reaver’s closely.

As they proceeded through the Palace the General made sure to provide a guided tour to his guest. He pointed out the old original artwork adorning the walls of the hallways and added that it was this kind of opulence and spending that had not part in politics. That money should have been redirected into the population instead. Elana acknowledged that taxpayer money should be spent to make the lives of the citizens better and pay for the running of the aforementioned government.

After some time they finally came to the room that had been assigned to Elana. It was located in the visitor wing of the palace and the General assured them that tomorrow they would start their discussions on how both parties could help each other and perhaps form a long standing relationship. A tour of the surrounding city was also planned before they bid each other a good night and General Tolmin walked away with his Colonel.

Elana entered the massive suit assigned her and closed the heavy door behind her. Her two bodyguards took up positions on either side of the entryway to keep guard.