Combat group Vega, Decisive Strike

[Sea Skimmer]

Star Wars property of Lucas Film
This Fic property of Sea Skimmer AKA Robert Schmidt.


Prologue.

It had been six years since the destruction of the second Death Star at Endor. It has been six long years of defeat for the Empire, lightened only by a now ended chain of victories by the late Grand Admiral Thawn.

But a new force appeared and attacked the battered new Republic in the ashes of his defeat. Commanded by a new clone Emperor, a vast Imperial fleet was gathered in secret and equipped with the latest in Imperial weaponry. Its first attacks failed, with the loss of countless World Devastators on the oceans of Mon Calamari, and the destruction of the command ship Eclipse over Cyax. But the new Emperor was not so easily defeated. Now having fought the forces of Balmorra to a draw, Imperial forces turn on the manufacturing world of Neovestral.


Chapter 1, The Drop, part 1

The bay was always a busy place before a drop. Captain Stecker gazed down from a railing, looking across and down at the vast drop bay. At one end was a long series of garages, cutting nearly across the ship. Each stretched back hundred of meters and was filled with the tools of the Imperial Army's war machine. Tanks, air speeders, walkers, artillery pieces and the heaviest of war driod's. All ready for action and waiting for crews.

Thousands of Army troops now swarm over them, altering their one deficiency, lack of crews. Companies arrived and drew there allocated equipment. They then drove them forward and tested out the repulsers, traversed the gun turrets and kicked the tiers, if they had any.

Every time a fault was found the repair driod's where summoned. They swarmed over the piece of equipment, either fixing it or removing it to the repair bay for later work. The unit would then draw a new item from the stocks.

"Chaos organized with Imperial efficiency," he whispered to himself. "And that means it works." He eyed his own company, already negotiating its heavy repulsorlift tanks and APC's towards the far end of the bay, and the heavy landing barges being readied there. "I should be down there." He thought. "But I've got something else to do, and Lieutenant Bevven can handle things. Yeah, the XO will do fine."

Stecker straighten back up and glanced at the big drop clock on the bay wall. 2:37:41 to real space, 2:57:20 to the drop. He turned away and walked off the catwalk. A mouse driod scurried by, nearly tripping him. "Damn vermin," he thought. "No, those things are worse then vermin, any self respecting vermin had the common sense not to run down the middle of corridors."

About thirty meters down he entered was a turbo lift. Stecker squeezed in with another two officers and a trio of techies with a repulser lift pad holding a mobile data terminal. "Deck seven section six." One of the officers obligingly pressured the correct button. It was out of his reach.

Finally after a half dozen stops a fair bit of annoyance, and fifteen hundred meters the door slid open. Stecker stepped out with another officer. A pair of fully equipped Army troopers stood guard against the far wall. One kept back, hand on his blaster holster. The other advanced. "Identity cards please." Stecker held his out. The trooper held a scanner over it. Then read the display.

"Room D two captain." Stecker pocketed his card. The Rebels had infiltrated too many units and ships for chances to be taken, even if the briefing was pretty low level. He followed a wall sign to D2.

He slipped into the room just as the briefing began. The room was small, with chairs arranged in an arc around a large view screen, which took up nearly half the back wall. A rather more modest holographic display was in front of this.

The battalion SB1, the intelligence officer, move out from a corner to start. He held a small remote. "All right. A new data packet came through when we made the last turn." A staff sergeant came around as he spoke handing out data cards.

"Not much new. The five six seven Stormtroopers will have pushed the perimeter of our zone almost to the shield wall by the time we drop. So the plan now calls for us to be committed directly to the breakthrough. The LZ cold right now and we don't expect that to change."

Stecker plugged the card into his pad. A series of new maps, updated march times and deployment plans appeared on the screen. At the front of the room the main viewer displayed the same information. The holographic display showed a section of terrain in precise 3D. Marked, as a shimmering wall of red was the edge of the Rebel shield.

"Nine hundred armored battlegroup will be attacking as planned along our left flank. However our own battlegroup has been shifted three klicks south by south west. Operationally this shouldn't impact us, the terrain is the same but some puke at corps think we'll do better with more separation between our breaches. I don't know what he's been drinking but I wouldn't mind some."

Stecker chuckled along with the others, but silenced after an angry stare from the silent battalion commander. The commander stepped forward. "Thank you captain." He said as the SB1 stepped aside.

"All right. We all know the plan, we all know the objective and we all know how to fight. These little last minute changes don't change a thing. I expect every man in the battalion to do his duty for the Empire. Especially you Stecker." Stecker suddenly sat up straight, when the CO said your name you paid attention.

"Your Vega boys are in the lead for an entire battlegroup for this little planet conquering expedition. I want it to be Vega's guns to nail those shield generators."

"Vega will accomplish its missions," replied Stecker.
"Good Captain. I hope the rest of you are equally successful. If there are no questions then this briefing is over." No hands went up and no one spoke.
"Very well, dismissed."

Stecker got up and turned to leave and return to the bay. His min played over the new information. Nothing important he decided. Typical of most briefing at this stage of an operation. If there was anything important, that generally meant something had gone seriously wrong

Another long cramped trip trough the turbolift returned his to the bay. However had designed the turbolift system for the Evakmar class transport had forgotten about the corps worth of troops who would be stationed aboard and only budgeted space for the ships normal crew of three thousand five hundred.

He wandered through the maze of armored vehicles to find Vega. Looking for one over strength company among dozens was hard enough. But when you factored in the fact that everything was constantly moving forward, it became near impossible.

Finally though Stecker found them, a tight cluster of vehicles floating on their repulsers near the open maw of a heavy landing barge. Vega was nominally a heavy armor company was twenty-one Ubrikkian 1-N heavy repulser tanks.

However it had been recently augmented into a combat group with the addition of an infantry line platoon with five Ubrikkian 3-M repulser APC's. At the last minute a three gun detachment of self propelled Speizoc v-150 Striker light turbolasers cannons had been attached as well.

The result was a highly mobile hard-hitting force. Stecker was proud of the outfit. The men where the best, and the fact that Vega was the first unit to be ready for loading was proof of it.

Several men where clustered around his command tank, no.84. He walked over to them. "Sir, the group is ready for loading." Announced Lieutenant Dangor, group XO. "I expect the barges will be calling for us soon then."
"Likely."
They all looked up as the bay intercom came to life with a commanding voice. "One hour thirty minutes to real space. All ninth corps first echelon forces begin embarkation."

"Looks like I showed up just in time. Lets mount up and load up."
"Right." The small group split up with the others half shouting orders to their platoons and crews. Stecker jumped up onto the small foot ladder built into his tanks flank. Ever so slightly the tank leaned to the side from the addition of some 200 pounds of man and gear. The repulsers, best the Empire manufactured trimmed the tank out almost instantly.

He reached the top and dropped down through his hatch. Already inside the tank where his gunner, assistant gunner and driver. "We ready to go?"
"All systems five by five, full ammo and fuel." Replied sergeant Farral.
"Good. Well be loading last so sit tight."

Stecker stood up on his seat, putting his head and shoulders out of the turret. Combat loaders where directing Vega's 3-M's into a landing barge. The artillery was already inside. As each 3-M entered the maw of the big landing vessel a pair of tractor beams seized it, rotated it around and then drew it back words into the deepest depths of the armor hold.

To the left and right other barges where loading armor as well. The constant wining of repulsorlift's was getting unbearable as more vehicles powered up and began moving forward towards the barges. Stecker reach down and grabbed his helmet. The comm. link pieces in the ears dampened some sounds while still allowing for normal conversations.

The barge was already swallowing up its second tank platoon. Above troops not assigned vehicles marched along the catwalks and into the upper passenger level of barges. Another 1-N entered the barge.

"Travos, move us forward." The driver eased the big tank forward on its repulsers. A combat loader ordered them to halt while another tank entered. Stecker caught a glimpse of a group of giant four armed war driod's waling aboard another barge. Viper's he heard several officers call them. They where suppose to be the latest thing in the field.

The loaders motioned them forward. Travos guided the tank forward and up the boarding ramp. They jerked to a stop as the tractor beams seized them. The maw was just wide enough for three tanks abreast, and there where only the slightest of tolerances for the rotation process.

After turning it 180 degrees, the beams began pulling the tank back. With millimeter precision they combined to align the heavy tank to the central track and then back to the rear of the barge. Stecker rested his arms on the tank turret as it happened. The whole process was totally automated.

After moving backwards a hundred sixty five meters 84 came to a halt in front of the rest of the company and alongside another tank. To the right was an empty slot, though already a tank from another combat group was loading.

On cue from the loading computer the repulsorlift's of the tank shut down slowly. Matching the power reduction 84 lowered slowly down from its normal 1-meter float to the deck. On each side a pair of heavy durasteel camps lock onto the tank. Should the ships inertial compensators or artificial gravity fail, the tank would still remain secured to the barge. The crew would be protected by the tanks built in systems.

Stecker, after eyeballing the clamps as best he could, dropped back down into the tank. He checked the Intervechical information display or IVIS. Every vehicle had been loaded, and in the proper order.

"So now what" asked Travos. "We've got an hour and a half to kill."
"I've got some Sabacc" suggested Farral. He glanced at Stecker.
"Deal em."

The bridge of the Evakmar class transport Spector was quite place. Line captain Stravo sat in his command chair. From that single position he could see every display and every face he needed to command his command.

A clock marked the time to real space reversion as one minute. In one minute the long 2000 meter transport would arrive in very high orbit of Neovestral along with the Garmer of the same class and their pair of Strike cruiser escorts. All under his control.

Then it would be six hours unloading troops, then another four for logistics. Then a day and a half back to the deep core to pick up another load of men and equipment for the hungry Imperial war machine. It was respectable. Perhaps not that of an Imperator or Allegiance he mused. Perhaps after another combat drop he get one of those.

"Reverting to hyperspace now." Announced the XO.

The dark cold void of space was disrupted by a flicker of pseudo-motion. Four ships, two dwarfing the others flashed out of hyperspace high above Neovestral. Ahead where countless other ships in orbit as expected. But something was wrong.

"Captain, we have Rebel cruisers and star fighters in orbit!"


Chapter 1 part 2 should come later tonight or tommarow.

[Falkenhorst]

Kickass story! I want more, more, more!

[Sea Skimmer]

Kickass story! I want more, more, more!

Not a reply I expected after this was ignored for so long. More will come soon.