FLEET ADMIRAL VORIN ZONILL
MIN COLLATERAL STAR
OBJECTIVE I: KESSEL, RUN!
Fleet Admiral Vorin Zonill was eager to get this operation started as soon as he possibly could.
After being tipped off by
Marlon Sularen
as to the location of the rebel base, Zonill wasted no time in heading toward Kessel, where a large contingent of rebel soldiers were currently engaging in Spice mining operations. It was a fitting enterprise for them: taking Spice and refining it into narcotics that they undoubtedly sold across the galactic market. Just another reason that the Imperial Remnant was doing what they were doing, as they sought to bring order to an otherwise lawless section of space. Still, the Imperial Remnant would have to do everything that they could in order to evict the rebels from the planet, something that would undoubtedly be a long and arduous process.
Doing so would start with defeating their navy, which would surely be guarding such an important planet. Yet as the
Collateral Star entered the system, it appeared as if there was no rebel presence at all, almost as if the planet itself had been abandoned. Yet, Zonill knew better than anyone else that the rebels were surely in system, and were just hiding in plain side. In their many engagements proceeding this battle, the Imperials had encountered the rebels using cloaking technology on a relatively large scale, and Zonill was certain that was what they were doing here.
That was why he had lead with the
Star and had not brought any other ships with him, as he had wanted to limit the amount of vessels that might end up getting ambushed by the rebels. Unlike most other ships in the Mahporeenian fleet, the
Collateral Star had been equipped with a technology rarely seen on other vessels: am
NZ MTS "Bloodhound" [Magnetic Targeting Sensor], an advanced sensor that scanned for its targets using magnetic waves instead of other visual or sensory means. This meant that the
Collateral Star could scan for cloaked targets without having to visually see them, which is what it did the moment that it arrived in system. It didn't take long for Zonill to find his first target: a
Rebellion III Class Star Liberator, though there were a number of other ships lurking around that Zonill didn't quite know about yet.
The
Collateral Star held its position as it continued to gather targeting data on the
Rebellion III Class Star Liberator. As it sat in orbit, it began making its defensive preparations: 10 squadrons of
PGEM/Droid Fighter-Bomber MK Is, 10 squadrons of
TIE/D Vultures, 10 squadrons of
TIE Striders and 5 squadrons of
Tri-Wing TIE Droids for its fighter complement and 5 squadrons of
TIE/AN Annihilators, 5 squadrons of
Lambda-class YT-1760 Annihilators and 5 squadrons of
Hyper-Jammers for its support complement. Zonill wanted it to look like the Imperials were unaware of the rebel's presence, but in reality he was sending his fighters and bombers directly toward the nearest
Liberator.
As this was going on, an additional ship was starting to make its way toward the planet's surface, itself cloaked: a single
Von Strauss-class Cargo Ship. It was all part of his plan: show up with the
Collateral Star, draw any rebel attention to himself, and allow his transport to slip down onto the planet quietly. At least, that was his intention, but ready or not the rebels figured out what HE was up to remained to be seen. Still, on the surface, it appeared that Zonill had made a massive tactical blunder, leaving his more valuable ship unguarded and overextended. But in reality, Zonill was ready to strike out at the enemy, and it was only a matter of time before he located the rest of the rebel fleet. Still, there was one thing bothering him: the existence of interdiction fields around the planet. Just how confident were these rebels, anyways?