Antar System

[Jalua Solast]

The MCAV HRN Galacia dropped out of hyperspace along with it's escorts. Mk. II R-Wings was already in formation although this was but a small complement of the fleet's starfighter capability. They had dropped out of hyperspace between the Fourth and Fifth Moons as planned, and was slowly heading towards the Gotal homeworld. Price was on the bridge still, sat down watching over his crew. "Is the Empress disembarking right now?" he bellowed, not sure who would know. "Yes Admiral" came a call from his right shoulder. "Right, signal the Marines to launch, they know what to do, just keep eyes on the scanners". A series of acknowledgements from different sections of the bridge called out and the activity seemed to increase a little. Another voice called out from the left somewhere, "Engineers have launched from the Signia. "Engineers? What are they doing?" he asked quizzically, he hadn't heard of Engineers being sent out. Then he began to answer his own question as the response came, they was going to the mining colony to fix the sensor arrays. Up ahead, Price noticed the faint reflections of a series of starships heading out towards the vividly green and blue moon.

On the yacht, Jalua was sat going through a list of what to do and what not to do in front of the Gotal. She had only encountered them a couple of times before and nothing on such importance, so she really did not want to offend them on her first diplomatic trip. In the yacht was a complement of Elite Paratroopers who was preparing for the worst. They would be her main bodyguards during this trip, being a shield and reacting to threats with sufficient force. Although she could not see out of the luxury craft, she knew that two armoured troop carriers was also carrying Paratroopers who would be providing support for the trip, defending the shuttles and providing extra security.

The shuttles raced over the alien skyline of the Gotal Capital and descended into what seemed to be a tower of earth. At the base however, a small opening began to appear and the shuttles turned, slowing down as they did, to enter the towering structure.

[Dan Zorko]

Dan entered the bridge, baby Jaya in his arms. She seemed to be entertaining herself, making slight cooing noises, stopping, giggling, then restarting the process. Dan made his way over to Admiral Price. "Admiral Duke is in position." said Dan. The 6th Special Forces was the shadow force that Dan assigned to tail the Empress and the MCAV. Always only a short hyper jump away, they stood by ready to intercept anything that may attack the MCAV or Empress. "How long did the Empress say she would be down there?"

[Jalua Solast]

Price turned to Dan and walked with him over to a panel on the side of the bridge. "It seems she will be down there for less than eight hours. I've deployed our marines to the moon to find out what they can, the Gotal don't know they are there and hopefully the extra chatter will reveal some useful information. We had word that the Gotal's scanning equipment we put in a few months ago was acting up, I doubt it to be honest, but officially it was probably due to the mining equipment. Engineers are heading out to examine the sensors now, hopefully we will know if they have been sabotaged or not". There was a slight tension in Price's voice, has he spoke he noticed one of his commanders giving the cut sign to an operator. Price kept a close eye on the two when a third came over and started arguing with them. "Excuse me" Price said without looking at Dan, and stormed over to the trio, knowing something must be wrong. "Excuse me gentlemen, can you tell me what is wrong?" Price asked in his best demanding tone he could muster. The officers looked at each other while the operator glanced at Price and his superiors. "Well... well..." one of the officers began to stutter at which point the Admiral had lost interest. Turning to the operator, he hoped to hear what had happened straight and clear. "We... We haven't picked up any communication from the Engineers for two hours now" The operator began. Price looked at his watch, not realising how fast time had flew. "Two hours and no word?" he repeated, "No Admiral, should I send another request?". Price thought for a moment about what had just happened, to the Officers it seemed to be either something very serious or something which shouldn't be bringing any attention. Price on the other hand, knew that something had gone wrong with the scanning equipment and now his crew sent to repair it hadn't communicated back to the fleet. "No, let me deal with this" he finally said and spun on his heal.

The Brigadier seemed to have been watching developments closely and walked over when he had eye contact with the Admiral. "Something has happened to our engineers on the mining colony, pick up what intelligence you can on the site and assemble your soldiers. I don't want a full-scale invasion but send enough men to find out what went wrong, and do it quietly". With a simple salute the Brigadier hurried off the bridge to assemble his men, the elite might have been down there with the Empress but no doubt there would be other soldiers capable of working out what had happened down there. Walking back towards the Prince, Admiral Price was weighing up what to do next. It wasn't long before he reached Dan and his decision. "Our engineers haven't reported in, twice. I've ordered the Paratroopers to deploy an infiltration team to the mining colony to find out what went wrong. It must be something to do with those scanners. I'll find out when the Gotal's knew that the Empress was coming and hopefully it will give us some idea as to how long it would have taken the Imperials to get in system". Price looked up at Dan again and decided to add a little more to comfort the battle hardened soldier. "She's got good men protecting her down there, if we find that it is the Imperials, they will do whatever it takes to get her out".

[Dan Zorko]

Dan nodded, remembering all too well past experiences with Imperials. "I want her p-whoop" Dan paused as Jaya gave a little hiccup in his arms. "I want her pulled out ASAP if we loose contact with the Paratrooper team, or the team can't find the Engineers. That goes double if we find any Imperials. If it comes to that, focus on getting the Empress out, I'll have Duke deal with the mining colony. Just try to act like nothing is wrong for now; I'm sure the Gotals are watching the ship, and we don't want to spook them, especially with the Empress still down there." Jaya stiffened in his arms, sensing the tension that had developed with her father and the men around him. Dan looked down at her. "I think I better bring her back down. Excuse me." He turned and walked out of the bridge. "Enough excitement for you today huh?" he said to her as he carried her back down the corridor.

[Jalua Solast]

Price watched Dan and baby Jaya leave the bridge and turned back to take his seat. There was too much going on here now, he felt like something wasn't right and even with all these defences, he still felt like he was easy prey. The Empress had enough paratroopers with her to hold out, and the Marines would be able to clear them a path if anything went wrong, there was five thousand of them on the moon already. As for the mining colony, a team was going to try and infiltrate undetected and find out what happened to those engineers. With all this happening, Price considered it ironic that there was nothing he could do, even with a small fleet waiting for orders.

Down on Antar Four, Jalua had met a representative of the Gotal's and had reassured him that the Imperial Coalition was commited to preserving the Gotal way of life and government. Although to Jalua, it was hard to see what government they was talking about. Reaching out while waiting in the force, she felt her baby daughter immediately, tired. The Empress smiled in deep thought, everything had been very hectic for the last few months but even though, she had carefully balanced her political life with one which involved her family. She couldn't wait to get back to the MCAV, but she had spent the last four days completely with them, it was about time she carried out her duties.

On the far side of the planet, the Royal Marines had set up position far from prying eyes. Under orders they was sleeping it rough, not even putting up tents or setting up cooking equipment. They would be eating from ration packs and waiting for any sign of trouble. While this was happening, the Colonel was keeping a close eye on the Gotal communication network with his men, making sure that nothing got past them. The marines were able to respond at a moment's notice.

[Jalua Solast]

The eight-man squad descended by a glider system onto the low-gravity moon wearing lightweight combat suits designed to keep the wearer completely sealed and protected from the void of space. It had small balls within the suit which would block up any hole which was created, a simple but effective way of keeping the suit pressurised.

With their black camoflauge combat gear, the squad carefully proceeded across the rocky moon towards their target. A sensor array had been dropped a few months earlier into the moon like a stake, and here it stood towering above them. There was no sign of the Engineers meant to be fixing the array however. Carefully proceeding, they searched around the base and found little evidence that anyone had been here except for a few footprints in the dust.

"This is Tuscan-One, we have no signs of life. Proceeding towards the next stage" said the lead paratrooper holding a plate under his chin. Signalling forwards with an hand gesture, the squad moved up towards the distant lights of the base. Before getting close enough to be seen however, the squad hit the ground on a small ridge and took up positions, using the scopes on their sub-machine guns to scan for potential threats. What they did see was a row of uniformed soldiers on their knees while a small group of men with weapons stood behind them. "Tuscan-One, we see the friendlies. Permission to use lethal force to free them?" the Squad Commander said once again, placing his hand on his neck plate to speak with his superior. The sound of the Brigadier came through inside his helmet, "Use lethal force, do it quietly". Nodding almost instinctively, the squad leader signalled for his men who took careful aim and fired at the armed group. Behind the engineers, the group all fell within a couple of seconds and the Engineers cautiously got up to look around for allies. In an extended line, the Paratroopers raced towards the perimeter wall and dragged the engineer's with them before any could be seen by the sentries above. Passing a small radio to the engineer's to share, they began to inform the fleet of what had happened and that is when things came to light.

On the bridge of the Galacia, Admiral Price was being informed by the Brigadier of what had happened to the Engineer's. "So let me get this straight" he said, trying to make sure he had everything right before reporting to the Prince. "The Engineer's was taken hostile upon landing by armed soldiers? The colony also doesn't seem to be active. So what do you think happened to the Gotal colonists?". The brigadier didn't speak for a few seconds, thinking about possibilities. "The safest thing to do is presume they have also been taken hostage. If they are behind all this, then we will soon find out either way". Price nodded, agreeing with the Brigadier. It was too early to begin making threats or accusations against the Gotal, that was the last thing they needed, especially with the Empress in their capital. "I'll inform the Prince of developments. Meanwhile, assemble the rest of your men in the fleet, I want you to storm the mining colony within the hour". Prince then turned and raised his voice for the crew to hear. "Ready the fleet, I want full operational capability in twenty minutes. Contact the Paratroopers with the Empress and tell them to begin disembarking". "Admiral, we haven't been able to re-establish contact with the ground party. We should have been able to receive them on the second channel but that is dead also". Price knew what this meant, he quickly cut up the officer. "You mean that is likely to be an Imperial device down there blocking them? Right, Battle stations. Head towards the Fourth Moon and signal the Marines to bring them back". A series of acknowledgements and status updates followed each other across the bridge. A few seconds earlier, yellow warning lights had began flashing throughout the corridors but now with sudden developments, they turned red and the sirens was howling. On the bridge itself, the noise could be heard in the distance but mostly just red lights was turning to signal the highest level of alert.

Down on the planet, Empress Jalua was still waiting to speak to the representitive when he returned, unaware that things was escalating beyond their control. Some of the Paratroopers was idling talking while on guard about the fleet taking radio silence, something which was concerning them. But for the sake of the diplomatic mission, they could not presume, only act upon facts. With their guard up however, they was prepared for trouble and was well equipped to deal with it. Finally, an escort appeared. "The diplomat is ready to speak to you again, Empress" said a Gotal in blue clothing. Jalua nodded and followed the speaker and his two police escorts towards another room in this large gerkin-shaped tower. Finally seeing some windows to the outside Temba Port, everything seemed normal. The room she had entered had the Diplomat sat at a large table which was able to seat twelve, the full size of the Gotal Council. They was nowhere to be seen however.

Beyond the capital but heading there at a furious pace was one hundred and twenty shuttles, with a large array of weaponry. The Marines was travelling at high speed through the air towards the Capital in the distance, after receiving word from the fleet that they had to evacuate the Empress at all costs. The small air armada quickly descended upon the capital, quickly encountering incoming fire from small starfighter squadrons in groups of three and ground defences which shouldn't have been there. Skillfully evading the ground-to-air missiles and laser fire from the rooftops of buildings, the Marines eventually picked up the signal from the Paratroopers.

Jalua was just about to take the seat offered by the diplomat when there was a distant roar quickly becoming louder and seemed to shake the room. Fearing an earthquake, the Diplomat slid under the table while Jalua turned to the window for signs of activity. She saw it. Hundreds of shuttles was opening their sides, ropes falling out and her Royal Marines sliding down with weapons around their shoulders and backs. It was an unexpected sight and one which was awe inspiring for a brief moment. When she looked back to the room, the Paratroopers guarding her had kicked down the doors to opposite rooms and taken out waiting guards with swift and brutal efficiency. The Diplomat had been dragged from beneath the table and chucked against the wall, and was now cowering on the floor. The table, a huge and impressive antique, was no longer with ten soldiers picking it up and using it to hold the door they had entered in place, no shut against intruders. A couple of chairs which had accompanied the table had been thrown out of the window to provide an exit onto a shuttle coming in close. The Empress jumped with a couple of paratroopers onto the waiting shuttle which spent no time to waste, speeding up and ascending rapidly. R-Wing starfighters from the fleet was descending through the clouds, creating small corridors amongst them of clear sky, some of these quickly turned to escort the Empress' shuttle back towards the fleet. The paratroopers guarding the arrival party and it's craft had almost certaintly being alerted by the sudden invasion of the Marines and had powered up, taking their ships back into the sky. At the surface of Temba Port, Royal Marines was encountering fierce resistance and defensive positions in the capital, which was multiplied by unexpected guests.

Imperial Stormtroopers was rushing out of buildings to meet the air assault and fierce urban fighting was taking place all across the Capital. Small vehicles was being dropped from the back or underneath shuttles to provided much needed firepower for the infantry. R-Wings was turning their torpedos into effective weaponry against Imperial Walkers, helping to even out the odds. Within five minutes the capital had gone from a busy and peaceful trading hub to a battlefield.

[Dan Zorko]

Dan stareted sprinted down the corridor of the MCAV as soon as the alarms started going off. Jaya was at a full tizzy now, startled by the sudden commotion. "Shhhh..." he whispered as he sprinted to Jayas caretaker droid and handed her off. "I'll be back later!" he yelled as he ran back out of the room. In the hallway, he met up with his family's protectionary REAPER unit, who had quickly taken up guard positions around the room's enterance as soon as the alarms started going off. "Sir." said the leader of the unit, Don Azul. "What's going on?" Don wore the latest generation of AVALON Mk. III SpecOps Tactical Shielded armor, which was already powered up, and clutched his compact OS-15 Blaster Rifle in his hands in ready position. Dan shook his head. "I don't know, I'm on my way to find out. Come with me." "Sir!" said Don, and slung his rifle over his shoulder.

They both jogged back down the hallway, passing several more members of the MCAV REAPER unit, which bore the patch with the MCAV splitting the Black Moon and Coalition emblems down the middle. As they sprinted into the bridge, Dan found Price. "whats going on?"

[Jalua Solast]

Price turned to the shouting and saw the Prince right there. The bridge was calm and controlled, the operators swiftly sorting through what needed to be done with expert precision. Compared to them, Dan's shouting really did make Price feel like he was on a battlefield. "I ordered the Marines to invade Temba Port and extract the Empress. She is on her way back here now with a large escort. Some device, way too powerful for the Gotal, was blocking communications with the Paratroopers on the ground. We also had to kill a group on the mining colony which had taken our Engineer's prisoner. We believe tha-" Price looked at the screen just to the left of Dan which showed clearly Imperial Stormtroopers fighting in the streets, the head mounted camera showed vividly the battle taking place. "Okay, there are Imperials down there. Stormtroopers in fact, and probably more on that mining colony. The remaining Paratroopers in the fleet are preparing to storm the Fifth Moon to try and find information there, possibly capture a few Imperials while they are at it. The Marines are ordered to just guarantee the safety of the Empress right now, but I'm considering deploying more troops to the Fourth Moon to try and secure the capital". Price let this sink in for a few moments as he turned and walked along the right-side of the bridge, examining each terminal as he passed. Now that it was confirmed that Imperial's had gotten through here, Price was expecting an Imperial Fleet to turn up, but so far, nothing. He continued until he reached the front where he looked out at the Fourth Moon, glowing with it's deep blue's and exotic green's. Within a few minutes, the Empress would be safely aboard and that would allow Price to free up some of his forces, it would also allow him to consult with the Empress and her husband for advice on what to do next.

[Dan Zorko]

Dan looked at Don. "If there's ground forces out there, there must be a fleet lurking around out here. Duke..?" "Already called." said Don. "He's on his way."

OOC: Sorry, I'm a bit tired from the drugs and can't really post much.

[Jalua Solast]

The Paratroopers from the fleet deployed relatively silently. Dropships landed them in small groups spread around a wide perimeter surrounding the mining facility. From there they swarmed in breaching the various complexes both outside the main facility and that in itself. Working up they cleared each level and structure with quiet efficiency and professionalism. With the mining colony secured and the workers being quizzed by intelligence, most of the assault force flew back to the fleet, knowing the miners would need only a couple of hundred men rather than a few thousand.

On Antar Four the Royal Marines and Paratroopers had secured individual sectors of the city. They was setting up better defences and getting intelligence on where they would be best to attack next, knowing the way to win this battle quickly and with less blood lost was to secure strategically important areas first. They could then use these against the Imperial forces and slowly begin to drive them either out the capital or into corners where they had no choice but to starve or surrender.

Back on the fleet, Jalua knowing that nothing had happened in space to endanger her baby or husband, headed straight for the bridge. Price greeted her halfway and began informing her on the situation, by the time he returned, his subordinates was managing the bridge on his behalf. On the scanners an Imperial squadron of three Star Destroyers had appeared a couple of minutes earlier. Two Galactic-class Battle Carriers that had been temporarily assigned to this small royal fleet had begun moving to intercept them and four of the twelve Chariot-class Star Cruisers was also moving to engage. These would leave the MCAV adequately defended, fend off the Imperial Squadron and hopefully give an extended scanner range past where the Imperials had arrived so the fleet would know of any incoming ships the moment they arrived.

OOC: Feel free to post, but I'm going to post again tomorrow evening hopefully.

[Dan Zorko]

OOC: I'll let you post firs. I want to see where you're going with this.

[Jalua Solast]

With the situation inevitably becoming more dangerous, Price turned to the Empress stood next to him. "We can handle the Imperials here and recapture Antar Four" Price said confidently, looking down the length of the bridge at the large globe of the moon. The MCAV had gotten particularly close to the moon now that they knew there was no serious weaponary which could harm the warship from the surface. "Excellent. I think it would be unfair to leave the Gotal's under their rule, at least we should give them the chance. If the government was behind this, they will be brought the justice". Price nodded, agreeing with what her reasoning was, he had expected that since it was a sound political stance. "Good" he said, turning fully to the Empress, "Now go, this is your chance to get out safely". Price was able to get away with talking to the Empress in a way which others would find horrifying, but he always used his blunt words to show that he really believed it was the right thing to do.

Considering the fact that her daughter was also on board, she would either need to let Dan take her or go herself. Jalua would have opted to stay and fight alongside her troops, but Price had a point. She knew he was considering securing the safety of her daughter and also saving his forces by giving the Imperials the chance to see the Empress fly away. Prince then gave her a small datacard, something which surprised Jalua. "Although I would trust Zorko with my life, I wouldn't with his fleet. I've asked the Jedi to send someone to help protect Jaya, I know we have people but it is the last people the Imperials will think of. Take one of our Chariots and fly out to meet them, there is a small refugee camp which should provide the perfect chance to lose anyone following you". Jalua took the datacard and gripped it into her hand, "Thank you, I'll go and tell Dan about what is happening. I don't expect him to be happy since his bringing in his fleet to protect us, but I'm sure you will find them useful anyway", "Oh yeah, thanks" Price said sarcastically which made Jalua laugh. Heading off the bridge, Price watched her go then walked swiftly to his subordinate. "She is doing it thank god, but Zorko won't like her going out on a cruiser. When he sends a ship to follow her, send one to follow it. It will leave his fleet under some basis like securing supply lines, but look out for anything which is designed to fool others".

OOC: I think you can sort of see where this is going now, since you got quite a few options here I'll let you post next.

[Dan Zorko]

Dan was not happy when he heard the plan, but knew he couldn't stop her. "Fine, but I'm sending Don here with you." He held up his hand before she could protest. "Force forbid, you're boarded by Imps before you can reach the camp, I want to make sure you're protected by the best available I trust Don more then anyone, besides Clemence. I don't care what Price said, I'm overriding his order. The camouflage on his AVALON Mk. III should be enough to prevent detection if needed."

Don, who was still next to him, straightened a little extra upon hearing the compliment. "Don, go get prepared." Don saluted and turned to leave the bridge. He paused and turned back. "Sir, Admiral Duke is on station. He wants to know what your orders are." "Have him intercept those Imperial Destroyers. They present the biggest threat to the MCAV right now. Free up the Coalition ships so they can support their ground forces." "Sir." saluted Don, and left the bridge.

[Jalua Solast]

Jalua sighed and watched Don leave, still a little uneasy now that there was a battle in full swing and she hadn't solved it. "Don't worry about Jaya, she will be fine. I've visited that camp before, it's full of activity and nobody will notice us amongst the crowds. I'll get some accomodation sorted temporarily when we land there and meet up with JRF. I'll keep in contact with you though, always" she said, pulling Dan into a tight hug. Eventually she stepped back, knowing she would miss him for the next few days.

Turning towards a bookshelf in the luxury "living room" for the Empress and her family on the warship, Jalua reached down to the bottom of the lowest shelf and the bookcase seperated to let her through. Inside was basically a safe room for her family, but also everything they needed to begin fighting back. Flicking a switch as she walked in on the desk, the monitors flashed into life and she eventually pressed in a command which brought up a now familiar face. "Hello KnightFire-Three, any luck on tracking down the traitors?" Jalua asked, regarding the previous branches of KnightFire. "Good Morning... afternoon Empress. I've got four of them in Imperial custody right now, the computer's are telling them that they have been spying, so it will only be a matter of time before they give them a good lesson. I've also contacted Colonel Lauren Iram for you, she is on her way to the apartment. The one I've booked is absolutely stunning, you'll love it! I know the planet isn't that much to go by with the camps 'n' all, but it's next to a lake, or used to be at least". Jalua smiled as she listened, this was the person who had supplied her with the intelligence on Denon so that the Coalition could strike deep against the Imperials at the start of the war. She had much to thank this man for, he had helped her many times since, including medicines to help keep the virus weakened. Reaching up to one of the racks, she began fitting her special armour onto her. It showed no signs of use and yet she had been using it to conceal her identity and keep her safe in some of the worst conditions. She really needed to go visit the Mandalorian's again and thank them for this truely astonishing piece of work.

"I know you like doing this to them, but after they are bruised up I'd also like to get my hands on them. Another convoy we can capture would be a useful", "Oh yeah, they keep very vivid accounts of what they do, so I'll change the crime at the last moment so it's like they've got interrogated for shoplifting or something. Either way, I'll send a convoy Kessel way and let you know when to grab em". Jalua nodded as she quickly looked through a few updates before putting on her helmet and grabbing her favourite blaster rifle. With it's sling, she placed it around her back for easy movement and flickered off the communications equipment. Dan obviously knew about the safe room but didn't go in there to Jalua's knowledge, it was one of those things which didn't appeal to him unless he had to use it. Opening the door to the outside of her quarters on the ship, she saw Don in his armour waiting outside, leaning against the wall opposite. "I'll just get Jaya" she said before disapearing back inside the room. Placing a brown robe over her baby daughter to keep her warm, she headed outside the room once again. "Dan gone to the bridge?" she asked Don, who just shrugged before mumbling where he thought he'd gone. With her body armour she looked different from the rest of the crew and had to show a false identification to the guards across the ship as she headed for the second hanger bay. With Jaya falling asleep, looking comfortable with her hood up and robe wrapped around her, Jalua carried her slowly towards the waiting ship.

Looking up, Jalua had a surprise to see an old YT-2000 freighter waiting there, obviously with a few battle wounds. Walking up to the lowered ramp, she peaked inside until finally, a face Jalua recognised appeared in some old overalls. "Talia Lenora, well I didn't expect to see you!" Jalua said from beneath her helmet. Jalua had had a few things to thank Talia for, helping to uncover the Black Guard's assassination plots on Cloud City was one of them. Jalua had sent a recently uncovered crystal to Talia as a gift, it was one recovered from the cave on Korriban. Unlike most of the planet, when clearing up the area, Jalua noticed it didn't have the same qualities as the rest of the surroundings. A planet which was dark and eerie had this one crystal which although wasn't bright, seemed to have a neutral touch. Jalua couldn't understand it in the time she's studied it, so passed it to Talia in the hopes she would find better use for it. It was after this that Talia got to know the Empress more so than most of the other Jedi Knights, and shared her thoughts on the crystal with Jalua occasionally. The Council had obviously sent someone they trusted and Jalua did to help pilot this freighter away from the fleet and to the refugee camp. "I thought we was meeting at the camp?" Jalua said after showing Jaya to Talia. "No... well sort of" Talia began, taking another look at Jaya, "I'm taking you there but there is another Jedi going to meet us". Entering the freighter further, Jalua realised the extent of the disguise. It was a relatively safe place but still had the recently mended effect to it. Jalua went into the passenger compartment and took a seat. Jaya had gone to sleep by now and was warming up on the ship which had it's internal heat systems at an higher level than the warship's hanger bay. Jalua looked down at her daughter for several long moments, taking in the peaceful sight. Talia could be heard powering up different systems in the nearby cockpit and Jalua had the urge to put her feet across the seats and rest her head against the wall at the corner. Not realising how tired she actually was after the day's events, she began drifting off to sleep as well.

A few minutes later, the freighter had clearence to launch and headed out of the warship alone, without escort. Programming it's route, Talia was unaware that her passenger had gone to sleep, but could heard Don's careful examinations of the freighter. He was obviously one of Zorko's men, his appearence even with the armour made him look too rogueish to be a Coalition agent. Pushing the lever forwards to meet the countdown, the YT-2000 flung itself into hyperspace leaving the Antar system behind within a few seconds. In the distance behind them, another ship disapeared in a flash of light as well.

[Dan Zorko]

"That YT-2000 just hit hyperspeed." called the radar operator. Dan nodded, thankful that his family was out of harms way. The Jedi would protect them well, and Don accompying them made him feel better. He raised his comlink to his lips. "Don?" "He went dark sir." said the operator tracking him on Dukes flagship. "As per your orders. He can't be traced now." "Good." said Dan. "Monitor it, and if it goes active, alert me at once." "Sir." came the reply.

Dan switched frequencies. "Duke?" "Sir, we're about to intercept those ISDs, and the starfighters have gone to the surface to provide close fire support for the Coalition troops." said Duke. "Good. Alet me if there's any changes, but other then that, let the Coalition do their thing."