Plausible Deniability by LC John T. Clark Lieutenant Colonel Clark was lounging lazily in a chair on the Hammer Officer's Club and
admired the protuberance of a nearby, very active, orange star. ------- "... and as to the obvious implications of this operation, secrecy is our utmost concern." Line Admiral Yun Vandorack nodded to the Bothan in the expensive cloak. "Of course, councilor.", he lifted the pile of briefing and intelligence pads. "I will take my leave now, if you don't mind." The Bothan lifted his hand in a dismissive gesture and watched the muscular young man leave before taking her own cue. Back again in her Coruscant apartment, Oktra Prisk'ia threw her travelling cloak into a corner and headed right for her secure office. It felt as if the COM took ages to build up the secure connection, but finally it was done: "The plan is a go, just keep Ackbar of our backs." A short twitter of seemingly electrical noise filled the silence of the office. Then the COM cut connection. Oktra leaned back in her chair. 'Amazing what is possible with a few mercenaries, some former pirates and a disgruntled, yet ambitious, fleet officer.', she thought. And there wasn't even a chance the Republic would ever miss a couple of ships supposedly in long term storage.------- The Operations Briefing was held on the TCCOM's Flagship the ISD Challenge. Beside the Emperor's Hammer Squadron leaders, the COs of the support fleet were attending, thus the large conference room was quickly filling up. "The security systems have engaged, please refrain from leaving the room while the briefing is in progress.", a senior aide babbled through the stage microphone, before fleeing from the Admiralty. Finally Admiral Elwood took the stage, joining the remaining Admiralty Board and the two Commodores. He lowered his head in recognition of his fellow Admirals and began his introduction: "Commanders and Captains. Fellow Officers. Welcome aboard the Challenge and the briefing for Operation IRONCLAD! It has been some time since our successful strike against the pirate threat against our territories. Now we've received disturbing news of a renewed effort by the so called Void Raptors." Woody motioned to a seated Admiral, "Please welcome the COO who will give you further insight into the intelligence picture!" On, that VA Crespe stood and took the stage next to Elwood, at the same time the big holoprojector in the middle of the room started up. "As you all know we, don't have the resources to keep constant surveillance on the former strongholds of that pirate scum." A picture of the EH territory formed over the conference table, with a surprisingly large portion colored in a deep purple. "Thus, we have a couple of rowing patrols operating. Three weeks ago a scout group went missing in one of these sectors." The holo-picture changed again, zooming in on a certain part of the map. "Follow on efforts showed hidden activity in the area, it seems someone is trying to get those support bases operational again." Crespe stopped for a moment and let his gaze linger on his datapad. "Normally we would not be overly concerned with such developments and would have dispatched a small task force to sweep the suspect areas. But the situation does not seem to be normal. Intelligence assets deep inside the Republican fleet have given us warning of mothballed ships seemingly going missing from storage." He activated his datapad and held it into the air. "Please turn to page fifteen of your briefing documents and let us discuss these missing ships and the ramifications..."On the shuttle ride back, the mood of the Hammer's Squadron Commanders was surprisingly sober. Finally MAJ Iceman broke the quiet: "Well, hells bell. Talk about a target rich environment." that elicited some chuckles and many grins. An even dozen frigate class capital ships and most likely scores of fighters missing from the Rebel 'graveyard' was indeed a force to be reckoned with. Indicating the willingness to use AI systems to supplement sentient bare-bones crews, the briefing had left no doubt that this force would also be fielded. No surprise the brass had elected to send in their elite. "Guess we need to hit 'em fast and hard to pull of Crespe's plan ..." ------- Yun continued skimming through the readiness report, impassively. Yes, these former
imperials were the right tool for the job, and they seemed professional enough. He handed
the datapad to the men beside him. The mercenary commander might have been imposing
once, but obviously he was now only a shell of his former self. No, that wasn't right, his body
might have seen better days, but the mind of that Harmon fellow was still quick. ------- Two TIE Phantoms dropped out of hyperspace and did a quick scanner sweep before activating their cloaking devices. After a quick visual check of his surroundings confirmed he was clear for now, Clark took an in depth look at the scan results. Delta was looking for activity near the system the EH Patrol had been lost and this was the right sector. Far beyond the entry point of the Phantoms was an asteroid field. An asteroid field that, only a few years ago, had held a supply base for the Void Raptors. Now there was hurried activity in the asteroid field. Transports carried equipment from a particularly large asteroid towards an Escort Carrier. A couple of X-Wings patrolled in a number eight pattern, keeping the asteroid in one and the Carrier in the other loop. LC Clark toggled his LOS Communication system, and waited for the electronic chirp that confirmed a connection to Delta 1-2: "Seems we have a contact, move to communication position and call in the target. We'll proceed with OP-Plan Gulf. ", a succession of three bursts of static confirmed that the CPT Nutrientman had received the message. On the last burst John reset the timer of his mission computer. 15 Minutes until the Hammer and an Interdictor would come in, this would be a premiere opportunity to gather prisoners. Clark checked his threat indicator and decided to move in a little closer. There was no way these guys could find him. The bridge of the Interceptor Wrench was frantic with activity. In less a few minutes Wrench would make a hyperspace jump together with the Dreadnaught Saw and two Corellian Gunships. Gulf wasn't a subtle plan, the interdictor would hinder movement out of the target system, and the remaining ships were more than enough firepower to scare an ESC into submission. The OPS officer lifted a hand with four outstretched fingers, and Captain Nextor nodded approvingly. The 'taskforce' was ready with over thirty seconds to spare. Then the hum of the hyperdrive increased in intensity and stars turned into lines and then the blue of hyperspace. Something was off, but Clark couldn't quite put his finger on what. The Rebels/Pirates/Whatever continued their salvage operation. Even through the dampening cloaking field his sensor suite could occasionally read COM chatter. There was the next transport moving from the ESC towards the asteroid. No wait. This wasn't the next transport, it was exactly the same transport. And it hadn't been on board the Escort Carrier for more than a couple of minutes. Way to few minutes to deliver anything substantial. This must be some kind of elaborate setup. Cursing John checked the mission computer, but it was already too late. His mission computer chirped and, right on clue, an Interdictor-class cruiser and some escorts entered the system. Now the time for finesse had ended. The Phantom jumped to full power, the cloaking device barely keeping up with the increased power output. "Starting up gravity generators, everything within normal parameters.", the XO reported. Nextor was nervous as he watched the Gunships closing in on his TAC display. But what was that? A single fighter appeared in his scanner ant it was rapidly closing the distance to the ESC. "Don't let that stupid fighter jock ruin the intercept..." the Captain mumbled under his breath. Turning off the cloaking device DELTA was still accelerating, Clark send out a hold position command to the 'support fleet' and then put all his remaining power into the scanner. The return was not what he expected. Not a single life form in the entire Asteroid field, they must be jamming him. But, no, there was a very distinct scanner result. Without regards to secrecy John pushed an all frequency call and then waited to send his hyperdrive into a two second emergency jump to the fringes of the system. Hopefully the Interdictor would deactivate his generators in time. "GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!", screamed the COM-link aboard the Wraith. Puzzled
the COM officer turned to the XO, who addressed his Captain: "I think he went utterly mad,
we show no trace of a Baradium device." ------- A light on Yun Vandorack's command chair turned from green into red. One of his traps had just sprung. Excellent. He knew the Imperials simply couldn't not investigate that location with full force. He checked his pad for the copy of the EH operations manual. Not much longer than six hours and he would have destroyed the crème de la crème of this stubborn imperial faction. Peace and liberty in this sector was only a question of time now. Time to aim and fire Gil Harmon and thus break the ground for that liberation. ------- The first thing Lieutenant Colonel Clark realized was that he was missing his flight helmet.
More and more sensory input returned, until he was positive that he was lying on his back
in some infirmary or other. He opened one eye slowly, peeking through his eyelashes. A faint
figure in ISB White stood at the edge of his vision. Clark opened both his eyes full: "What,
in the emperor's name, is going on?", he exclaimed to the room. "To be honest, Ma'am, it's a mess and I wouldn't trust more than the gist of most of these preliminary report." Hammer's senior intelligence analyst told Admiral Dempsey. "While I do agree that a multi megaton Baradium fission device has detonated in the sectore, I don't I don't believe that this was a botched attempt at taking out one of our ISDs." Dempsey pondered that for a while before speaking: "I agree Major, this smells like some type of setup." She turned to the XO: "Prepare for a jump to the fringes of the system, and prepare a return jump ASAP." The admiral made some quick calculations: "After the jump make a call that we will be going to General Quarters in 60 minutes. Tell the pilots to get a meal and some rest, I want the whole Wing ready.", she lifted her hand in a dismissive gesture, "Oh, and also tell the Warrior." ------- A blue whirlwind and then white lines turned into stars again. An Asteroid field filled the
view from the bridge of the Strike Cruiser Defiant. But there were not only Asteroids
around; the large triangle shape of an ISD II-Class Star Destroyer was also easily visible.
Some escorts were arranged deeper in the Asteroid field, but Gil Harmon's battle group had
expected exactly that. ------- As they had been trained, Wing II's pilots maneuvered to intercept the attacking bombers
first. But even Sin Squadron's advanced missiles were to slow to hinder the first wave of
Wishbones from firing their torpedoes. Frantic activity ensured, with TIE Advanced and
Defenders sharing their attention between attacking fighters and Proton torpedoes hurled
towards their battle group. Clark's Phantom didn't even had it's paint scratched during his escape from the Bomb. Moments before the Hammer and Wing II had been ordered to General Quarters. But that was half an hour before the planned GQ that had already been announced. Johns maintenance chief gave a thumbs up and a smart salute. Then the TIE Phantom was lowered onto the launch ramps just in time so it's Pilot could see the Hammer exit Hyperspace. A shudder went through the fighter and within seconds it was accelerating and invisible, with throttles to full power and the cloaking generator active. ------- "The second Star Destroyer has just arrived, it's not with any escorts.", reported the XO. Gil nodded in acknowledgment. "Launch the last AI wings and signal the reserve." The Mercenary commander smiled. Everything was going to plan. ------- "Alpha, you're in against those freshly launched Y-Wings. Beta and Epsilon, counter those DREADs." John heard through his COM, "Delta: you're in general melee, take out as many fighters as you can." With his objectives clear, Delta's commander switched to the squadron COM line: "Three and Two, stick together and concentrate on heavy assault craft. One we're dissolving to take out single fighters and elements." He waited only a second for the replies. "Razors, let's cut some meat off these fellows!" In her mind, Admiral Dempsey thanked the skeptical intelligence officer. Had the Hammer been in system when the Opposition arrived things would be much more difficult. Wing I was the strike element of the TIE Corps, and already the strike squadrons were advancing as planned. Just why did these three Strike-class cruiser sat so far back the line of battle? Clark scratched the third kill of the battle, an A-Wing, and was maneuvering to get into position for his next. A quick check of his scanners showed that Delta was working as he had intended. Flight one had already destroyed an even dozen enemy fighters, while the other Flights were wreaking havoc on the B-Wings that had engaged the Imperial escort and support ships. ------- "The package is away as planned, sir.", Kothlis' Captain told his Admiral, who was admiring the live feed from the battle. Yun Vandorack checked his chronograph against the planned jump time of his surprise package. "The trackers were locked before we launched?" he requested from his Operations officer for the umpteenth time. Just to receive a reassuring nod for an answer. "Then it's our clue to make a getaway.", the Admiral shrugged his shoulders apologetically: "Set course back to Coruscant." ------- Finally the Strike cruisers had moved and were aggressively advancing towards the
Hammer. Though no match against an ISD by themselves, as a group they proved a
considerable danger to the battle damaged Star Destroyer. These things looked like DREADs modified for heavy armor and shielding. And they were
heading right for the thick of the battle. Clark gave in to a hunch and reduced his weapon
recharge rate to power up his scanners. It never hurts to be careful "Delta disengage and get
close to the Hammer. Something's not right here." ------- Gil Harmon was hunched together on his command chair, this was his support? But he had
been promised a couple of MC 30c Frigates and some full wings of Fighters. Sithspit, he had
seen this strikeforce around the Kothlis. ------- "...HELL?" In a flash of light the latest arrival disintegrated in a massive Baradium fusion
explosion, shattering the three STRKs that just had begun heading towards the Hammer.
Seconds later two more sun-like explosions filled the system. Admiral Dempsey was thrown
to the ground by the sudden shudder of her Star Destroyer. ------- Clark was sitting next to his Fighter on the return Hangar. Wings I and II had been
extraordinarily lucky with no permanent casualties. The retreat order had come just in time
to prevent scores of fighters and elite pilots being incinerated. ------- "...stressing that the use of banned weapons of mass destruction is not acceptable under any circumstances, the minister urged the Senate and the Governing Council to no longer ignore the threat posed by rogue Imperial factions in the galaxy." Oktra Prisk'ia's Holo-receiver muted automatically as the doorbell of the luxurious apartment chimed. Annoyed Prisk'ia switched to the door camera, to see the picture of a man in an expensive suit who held up a small camera drone. "Councilor, my name is Ruwen Dankkar from HNN's political office. May we have an interview about the imminent emergency meeting of the government?" Oktra hid her smile - this was beginning sooner than she had hoped." She stood as she unlocked her door. Strange, she hadn't noticed the cybernetic eye of the reporter before. ------- Vandorack had returned to report immediately, but found himself waiting in vain. The
Councilor wasn't coming, and he didn't know why. Though he had been ordered not to see
the Bothan in her apartment he simply couldn't wait any longer. ------- An anonymous call that someone was trying to assassinate a Republican Councilor
demanded some response. ------- Smiling, Colonel Diaboli exited the hover-cab and walked toward the exit of the parking
garage. Less than four hours until his connection to Corellia would leave. Luckily that
Vandorack fellow had appeared just in time. END |