Operation: H

[Ashara Rys]

"Look!" she could feel the anticipation, the sheer excitement, and the unbridled hope in Buggie's voice. She didn't even need no Force Senses for that. After such length of time and such a painstaking journey that Ashara didn't even know the full details of, he was finally here. Finally home, with support, with power, to fight for it, to liberate it. Even a Jedi like him could exude powerful emotions in a situation such as this.

"They're here! Did you see that flash in the distance? It was like a star winked out. Look! Again!"

Like a star winked out indeed, or like, "Starfall," she was voiced, getting off the seats at the back of the cockpit and stalking forward to stand beside the pilot seat where Buggie was, placing a hand on his scaly shoulder as she stared out of the viewport.

"It looks like starfall."

She allowed Buggie to steer their vessel wherever he wished to. The colony Korpil came closer. Meanwhile, she checked all her blasters and began fastening them in the holsters she had on her person. She made sure her spacefaring suit was functioning perfectly; unlike him, she couldn't breathe in space. She was ready for action, the excitement getting to her as well, her nerves dancing, jitteriness rising.

[Kell Sangros]

Captain Navora , a Captain in the Sith military and CO of the ship Glitterstim, a Corellian Corvette that acted as a supply ship. He often made runs to various colonies and territories in the Sith Empire. This run to Roche was no different. In his mind it was routine something he had done countless times.

"Sir" one of the crewmen called out. "Having problems with the hyperdrive, looks like the motivator is leaking"

He sat in his command chair on the bridge. "Lt. Colville" he said " Drop us out of hyperspace and contact Roche, Outpost is Nickle One" he paused as he rose studying the screen readouts "Advise them that we are experiencing technical difficulties and that we will be late in arriving"

"Yes Captain" he replied

Moments later another man entered the bridge, a averaged sized man with a buzz cut, his uniform highly decorated with various commendations for various campaigns. On his arm he wore the patch depicting twin blasters with a sun in the background. It was the insignia of the Dawn Patrol, a special forces unit under the direct command of a Sith Lord named Warvanus. The Chosen apprentice of the reigning Dark Lord of the Sith. This man was the CO of the special Forces unit and had been on the supply ship in an effort to improve training among the grunts that were stationed there. Most people did not know his real name, his code name as he was known to all who served under or with knew him as Wiretap.

"What's going on Captain" he asked

"Major" he rose "Leaking Hyperdrive motivator, had to pull out of hyperspace before it failed completely, it will delay our arrival to Roche a bit but not to the level of worry" As the two men were conversing Lt. Colville interrupted them.

"Excuse me sir" he began

"Yes Lt." Captain Navora said looking at his subordinate

"Sir I am unable to reach Nickle One on the comm"

"What do you mean" he replied a bit quizzically but an alarm slowly rising in the back of his mind "Are they having problems with their equipment"

"I dont think so sir" he said indicating to his instrument screen.

Both the Captain and Wiretap studied it. It appeared the signal bounced off target. If it were a communication equipment failure they would have received it it wouldn’t have shown the signal had been repulsed. Before the Captain could say anything Wiretap had beaten him to it.

"There’s no malfunction, their comm systems are being jammed" He said gravely

"Jammed? who do you think is responsible?" The Captain asked.

"Hard to say, the Sith do have alot of enemies" Wiretap replied.

As they debated on the source of the comm jam, the repair crews were changing out the motivator their next move as they continued their course under ion engines and in realspace as opposed to hyperspace

"One thing is for certain" Wiretap told the Captain "You need to contact Command they need to know about this, there could be an invasion and we would not know about it until after it was over"

The Captain nodded He would do this in his office. A room for the CO like an office. There the Captain sent an encoded message to Sith Military Command. It was afterall procedure.

"This is Captain Navora command of the supply ship Glitterstim" he began "We have been unable to contact Roche. We cannot 100% confirm it, but we believe their comm systems are being jammed, please review the attached data and advise" he hit a button "Navora out" with that he leaned back in his seat and pondered what to do next. Their ship was not shielded or armed enough to be of any help if they were being indeed invaded. But they would need to get a visual confirmation, just would need to remain out of the field of their signal jamming.

Elsewhere, Wiretap retreated to his quarters and also sent an encoded communiqué this one was to the War-Bringer himself. Lord Warvanus Between his and Navora's efforts he hoped that if indeed Roche was in trouble that the cavalry would come to the rescue.

[Master Buggie]

**Mid Rim, Roche Sector**
**Roche System, Q-8**
**System Entry Point**

"That didn't take long," Captain Byord commented, signaling to his bridge personnel to open up a transmission between his vessel and the new arrival to the system.

The cylinder shaped Invincible-class Dreadnaught, The Dirtside Raid, was holding its position at the Roche system's entry point for a very important reason. The ship, whose transponder codes had been changed to the vague VX-757 for this mission, had been assigned this significant duty due to the fact that the Sith fleet had been known to produce Invincible-class Dreadnaughts. For any incoming traffic, the VX-757 was to hold them in position under the guise that a particularly severe meteoroid storm was affecting transit routes. As long as any incoming spacers didn't ask too many questions-- and the consideration was that no one would with thirty quad laser batteries and a dozen turbolaser cannons staring them down-- the VX-575 would pose as the Sith authority in charge of regulating traffic bound for the colonies within the asteroid belt.

Once the connection had been established to the corvette, the tall, alabaster-skinned captain put the charade to practice, "Attention corvette Glitterstim, this is Invincible-class Dreadnaught VX-575. Inbound system traffic is temporarily suspended due to a natural phenomenon that has swept through transit routes, affecting travel and communication."

The transmission muted as the communications lieutenant interrupted, "Captain, the fleet reports that they have initiated jamming. You'll want to address that."

Resuming, Byord announced, "I apologize for any difficulty your crew may have experienced in issuing system-bound communications. The intention was to have your transmission deflect and automatically carry a return transmission stating what I have just told you, but it seems there was an error in establishing that automatic travel advisory."

The transmission muted again, as the sensor station reported, "Sir, sensors report that they've sustained hyperdrive damage."

Well, at least we can blast 'em if they try anything desperate... Byord thought.

---

**Mid Rim, Roche Sector**
**Roche System, Q-8**
**Korpil Orbit**

As flashes of ion cannons pounding any asteroid defenses became more vivid-- as well as any responses that the asteroid defenses threw back against the massive warships-- Buggie prepared to address the hive queen. There was no doubt in his mind that the Sith would be aiming to round up the Verpine and place them in security zones while they prepared to defend what they had claimed as their own. With a total system population nearing 1,618,000,000, though, that effort was as futile as attempting to evacuate a planet with a single Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser. The Sith would be arrogant enough to try, just as Buggie was idealistic enough to try rallying the normally peaceful colonies against the Sith.

Drawing as close as he dared to the colony of Korpil in his cloaked Sith Infiltrator, Buggie advised Ashara, "Passing off controls to you while I focus. Be ready to get out of here in a hurry."

Taking a deep breath, Buggie then spoke his native language, silently to those who weren't Verpine, but powerful to those who could comprehend it, <<Greetings Maternellence, from your humble servant, Jedi Master Buggie. I have come with a liberating force of Jedi and Blue Stars to Roche in order to rescue the colonies from the Sith. I know you are aware of the alarm within your hive, and I am certain that the Sith have begun to force your hive into security zones. That only shows that the Sith fear our combined strength. I beg you to seize this moment, Maternellence. Reach out to the other hives and rise up against this Sith aggression.>>

It was a start, and Buggie was certain that the hive queen would respond, perhaps with her own concerns. Surely, the Verpine held no love for the Sith, especially after they had conquered their colonies. Perhaps the incoming fleets would be exactly what the typically peaceful Verpine would need in order to throw off the Sith yoke. If that was the case, the decision would be near-instant, surging through the population of Korpil like a wave.

[Rane DeCola]

**Mid Rim, Roche Sector**
**Roche System, Q-8**
**Onboard The Wayward, In the Asteroid Field**

“Mr. DeCola, keep that incoming fire off of the starboard side.”

“Working on it sir, we’ve got large asteroids off to our port.”

The Wayward had officially joined the fray. As the corvette began pushing into the asteroid field, the ship began being fired upon by weapons emplacements located on many of the smaller asteroids throughout the system.

“Incoming fighters! Dead ahead!” Treda the Bothan first mate shouted, alerting the bridge crew to the latest threat imposed by the mission.

“Open fire. See if we can’t keep some of those flighty bastards from reaching the larger ships.”

To Rane, it already seemed like the efforts of the fleet were somewhat futile. Without support of the Verpine, the mission would not succeed. However, the Sith had managed to take Roche with a fleet of their own, and because of this he was certain that currently assembled fleet had a shot at the same outcome. As the The Wayward began engaging the incoming fighters, at Rane’s direction, the helm officer had managed to move the corvette into position to begin its mission.

“Captain, we’re in position now.”

“Treda, signal the fleet, tell them to provide us some cover from those fighters. DeCola, keep us clear of any incoming fire as best as possible.” Having given his orders for the ancillary and support efforts necessary to complete the assigned objective, the Captain gave the final order to get things underway. “Engage the tractor beams. Let’s pull that rock out of the way and open up a path for the rest of fleet to get through!”

“Tractor beams engaged sir!”

With any hope, The Wayward and other smaller escort vessels assigned to similar tasks would be able to clear a way for the larger ships of the fleet to make their way deeper into the asteroid field in hopes of being able to engage the Sith that were entrenched deep within the inner reaches of the system.

[Jacobi Wylcott]

---ROCHE
---BATTLEZONE

As expected the enemy fleets were indeed pressing the attack and maneuvering their vessels through the myriad of asteroids along with the asteroid mounted defenses many of which were simply automated though interestingly enough the Blue Star Fleet and the Jedi Fleet were taking care to utilize ion cannons instead of turbolasers - surely this process would take additional time to execute but it also meant they were interested in occupation, in other words they weren’t here to do anything but plant their flag and ensure the Sith were gone from Roche for good.

This information wouldn’t change the Sith’s battle plans but it would simply prove that the interlopers were invested heavily in this operation and if the Sith seemed as if they’d lose the battle then they would take drastic measures to make absolute sure that these enemies felt the presence of the Sith for many years to come.

Within the shadowed safety of the major Verpine colonies came the trio of Sith warships. Led by the Titan Patrol Frigate Final Decision the trio emerged from their safe bolt holes and while the incoming fleets were still out of any effective turbolaser range due to the density of the asteroids, that wouldn’t stop the Sith from their actions. The Titan and two Nebulon B Frigates opened fire, unleashing their turbolasers into the distance in order to make the incoming fleet’s approached that much more harrowing. In addition, all three vessel types were equipped with tractor beams and they began ensnaring the closest asteroids and setting them on collision courses with the incoming enemy fleets. They did this while superimposing their own hulls in front of the Verpine colonies so that if the Blue Stars or Jedi decided to reciprocate the tactic then they’d be threatening collisions into the colony constructs.

The Sith Starfighters gave the spear heading ships of the Blue Stars the way, intercepting picket ships of Corvettes could be overwhelmed by massed fighters but the cost would be high due to the CR90s ability to properly engage fighter craft. As such the Sith Starfighters banked hard and away instead deciding to engage the Jedi Y-wings and other ion capable fighters during their attempts to disable additional asteroid defenses. Certainly the Jedi had their own fighter escorts and as such there would come to be a massive dogfight in the depths of the Roche Belt.

The Second Battle of Roche was going into full swing.

---ROCHE
---NICKLE ONE COMMAND CENTER

“Sir, we have additional updates.”

“Let’s have them then,” The Commandant accepted the datapad but he also expected a verbal briefing so he could more swiftly digest the vast amount of constantly updating information.

“An unidentified Invincible-class Dreadnaught is sitting on the edge of the Roche System! But it isn’t making any attempts to break the communications jam and it isn’t making any attempt to engage the enemy. It also doesn’t match any of our manifest lists but at this range we cannot tell if it belongs to our Armadas or…”

The ensign was cut off, “It isn’t one of ours. It is sitting out there to intercept incoming ships and veer them away from the scene. Next information.” Obviously there was little that the Nickle One Command Center could do about that situation and knowing as much the Commandant was not interested in fretting over it. With communications jammed and with only three frigate sized assets currently available there was indeed little that could be controlled outside of the immediate engagement zone. If they somehow survived this invasion the security of Roche would be bulked up by a substantial amount.

“Yes sir, - it seems Colony Korpil has suddenly erupted in open rebellion. The Verpine are in revolt and have turned on their keepers. There was no warning.”

He growled but nodded, “Expected, the Verpine are a race we hardly can control by force here. They are passive and that’s why they’ve accepted their lot until now. They see opportunity so they’re taking it.” He picked up his datapad, “If we repulse these raids, schedule the Korpil Hive Queen for termination.” The ensign was shocked, killing the Queen of Korpil would eliminate all production prospects from the entire Korpil Hive until a new Hive Mind could arise to take the place of the dead one. Verpine weren’t totally mindless drones but they needed a Maternallence to effectively operate in massed numbers. The more intelligent of their race would fare much better but the Verpine Drones would suffer. Some may even go mad in the process but that was a subject punishment that was due for the Queen of Korpil. If she wanted revolution then she would reap the consequences as well. “We likely won’t be able to hold Korpil indefinitely, we’re outnumbered there. But we can make it hurt.” He turned back to the ensign, “Activate riot suppression droids on all Colonies - clarification - if the other colonies aren’t actively revolting then simple activation is all that is necessary as the herds are put back into their pens.”

“Korpil orders specifically - Riot Suppression Droids are to deploy flamethrowers on rioting personnel, utilization of flashbang grenades and electro-nets are authorized. Lock down all junctions now - all sensitive locations are to seal their blastdoors. If the Verpine continue to revolt after these precautions are taken then initiate a kill-all order until the riot is concluded.” With a Verpine’s capacity to shrug off glancing blaster bolts the flame units would be very effective within the close quarters fighting that would take place in the corridors and off-shoot rooms - in addition with the Verpine’s compound eye structure, many would become damaged from the flashbangs. It was all designed to make the risk of revolt all the more significant in consequence.

Since Korpil was currently the only colony in open revolt, this wasn’t to be a mass culling of the Verpine race even in the slightest. In fact there were so many on Korpil itself that despite horrific casualties the Verpine wouldn’t likely suffer from it. A loss of life was a loss of life and horrible as it may be, the Verpine would survive this day regardless of the banner that flew overhead in the end.

---ROCHE
---NICKLE ONE HANGAR

The lieutenant that had originally brought forth the alert of the invasion finally made it into the hangar bay of Nickle One and he was dismayed to view the state of things. Very few Verpine remained here, usually there could be seen work gangs of the critters going about their business but since the alert had gone out to confine all Verpine to their designated Hive Quarters, which were essentially not specific room units but rather large swaths of the asteroid colonies given over to the bug-like creatures for any other form of ‘house arrest’ would be impractical to such a large number of Verpine in such a confined series of locations. But here and now there were precious few.

In one corner was a small handful of the bugs that had failed to evacuate in time. They’d been bound and set on their knees facing the wall, all of which were drones. There were three of the more self-capable Verpine that were of this group but they lay on the deck with blaster holes smoldering in their bodies - executed for not following directions and to ensure that should these Verpine rise up like those of Korpil, the free thinkers wouldn’t be able to be a threat to the larger operation. The drones were left on the deck with a pair of guards. Such displays were ongoing throughout the Hive Colonies - noncompliance was met with swift and hostile action though for the most part the passive Verpine did their best to comply with demands save for the Hive of Korpil.

At the center of the hangar sat all the hyperspace capable shuttle craft that the Nickle One Complex had. They’d just been refueled and their crews were already going through basic pre-flight checks. The LT raced into the lead shuttle and joined the pilot. “Is everything set?”

“We’re spinning the engines now. Need to get out of here, the lockdown is starting and the exterior blast doors are about to seal shut.” Without asking if anyone else was coming the pilot raised the exterior ramp and the shuttle lifted from the deck to cruise out of Nickle One’s primary hangar. Following him were five other shuttles of various make and model but they were all of one mind and purpose.

“Alright boys, let’s break from here and scatter. The pirates and Jedi are coming from the west so let’s trail Nickle One and use it for cover. Three of us head due east, the other three just scatter and head out. As soon as you clear the Roche Belt you need to make the jump - doesn’t have to be to anywhere specific, just get out of the system and as soon as you’re beyond jamming range of that Jedi Flagship you’d best start broadcasting that Roche is in a bad way.” With that the six shuttles increased speed to full throttle and they began to trace the surface of Nickle One.

With any luck the shuttles will either go unnoticed due to their close proximity to the colony or they’d be able to evade interception within the asteroid belt. Once the word was out, these invaders would rue the day they’d ever come to Roche.

[Ben Kenobi]

At the head of the Jedi Fleet the Nebula-class Star Cruiser Skywalker continued to plough forward, warding away the majority of the asteroids in their path with impressive vollies of controlled fire that proved effective against the rocky debris of the Roche Belt. Minor rocks too small for the gunners to target often bounced from the hull of the mighty ship though were too inconsequential to dent the heavy armor plating of the Skywalker. Not far from the Nebula came an alert on the priority frequency, it was the MC30c Frigate Brilliance which was positioned at the bow of the Skywalker in order to utilize the frigates lighter weaponry to better track the more lethal incoming asteroids and as well to ward off any pesky Sith fighters with expert gunnery; both tasks of which they were excelling at thus far.

The report delivered an update on forward scans of the developing battle and it appeared the Sith formation had finally revealed themselves and had opened fire with long range weaponry which was largely ineffective at this range as proven by the first incoming vollies splashing against the Skywalker’s forward shields and dissipating harmlessly while the rest suffered from poor accuracy, another issue at this range. Master Kushiban simply ordered the engineering station to keep status reports on the shield arrays and inform him with regular updates as the proximity to the Sith warships decreased. Soon enough those ineffective vollies would begin taking a toll, that was when the real slugging match would begin.

But something else quite dire in the report came forward; apparently the Sith were utilizing the many tractor beams on their vessels to hurl asteroids as if they were additional munitions in their arsenal. At first it was a ridiculous suggestion but in only a few moments the Brilliance reported in again that its gunnery crews were now fully concentrating on keeping up the screen fire. Another report came in from the engineering station that the bow had taken a glancing hit from a rather sizeable Sith projectile and the impact had caused a minor breach in the hull. “It seems the Sith force our hand.” He turned to the holotable and announced responding orders. “Hammerhead Cruisers, increase speed and overtake the Skywalker, use your forward weaponry to better form the screen of the fleet and any asteroids too big to shoot down, use your rams to break them apart. Carve us a path to the colonies!”

Six Hammerhead Cruisers made a hot burn in flank speed to overtake their parent flagship and in doing so they swiftly positioned themselves at the speartip of the fleet where their combined firepower and interesting physical characteristics allowed an effective screen in which the Jedi and BSP Fleets could get behind and forge onwards. Without the Hammerheads the best response would have been to decelerate to better shoot down the incoming asteroids with volley fire. It would have bought the Sith considerable time. But as it was the range continued to dwindle and the Jedi Fleet began to pull into effective range of the colonies and the Sith Fleet.

***

Master Kenobi waved the youngling to him and he took stock in the fact there was a language barrier. It wouldn’t overly hinder them though to there was nothing to fear from this. “Stay close and be mindful. We’re going for Nickle One now, once we’re there do not be afraid to defend yourself if necessary, but try to let the Knights do the fighting. If we come into contact with any real Sith, be wary of your surroundings and do your best to stay calm… I won’t be far.”

The Talon sped away from the shadow of the Skywalker followed by a dozen other YT 2000 transports and two squadrons of Eta-2 Actis-class Interceptors as escorts. They would be the first wave heading into the fray to assault the Sith Forces on Nickle One. Mission updates continued to come in that the primary blast doors were closing on the hangar of Nickle One and so they would either have to breach through or find another way in. Breaching a hangar blast door wasn’t on the menu for today; aside from a starship broadside there wasn’t much they could do to burn through those doors. So they’d just have to improvise.

[Kubu Midwan]

"Finsezi arti ir buti qutze. mes buti zuti nuo Nickle Wo dabar, kaxai mes buti antai dary nenx buti gekezese kia napasji tu'saen ar ragale, kad sari kia tegu tave Zirgas dary tave misini. Ar mes tapti' je'as kontakta su jok fashis Tsis, buti asarse iv tu'iea suptimas ir dary tu'iea le snaâ mure kia finsezi malsini... Nu valia nenx buti tolus." The Droid translated what the elder said. Kubu was confused about the last part as she boarded. 'I'm a real Sith, they are pretend sith at best.' She thought.

Kubu was not about to correct an elder though. She was taught not to question an elder, it didn't end well if one did. Kubu didn't quite get yet that what they were up against was the Sith standard, she herself was lost in time. It tended to happen more often than not, but she was learning. She had just gotten the basics of space travel, so it was a step in the right direction.

[Kell Sangros]

It was some time before the Glitterstim’s hyperdrive was repaired and back to operational status. It was also some time before Sith Command responded to the communiques from the ship by it’s CO and from the CO of the Dawn Patrol. When word did arrive it was from Karza, the capital of Warvanus’ power base. On the screen appeared a woman, jet black shoulder length hair she wore it loose, she was dressed in black and a lightsaber could be seen clipped to her side. Wiretap recognized her at once, as she was once a member of his unit, she was in another life the best Sniper that he had seen in all his military service, she had been given the codename Widow, that was until Warvanus discovered her potential in the Force and took her as his apprentice. Then the woman who was simply known as Widow was reborn into Kinta Vetasa or Black Siren in basic. Wiretap happened to be on the bridge when the communique came through so she was addressing both Captain Navora and Wiretap. She gave Wiretap a nod before speaking.

“switch to channel 132f” she told them, when they switched she continued “We reviewed the data” she began nodding towards Navora “that you sent us, while we agree with your assessment we need to confirm it, once your hyperdrive is repaired proceed on course, get as close as you can without getting caught in the jamming field, in the meantime we are assembling backup to assist if indeed Roche is under attack”

Navora nodded, he did not like this, getting the supply ship so close to a battle zone. Wiretap on the other hand this was normal everyday life for him.

“Also” she continued

“By order of Lord Warvanus, until this situation is resolved or changed, Wiretap will be in command, he is the CO of the War-Bringer’s special forces unit, he is more experienced in these kind of matters, Navora you will be his 2nd, once this situation has been taken care of, you will be reinstated back in command of your supply ship”

Before Navora could protest or Wiretap respond she gave them a curt nod and ended the transmission.

Wiretap looked at Navora “Whats the status of the hyperdrive”

Navora without missing a beat “Fully operational again”

Wiretap nodded and then called out to one of the junior officers at a navigation station “How far are we from Roche under Sublights vs Hyperspace”

The Jr. Officer was quick to respond “Sub-Light we would get there in about 4 hours and that’s the edge of the system, by Hyperspace 1 hour”

“And this would put us at the edge outside their jamming field?” he prodded

“Yes Sir” the jr officer replied confidently

He nodded approvingly, this navigator was too good to be posted on a supply ship, he would be keeping an eye on the young Lieutentant during all this.

“Ok, plot the course, and engage the Hyperdrive” he told the officer. The Jr officer wordlessly flipped over controls and switches and after the navicomputer calculated the course, the supply ship was back in hyperspace.

Wiretap turned his heel and left the bridge over his shoulder “XO you have the comm” and with that he was off the bridge.

==Karza==

Warvanus was approached by his apprentice

“It is done Master” she told him, he knew what she was referring to.

“Well done, now find out what kind of assets we can expect to accompany the Magnetar while I go update Lord Khairo” she bowed and went her way while Warvanus went his. He found himself in one of his offices. He opened an encrypted channel reserved for the Lords of the Sith and shortly after a Shistavanen appreared on the screen. “Report Lord War-Bringer”

Warvanus bowed his head in respect, while both were Sith Lords he was on the ruling council and command of all the military. There were other Sith who served under him and while had no 2nd in command , Warvanus was one of his top “generals”

“My Lord” he began “Glitterstim is enroute to get more concrete data, the Magnetar stands ready we are just awaiting the rest of the force to arrive, once here we will be ready to jump at a moment’s notice, We also have tried to contact Roche and met the same results as the Glitterstim, I am hopeful that the Glitterstim will be able to give us confirmation as well as the size of the strike force as well as who is responsible”

Lord Khairo’s expression was unreadable he nodded “You are to lead this one personally Lord War-Bringer” he asserted

Warvanus bowed his head “I would have it no other way My Lord, Karza out”

The transmission concluded, the next order of business was to get to the Magnetar. He took a prepped shuttle that sat in his hanger and made his way off the planet towards his Flagship.

[Master Buggie]

**Mid Rim, Roche Sector**
**Roche System, Q-8**
**System Entry Point**

Several other vessels had been stopped by the VX-757 at the system entry point, and a similar message had been relayed to each of them. All vessels to this point had complied with the directive coming from the disguised Invincible-class Dreadnaught, and an orderly queue had been established. This lineup of assorted spacecraft not only made easy pickings of any troublemakers that might appear, but it also kept the waiting vessels in a single-file line that made it abundantly obvious if any of the held-up ships decided to make a break past the cylindrical warship.

At the forefront of this queue was the corvette that had been stopped, the Glitterstim. Captain Byord had all but ignored the vessel as more starships began to show up at the system's entry point, which was understandable, as the corvette had shown hyperdrive damage on the VX-757's readings. As the Blue Star Pirate warship, which was disguising itself as a Sith vessel, cruised past, surveying the rest of the ships in the queue, apparently the crew of the corvette had taken its opportunity and disappeared into hyperspace further into the system.

"Blast it," Byord commented through clenched teeth once the activity on the bridge had calmed down from the alert that the escaped corvette had raised, "They must have seen through our bluff. Keep sensors active for when the Glitterstim emerges back from within the system and jam them as soon as they appear. We are playing the part of a Sith vessel and we should have no hesitations about punishing that corvette for their disobedience."

((OOC: Squared this out with Kell privately. There was a misunderstanding about BSP's ship sitting near the system's entry point, so rather than force in an edit, we'll just pick this back up when the Glitterstim completes its survey of the system and pops back out to report. Though again, this is what I'm worried about with threads like these. Big megaposts result in many missed details. I know my post is big, but I'm open to instituting a max word limit to this thread, if it makes anyone else's life easier.))

---

**Mid Rim, Roche Sector**
**Roche System, Q-8**
**Keldabe-class Battleship The Accord**

"Aye, Admiral, ye may begin when ready," Admiral Liszt confirmed to the Ithorian fleet admiral before her image over the holoprojector faded away.

Turning back to the bridge viewport, the Nautolan Admiral Liszt called for a status report. It appeared that a trio of Sith vessels had revealed themselves, two Nebulon-B escort frigates and a more formidable Titan Patrol Frigate. The Sith warships had taken position before Nickel One, sending sporadic turbolaser fire, when they weren't hurtling asteroids toward the assembled Blue Star Pirate and Jedi formations. To make matters worse, they had positioned themselves before the system's capital, meaning any stray fire that missed the Sith vessels would impact the colony.

This was a sound tactic, but it assumed a linear firing arc from the Blue Star Pirate and Jedi formations. While it was true that the fleets were constrained to pathways into the system and through the dense asteroid fields, fighters could easily make those Sith vessels regret their decision to emerge from the shadow of Nickel One. Six squadrons of Sith vessels were already engaged, and the Blue Star Pirate squadrons were standing by for the Admiral's order.

"We're through the worst of the emplacements, Admiral. Shields are holding throughout the fleet, but one of our Discril-class cruisers has sustained damage to weapons control," the comm operator reported.

"Admiral! Incoming asteroid!" another voice called.

"Mass driver?" Admiral Liszt asked, referring to the Keldabe's prodigious main weapon system.

"Mass driver ready, Admiral," confirmation sounded from weapons control.

At Admiral Liszt's order, the mass driver cannon fired, its projectile screaming from the bow of the ship, an amber tail streaming from it as it shot toward its target. The projectile soon collided with the asteroid, exploding, shattering the asteroid, and sending a hail of debris skittering off of The Accord's particle shields. Each impact sent a flash of sparks against the ship's shields, before the microasteroids were ground to dust.

"Pretty," Liszt observed, turning his attention to a series of small rings in view of the main viewport, "Comms, notify our squadron leaders that we're in position and give 'em te launch order. Let's use turbos for te incoming asteroids and ions fer te Sith vessels outside Nickel One 'till times when we can be sure to hit 'em."

At his command, squadrons of StarViper-class attack platforms, Nighthawk Gunboats, and T-Wing starfighters began to launch from the formation's hangars. Select StarViper and Nighthawk squadrons had their orders, while several squadrons of the starfighters were assigned to stick close to the fleet and mop up any Sith squadrons that decided to test them. If the mass driver cannons on the Keldabe-class battleships were formidable, the StarViper-class attack platforms, which had yet to make an impact on this battle, were ready to prove their own worth.

---

**Mid Rim, Roche Sector**
**Roche System, Q-8**
**Korpil Far Orbit**

Her Maternellence, whether fearful of replying to Buggie and revealing his position to the Sith, or deeming a silent show of support sufficient enough of a response, brought her colony into action. Buggie could already feel the sensation of life being winked out through the Force, but the Verpine outnumbered the Sith, and, hopefully, they would oust them from the colony. It wouldn't be a bloodless effort, but no one expected liberating the system from the Sith to be anything of the sort.

His duty fulfilled, Buggie and Ashara pulled away from Korpil for their next destination. As they neared their navigation ring, Buggie assumed the controls and prepared to repeat the process as many times as necessary until all the colonies were in open revolt, assuming that word had not spread to them already via the other ships that had accompanied Buggie into the system.

((OOC: To reduce my workload, I think I'll let Ashara take over this portion of the action. Hard to have Ashara post anything of substance if they're stuck riding shotgun with me.))

[Jacobi Wylcott]

---ROCHE
---BATTLEZONE

The enemies’ advance had been agonizingly slow but now it was coming to fruition and within moments the first elements of the foe would be breaking through the belt and into the comparative open of the colonies’ orbits. Here, the Titan Patrol Frigate and two Nebulon B Frigates awaited in defiance. They were surely outnumbered but they would not be silenced so easily. Otherwise, standing orders would remain in this situation - the small trio sized fleet would stand with the support of the Verpine Colonies while starfighters continued to engage the Jedi contingent of fighters though priority went to the enemy bombers.

More importantly - the shuttles had gone by unnoticed and had made it to the backside and beyond of the asteroids in question and the six of them made hard burns as fast as their engines could make them go towards the edge of the asteroid field. Their navicomputers began plotting jumps now - it would take some time to get the correct calculations since they would not be jumping out from the primary ‘gateway’ of Roche but to expedite the delays they began plotting the jump now so that as soon as they were free from the belt itself then they could just immediately make the jump once clear.

It wouldn’t be long, soon the cry for help would be free of this communications jamming net.

---ROCHE
---NICKLE ONE COMMAND

Reports came in hot and heavy. Each more dire than the next. Apparently Korpil was a losing battle but the estimation figures of Verpine dead would be exponentially high - the flame units were proving extremely effective against the hardened insectiod menaces. It was no where near collapsing this early on into the day thanks to the swift actions taken in sealing off the sensitive areas - but the common areas of the colony were swinging from Verpine to Sith and back and forth again.

Irony demanded to show its face here and bright and bold it did just that. For the great numbers of Verpine allotted to the Korpil rebellion the Sith countered that with numberless amounts of battle droids. Korpil, being a vast colony utilized for manufacturing - had an entire wing that was fitted for the construction of droids. The bulk of the droids were already deployed within the colony and were proving an effective balance to the - also numberless Verpine. The irony was that in the very droids they built lay their opposition. Soon as they would roll off the assembly lines they would be shipped straight into battle to fuel the ongoing combat.

Not only that but while they held numbers without count they were constricted to the narrow corridors of the station save for their own isolated areas given over to their dwellings. These narrowed passage ways leading to the sensitive areas were made into very real killing zones where dozens of Verpine were butchered as more clambered over dead bodies to also die in a horrific and less-than glorious manner.

“Get my second in command and a detail of security. They are to make an appearance before the Maternalence of Nickle One. She will not disobey the Sith as her sister on Korpil. If I must make an example them so be it.”

Lieutenant Ambrax stood straight backed as he arrived, “Sir, I will see it done.”

“Don’t forget the holoprojector - I would very much like to see the expression on her face as we tighten our grip around their necks.”