Prelude to Dominance (Judicator Development)

[Lash]

Lequabis System
Imperial Reconnaissance and Exploritory Corvette Kringan
02:40 Sirat Wen standard time.

"Commander, were here."

Commander Thal Biggs looked up from the report he had been reading as the IRC Kringan exited hyperspace. Before him the massive sphere that was Lequabis. Its atmosphere an eternal tempest rolling across the upper atmosphere of the gas giant. Its green yellow tint made it clear no usable tabanna gas would be found here. Further scans would give them a better idea of just what this worlds secrets were and what use,if any it would hold for the Empire.

"Major, scan the system for any constructions. I do not foresee this world being any better than the last five we have investigated."

"Yes Commander, Beginning scan."

The executive officer of the Kringan was Major Linu Tal. He had been Thal's second for over three years now and there was no being in the galaxy Thal trusted more. The two had been through so much and had a friendship forged in the depths of space by battle and personnel trials. He truly love Linu and for that he had payed the price in his career more than once. Now here he was on the fringe of space investigating useless systems for any importance to the Empire. It was a busy work assignment and was meant to keep him out of the way and busy. HE knew he was unpopular with his Task force commander but none of that mattered. He had a command and he was free to carry out his orders s he saw fit.

"Commander, we have something. Wait no..."

Thal turned to Linu with confusion.

"What is it major? did you find some abandon mining depot? I would imagine we will find a few of them in the lower atmosphere."

Linu looked up from his console with just as much confusion in his eyes as Thal had felt at Linus comment.

"No sir, Um I thought I saw something but then it was gone. It may be some sort of interference from the storms. I am running a diagnostic on the scanner now."

Thal smiled and turned back to look out the forward view port at the gas giant. It gravity lapping out at them like a Rancor, attempting to grab their corvette and drag it into its maw. Thal looked back at his data pad and the report he had been reading. Status and readiness reports from the last drills the crew of the Kringan had ran. His crew were far from the cream of the crop and many were near if not at the bottom of their class at the Imperial academy. HE had not let this change anything, he expected them to perform as well as any crew in the Galactic Empire. This had lead to his crew being very dedicated and loyal to Thal and despite their poor placement they had excelled and were near the top of the task force's training scores, even better then the flagship crewed by the elite officer corps available to the task force. He had been proud of his crew and they of him. He was happy with his assignment even if it was a joke. He had the best crew and his best friend here and life was good.

"Commander Diagnostic done, Scanners are working at peak efficiency and without malfunction? I have no idea what I had saw but it appears to be gone. Maybe it was one of those old gas mines poking its head out of a cloud."

Thal nodded in agreement and looked out at the gas storms. He thought to himself about how you could hid an entire fleet in that soup and no one ever know it. He paused then turned to Major Tal with a look of dread in his eyes Linu had never seen.

"Set condition red, all hands to battle stations!"

 

[Lash]

Sirat Wen hyperspace relay point
Deep Space Sensor Station 1527
18:17 Sirat Wen standard time

"Mark are the sandwiches ready? I could eat a bantha, I am so hungry."

Timothy Risa sat with his feet propped up on his console reading the latest news from Sirat Wen. He and Mark were on their last day of a thirty six day rotation on the deep space listening post near the last hyperspace relay point into the system. Life here was boring to say the least, they just watched ships come and go all day and nothing else. While some people might have longed for more. Some may have wanted combat duty or some fluffy posting as a diplomatic guard. Tim longed for nothing more than to sit on his seat in front of his monitor and do nothing. He liked boring, meant he stayed alive. Mark Denri was just the opposite, he longed for starship operations duty. He wanted to be part of the fleet and explore the galaxy defending Order and The Empire. But for now he was assigned here on the ass end of Imperial space. He knew in his heart he was destine for more. He knew one day he would do something important and be more then a forgotten security guard.

"Ha, I wonder how that would taste? Not me I will stick to less stocky animals. Here its not bantha but it is a meat,what kind im not sure. I just know its not bantha"

Mark handed Tim his plate and sat in the seat next to him. The two talked about the days events, which was nothing more than a freighter inbound to the system, and about what they would do once they are on leave.

"I think i'm going to hit up Maggie about that dance she owes me. She said to call her when i'm back planet side."

Mark laughed at the comment and smiled at Tim slyly.

"I bet she did, you know what she is right? I mean I am sure she has danced with a few guys while we have been on deployment. And by a few I mean dozens."

Tim faked a surprised look

"Wait, what do you mean?"

Tim then laughed and placed his plate on the panel before him.

"Yeah that's ok I don't want to marry her just have some fun. Besides You have seen her, I want in that line."

Mark laughed and finished his sandwich. He stood up to carry the plates back to the kitchen area of the small living space on the station when warning klaxons erupted and the sensor alert station lit up like a sun. Tim threw his feet to the floor and almost spit the last bit of drink he had just sipped.

"Man you may want to see this."

 

[Lash]

Lequabis System
Imperial Reconnaissance and Exploratory Corvette Kringan
02:45 Sirat Wen standard time

Linu looked at Thal with confusion. There was nothing for light years and he had no idea why Thal had given the command.

"Sir?"

Linu ask inquisitively before carrying out the order.

"Now Linu, don't ask questions just do what I say."

The lighting turned to a dull red color and sirens began to buzz all through out the ship. Men and women ran trough the corridors manning their action stations and preparing for what was to come. On the bridge Thal looked out into the gas clouds hope he was wrong.

"All hands set condition red, Man action stations."

Linu silenced the klaxons and typed in his authorization code to lock the ship down for red alert.

"Condition red set commander, all hand at the ready."

Thal grimaced with no reply. His attention was firmly set on the planet in the distance.

"Give me an active ping Major, Set range to two kilometers inside that gas ball."

Linu looked out at the world in the distance as he finally realized what Thal was thinking. His mind spun as the possibilities rushed into his consciousness.

"Aye commander, Active ping engaging."

As blast of radio waves shot out in all directions from the corvette bouncing off dust and rocks. Seconds later the imaging sensors confirmed what Thal had suspected.

"There commander inside the gas clouds. I have multiple contacts bearing 97 by 104 at Range eighty seven kilometers."

On the forward tactical display small read dots began to appear marking the contacts which the active sensor ping had found.

"Can you make out what were looking at major?"

Thal sit back for a moment thinking of the mistake he had just made. They were relatively invisible to what ever was hiding inside the planets upper atmosphere, that was up until he had ordered the active ping. At that point who ever was down there knew they were in the system and exactly where they were.

"No sir, I have what appears to be twenty seven separate contacts. Most are small but I can make out three large contacts, Frigate sized I think Commander. But I am not sure. The gas cloud is playing hell with our sensors."

Thal thought of the best action to take now that whatever was out there knew he was there and actively looking at them.

"Commander I have movement, I Have four contacts breaking off from the group and moving to intercept us."

Thal slammed his hand down on the command seats arm, angered at himself for not just sitting silently and waiting for what ever was there to show itself.

"Helm, set speed to silent one bring us around to one nine five. Lets see if we can sneak out of here before we have to find out who or what they are and what their intentions are."

 

[Lash]

Sirat Wen hyperspace relay point
Deep Space Sensor Station 1527
18:20 Sirat Wen standard time


Mark dropped the plates onto the floor and rushed back to the operations console and sat in his seat. He silenced the alarms and went through the short process of bringing the stations shields up and weapons online. Then he looked at what was causing such a camotion.

"There just at the edge of sensor range, A ship just dropped out of hyperspace."

Mark looked over the data scrolling now from the sensors.

"See if you can raise them on the comms."

Tim nodded and opened a wide ban channel.

"Unidentified craft on heading two for five seven four. Please transmit your IFF and state your intentions."

Tim waited for a moment for a reply which never came.

"Unidentified vessel please identify."

The two men sat for a moment looking at the image on the sensor display.Tim turned to mark with a puzzled look.

"I got nothing, The ship is just sitting there. It seems to be drifting."

 

[Lash]

Lequabis System
Imperial Reconnaissance and Exploratory Corvette Kringan
02:50 Sirat Wen standard time




"Major, status on those bogies?"

Linu had been watching the four ships as they moved to intercept the Kringan, which was now moving to exit the system under silent running conditions.

"Sir, they have exited the upper atmosphere and moved to our previous location. They seem to be holding position there at the moment."

Thal relaxed and leaned back in his seat. Maybe they had managed to sneak away unnoticed. If that was the case they were extremely lucky. The systems on the corvette had been set dark and the ship was drifting without power slowly towards the edge of the gravity well of the planet. Maybe it would just drift away invisible into the safety of deep space and then home.

"Set a course back to Sirat Wen major. I want us to jump as soon as we get out of the gravity bubble."

"Aye sir, coarse layed in. We can jump in seven minutes sir."

"Very good major, keep an eye on our friends out there."

Linu did a final check of the course and the status of the ship. Then out of no where a new set of contacts popped up. Shock swept over Major Tal which soon turned into fear.

"New contact bearing twenty seven by one forty five, range forty kilometers. Three ships commander, corvette sized. They must have been hiding behind some of this debris. They have us painted sir!"

Thal shot up to his feet and rushed over to the tactical station. There on the sensor screen three small icons identified as Tango 5 thru 7 moved towards them at flank speed.

"All ahead full major, get us out of he...."

Commander Biggs words were cut short as turbolaser fire licked out from the ships now closing on them. The fire struct the shields of the Kringan throwing Thal to the deck. He stumbled to his feet and back to his seat and buckled in.

"Return fire!"

The Kringans engines burst to life shooting the ship off towards the safety of space hyperspace. The four ships now raced to the edge of the planets gravity reach. The exchange lasted for two minutes but in that short time the Kringan had suffered a major hit on one of the small ships chasing it. The ship had slowed leaving the remaing two mysterious vessels to continue their relentless bombardment on the aft shields of the Kringan. The ships was seconds away from the edge of the limit of Lequabis' gravity when the Kringans shields flickered.

"Commander shield failing!"

Thal slammed his fist on this chair arm and gritted his teeth. A second later turbolaser bolts slammed into the aft of the Kringan. The ship shuttered under the blasts which violently threw many of the crew out of their seats and onto the deck. Thal watched in horror as sparks exploded from a starboard console searing one of his crews face and arm. The man screamed out in pain as he feel to the deck. A second explosion aft of the bridge shook the ship even more violently throwing it off course.

"Major, Jump now!"

Linu reached up from the floor and hit the hyperspace engagement command. The Kringan seemed to pause in time for a moment as another volley of fire slammed into it aft hull, throwing Major Tal across the bridge into the forward view port. Thal sat silently as the concussion of an the blast washed over him. He looked at his friend now laying limp on the deck then out at space as the stars in the distance formed into blurred lines as the Kringan shot off into hyperspace.

 

[Lash]

Edge of Sirat Wen system
Imperial Judicator-class Heavy Cruiser Judicator
18:35 Sirat Wen standard time

Captain Stela'shlit'nuruodo sat in the darkness of his quarters listening to Corellian Symphony in A minor. The power of the second movement peaked Lash's interests ever time he listened. It was a beautiful melody , ghostly and distant instruments giving the backdrop to the horn solo. It was one of his favorite pieces to meditate to. It seemed to open his mind in ways most music did not. His meditation was then interrupted as the voice of his executive officer opened a channel to his quarters.

"Commander, Forgive the interruption but you have a message from command."

Lash opened his eyes and turned the lighting on in the room. He turned around to face his desk and stood.

"I will be there momentarily Commander,"

Lash straightened his tunic and stopped in from of the mirror to make sure he was presentable. His black officers tunic and pants were straight and fit firmly on his nearly two meter tall frame. While most Imperial officers wore the drab green officer uniform. While they had been excommunicated by the Chiss Ascendancy, they remained faithful to it and honored their former people by retaining as many of their customs as possible. While the non Chiss crew maintained standard imperial dress, The Chiss who had accompanied him to the Imperial Remnant wore the Black and burgundy of their Phalanx.

The door to the CIC slide open as Lash walked up. He walked through and was instantly greeted by the two Storm troopers which flanked the door. They nodded and saluted Lash has he walked in. Commander Orsant saluted and handed Lash a data pad.

"Captain, We have received orders from command to intercept and investigate a vessel out near the 1527. They have not been able to make contact with the craft and have issued a condition alert yellow."

Lash nodded as he looked over the data on the pad. He handed the pad back to his XO then walked over to the central holo display. The image of the ship had now been displayed and Lash recognized the vessel class. It was imperial but from the image seemed to be heavily damaged.

"Very well commander, Lets make a micro jump and see what we can find."

Orsant tucked the pad under his arm and saluted again.

"Aye sir,"

 

[Lash]

Sirat Wen hyperspace relay point
Deep Space Sensor Station 1527
18:55 Sirat Wen standard time

The massive form of Judicator burst out of hyperspace near 1527 igniting the warning system for a second time that day. It had been months since the outpost had seen any form of improper traffic and that had just been a freighter off course. Now today a damaged recon ship and now a defense cruiser. Mark sit quietly watching as the heavy cruiser slowly moved towards the drifting corvette in the distance. Beside him Tim as equally as quiet taking in the scene folding out before them.Neither man had seen this much action before. They were glorified security guards not soldiers, at least not yet.

"Mark, what do you think happened to the vette?"

Tim broke the uneasy silence, his words reveled what Mark could only construed as excitement. Tim had no desire to see action yet here it was just out of their reach and Mark could not help but smile at his friends reaction. Mark too was excited, nothing ever happened and now it seemed everything was happening at once. A light flashed and a comm channel opened up.

"Relay station 1527, hold for Judicator actual."

The voice of some mysterious person on the cruiser in the distance seemed deafening in the silence of the stations operations room. The two men sat up straight as it they were being viewed rather than just heard. A moment later another voice cam over the comm.

"Gentlemen, I am Line Captain Stela'shlit'nuruodo, I would like to thank you for your timely report of this issue and ask that you dump all sensor and comm data received since this incident began. I would also ask that you do not speak of this. For all practical purposes this never happened. Do I make myself clear."

Mark and Tim looked at each other then back to the faceless voice on the other end of the communications channel. In unison they replayed.

"Yes Captain."

"Yes Captain."

Mark collected the information and sent it in a burst transmission to Judicator. Then purged the system and memory of the last two hours. Tim remained silent and just sit trying not to have an anxiety attack. Mark closed the burst transmission and then opened the Channel back to Judicator.

"Sir, I have done as ordered. All information from the last two hours has been sent to you and wiped from our memory. We await further orders captain."

 

[Lash]

"He is awake Captain."

Lash Stood over the body of Commander Biggs who was one of the few members of the crew found alive in the Kringin. Most of the crew had sustained injuries of some type and many were missing. The reports Lash had received from the DC crew that went aboard the ship was that much of it was opened to vacume and any crew in that area had been ejected to space as the explosive decompression of those areas cracked and shattered the hull of the corvette. Biggs had been found on the bridge conscious and holding one of his crew. Security crew which had boarded the ship had to forcibly remove Commander Biggs from the ship and the crewman he held. It was in this confrontation in which he had been rendered unconscious to prevent him from being harmed.

"Where am I, Were is Linu! Oh my love. I am sorry!"

Thal struggled against the restraints holding him to the med bed. After a moment he exploded with grief as reality sunk in and he broke down into tears. He now lay sobbing on the bed, no more fight left in him. He opened tear filled eyes to see the Blue skinned mans dark red eyes looking at him.

"Where am I?"

Lash stood silently as the man awoke and his mind struggled to make sense of what had happened, who he was, and what was real and not. Lash had seen this before. The human mind was not built for the degree of stress this man had been through. It takes a moment for humans to adjust and gather their faculties. Chiss did not suffer from this frailty, they were not affected by grief and loss the same as humans and most other races in the galaxy for that case, Chiss were superior.

"Commander, I am Captain Stel'shlit'nuruodo, You are aboard my flagship The Judicator."

Thal shook his head to further clear his mind, then like a hammer it all hit him again. His crew, his ship, Linu. But this time he did not break. A fire exploded inside him. An inferno burning the grief and pain igniting rage and hatred.

"Captain, my crew, how many."

Lash looked at a list on the pad he was holding.

"Seventeen, Most of the rest are missing. They were not aboard the Kringan. I have communicated your status to fleet command and for the time being you and your crew have been transferred to my ship and will be my guests until they have recovered from their injuries. Then they are allowed to return to Sirat Wen for reassignment."

Lash handed the list of survivors and their conditions to Thal. He stood quietly until the injured human could read it.

"This is all,"

Thal closed his eyes again fighting the pain and grief with the rage and hatred he had for who had done this.

"Thank you captain, Can I see my crew?"

Lash stepped back to allow the medics in to unfasten Thal's restraints.

"By all means commander. One of the medical staff will escort you to see them. When you are ready, let them know and I will send an attendant for you and we can begin your debriefing. But not until you are ready. Heal, rest, grief with your crew. Then we will see about finding who did this."

 

[Joran Greth]

wrong dude... mis post

 

[Lash]

Lash drank from a glass as he waited for Commander Biggs to answer. The man had been through so much the last few days and Lash did not expect a human to be completely ready for debriefing yet Thal insisted he do what was needed to get the Empire to hunt down the people who killed his fired.

"We were just there on a standard system evaluation for the quartermasters corps. Survey and map prospective resources were our orders. at first the system seemed like every other we had mapped. But I had a. Well a feeling. Something did not seem right. we had a contact that was there then gone. And something in me just knew that something was out there. I tried to sneak us out of the system but they had sentry's hidden among old debris. We ran but not fast enough."

Lash listened to the man describe the events which lead them to where they were now. Someone was out in the Lequabis system and they had, in his mind, declared war on the Galactic Empire. Thal finished his story and sat awaiting more questions from Lash. They two sat silent for a moment as Lash thought about how to proceed.

"Commander, Would you like to stay on as a member of my staff? I will be sending a force into Lequabis and being as you have been there already your input would prove invaluable to me once in system."

Thal nodded then answered.

"Yes Sir I would like that very much."

Lash took out a pad and pressed in a set of commands then slide it across the table.

"You are hereby ordered to report to me by 07:00 hours tomorrow. Then we will discuss our mission to the Lequabis system. until then go see your people off, we will be transporting the injured to Sirat Wen."

Thal stood and saluted.

"Yes sir I will be here promptly at 07:00"

Lash finalized the orders and transmitted them to fleet HQ.

"Very well commander you are dismissed."