Obroa-Skai's Open Orbit

The alert went off on the Serroco's bridge, blaring so loud that Captain Horus almost spilled his caf. Cursing, he turned expectantly to the sensor operator. He must have been about to doze off. Shaking his head to clear it, he opened his eyes wide. "Incoming freighter under pirate attack, sir." Called the sensor officer, sounding more alert than his Captain felt.

Captain Horus didn't hesitate, this one was in the training manual. He knew what to do, and it would be good training time for the youngins among the crew. "Banjo Squadron to intercept those pirates, and bring us around." The ageing Nebulon-B turned away from its orbital path towards the incoming marauder. Six StarViper fighters zoomed in to flank the frigate and present a unified front to the piratey force.

"Pirate Force, cease fire or be destroyed." The Captain's voice was calm and projected a confidence he didn't feel, considering the lack of firepower at his disposal. One frigate instead of three, six fighters instead of two dozen. Still, he had enough to handle one marauder and some fighters.

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Captain Horus of the Serroco watched in surprise as the suspected pirates did not break off their pursuit of the freighter, nor did they move into attack position. They held their course, but opened fire upon the Nebulon-B from outside effective range. What the kriff were they playing at? He wondered. As a commander he could only act on what he could see, and what he saw was enemies firing on his ship, whatever the reason.

"Sir?" called the comm officer expectantly. Horus nodded and half turned in that direction. "Let Obroa-Skai know that we're engaged, and tell Banjo Squad to stand by." Then he turned to the helm. "Full speed. Bring us right into their faces." And then to the weapons officer. "Turbolasers to fire as they bear. Prepare tractor beams." He'd pound the enemy ship then hold it steady where it would surrender or be destroyed. Confident in his small force's ability to handle a few stray ships, Horus was undaunted by the prospect of combat.

Serroco accelerated away from Obroa-Skai and towards the Marauder which was blasting turbolaser fire her way. A few shots impacted Serroco's shields, but at this range they had little effect, and most passed harmlessly. Six StarVipers flew escort for the frigate as it moved out, awaiting orders to break and attack. Horus could see the A-Wings had moved back to escort their own capital ship, so he held his own fighters back in reserve, ready to react to the enemy.

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The mood on the bridge of the frigate Serroco was tense. Though the Captain still held his confidence that his small force would be able to deal with the enemy threat, he was suspicious. The pirates were not behaving logically, and he couldn't help but suspect there was more to this raid than met the eye. Still, he could only act on what he knew, and he knew how to deal with what presented itself.

"Shields down fifteen percent!" Called an officer as the enemy starfighter missiles struck home, and as Serroco closed the range with the marauder, enemy turbolaser blasts began to hit the frigate's shields. Still accelerating to her full speed, the Nebulon-B moved away from the planet and in towards the target enemy vessel. Horus could see the enemy were focusing their fire on his ship's bow, but didn't know why. "Entering firing range." Called the helm officer. Horus didn't hesitate. "Guns, let them have it. Banjo Squadron, break and attack."

Serroco's own turbolaser batteries began to open up, while Horus released his six StarViper attack fighters to surge forward and begin attacking the Marauder. They would be outmatched against the A-wings, and the A-wings couldn't do too much to hurt the frigate. Volleys of turbolaser fire reached out across space between the two ships, as the Serroco's fighters bored in on the Marauder, careful to stay out of Serroco's fire zone. Banjo Lead led Banjo Two through Six on a speed run outbound, closing the distance with the Marauder, leaving the Serroco behind them.

Banjo lead called out to the fighters as they made their approach. "Break by wingpairs and attack." Before lurching to port, as Three and Four went starboard, and Five and Six went up and over. Three wingpairs of StarVipers bored in, adding their own harrassment fire to the barrage from the frigate Serroco, boxing the Marauder in with attacks from all sides.
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Just as Captain Horus aboard the Nebulon-B Frigate Serroco thought he had the situation with the pirates well in hand, everything went to osik. Yells from the bridge officers overlapped one another, rising in alarm. "Massive vessel decloaking in planetary orbit." "Sir, we're tracking more ships inbound from hyperspace." "Sir! Obroa-Skai reports corruption of their HoloNET links, attempting to establish the cause now." Horus reacted to that one "No! Cut all our HoloNET links at once." If the enemy were using the HoloNET, he didn't want to give them a way into his ship.

Not that he thought that would make a difference, as he gazed at the tactical holodisplay. The new enemy ship was gargantuan, and was positioned close to bombardment position for Obroa's capital city. He couldn't just let it blast the civilian population. "Guns, cease fire. Banjo Squadron, break off, form up with us. Bring the ship around and make course for the new contact. Dump the weapons power into our deflector shields, and give me flank speed." He knew as he gave the orders that he and his ship and crew were already doomed.

Still, he would make sure their lives were not spent in vain. There were other methods of communication than the HoloNET. "Transmit a distress call, use the MandalArms logistics reporting system, standard text and audio." With any luck, the foe wouldn't know of the inventory management system, and wouldn't be able to prevent the distress call getting out. That would be a nasty surprise for them, he hoped. Not that he expected to be alive to see the results.

The Marauder and its A-Wings had free shots at the Nebulon-B as it altered its course back toward the planet. There wasn't a lot that a ship of its size could do against the new enemy ship that had decloaked, but Horus was determined that Serroco would not go down meekly. Obroa-Skai had little and less to protect it, and what little it had would need to do their best and be prepared to sacrifice their lives in its defence. He hoped to buggery that Colonel Trifel down in the city had had better luck than he had.
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"Additional fighters inbound. The frigate has a full squadron accompanying it." Stated one of the bridge crew of the Excruciator in a raised voice. In response, Torviel's hazard suit gauntlet came crashing down on his command throne's arm rest, cracking the panel and eliciting a loud bang that brought silence across the rest of the deck. His sickly eyes bulged in their sockets, red rimed and jaundiced. "I said ignore them!" Hissed tortured lungs as he drew in a heady volume of toxic fumes from his rebreather, dispelling his raw anger and replacing it with a cold calculated fury as the combat stims in his breathing apparatus hit his nervous system and granted clarity to his mind. He watched as his factory ship neared the threshold, seconds away now from unleashing their payload upon an ill prepared people.

---

Hacked HoloNet relays began to transmit across all available airwaves and frequencies a pre-prepared holographic transmission. As the image appeared, a single humanoid shape took form in a modified suit of radzone stormtrooper armour, over which was draped a tattered brown robe mired in filth where it wasn't torn. A long beak like nose protruded from the helm of the armour, to which two threaded hoses were connected, bleeding wisps of chemical steam from grill like slits along either side of the beak. The lenses on the helmet were filmy green circles, through which it was just barely possible to see a moving iris pressed against the surface like two veiny smooshed grapes. Strapped to the figure's back was a long war-scythe with an animate sickle head that seemed distorted as the holoprojector struggled to capture the weapon's image, the long curved edge pointed towards the floor as it hung diagonally over his shoulder.

You thought you were safe, that no one could touch you. Said a distorted croaking voice. You thought we had forgotten about you, that you would be allowed to live your lives in peace. You thought we couldn't see how far you had fallen... Mirthful, throaty wet cackling sounded from the shrouded form. ..but the Eye sees all.

Behind the gloomy rad-trooper, what had been a blank black wall moments ago, now caught aflame to reveal a burning emblem that cast flickering shadows across the figure's sickly green armour. When fully alight, the flaming symbol was that of a great singular eye.

---

The rotten voice of Torviel Wormwood, Captain of the GraveScythes and Commander of the Excruciator, roared across the bridge as he gave the order to unleash their broadside volley. All along the starboard side of the factory ship, gas hissed harmlessly into the void as two hundred hex missiles were fired from their warhead launchers, filling the empty space with chemical ordnance that streaked towards Obroa-Skai City on the planet below. Turbolasers would have been a more effective choice for an orbital bombardment, being faster and less susceptible to interception, but the Reaper Prime's directive had been clear. They wanted to choke the capital in a poison fog that would blister flesh and drown the people of Obroa-Skai in their own lungs. The long warship's engines continued to propel it across orbit as it completed its opening salvo, pushing forwards so it would eventually exit the range of any planetary emplacement cannons within the vicinity of the capital.

"Missiles away, Reaper Lord." "Good. Deploy our ground forces. I want two squadrons of bombers focused on that city while we set up a landing zone to the north and offload our artillery. Low yield radiation bombs only. All effort must be taken to avoid damaging the library. The civilian population is expendable; those data drives are not."

Still in range of the planetary turbolaser on the surface, two squadrons of TIE Bombers peeled out of the towers along the sides of the Excruciator, numbering two dozen in total (12 per squadron). They were joined by six large Y-85 Titan dropships full of AV-7 Anti-vehicle artillery cannons, All Terrain Tactical Enforcers, and mobile artillery cannons in additional to standard troops. A dozen Y-45 armoured transport haulers flew behind them, each carrying a single SPHA-T between their arms. Then finally, two Warlord Dropships carrying All Terrain Anti-Aircraft units, AAC-1 speeder tanks, Missile Attack Launchers, and a company of Torviel's mechanically augmented GraveScythes in modified hazard trooper armour. It was as though a plague of locusts had been unleashed from the factory ship's hangar towers and was descending upon the planet in the wake of its initial bombardment.

---

Meanwhile the rest of the fleet made its slow tread across the stars as it continued to follow after the flagship. Each of the three Victory I's had launched a twelve man squadron of Missile Boats and a twelve man squadron of Star Wings, though they held back in formation with the slowly nearing fleet.

Continuing its reckless pursuit of the Serroco, the cyborg Cicero's marauder fired a volley of turbolaser shots from its dual fore cannons, targeting the exposed rear of the frigate. Unfortunately they were losing the race and their shots lacked the necessary 'punch' for lack of range. Still, they kept up the pursuit. It would follow them all the way into the planet's atmosphere if need be.

"Shots fired from surface emplacement. Frequency and firing pattern suggest only one stationary turbolaser, Reaper Lord." Said the sensor operator nearest Torviel, who was staring at the officer's monitor with laser focus. Music to his ears. The Reaper Prime had chose this world well. Sunk in dark sockets, his yellow eyes shifted to the readout report of the missile screen headed planet side. A few reckless shots from that emplacement had taken out missiles here or there, but it was like trying to swat a swarm of flies with a blaster pistol. Sure, you were going to hit a few, but most would slip past for being so small and scattered. "Trace those firing arcs and provide estimated positioning data to Desolation Squadron. Their orders are to launch and seek out that cannon. I want it smouldering before the rest of the fleet gets into position."

"Inbound Gold and Black squadrons of TIE Bombers are closer. They could deviate from bombarding the shield and target the cannon instead." Suggested another officer, who was quickly silenced by a hand gesture from the Captain of the GraveScythes as he dragged his right gauntlet across the throat of his hazard suit. "No. No deviation. They've begun targeting our artillery wagon. If we aren't able to land our armour and guns, then we'll be relying more heavily on the bombers to bring down that shield. Let the Reaper Prime's new droid fighters earn their keep. Now open a channel to Subprime Cestus on warlord 'Zeta-Ten'."

The bridge crew connected the communicator built into the Reaper Lord's throne to the Subprime aboard the warlord dropship, opening a channel. A beleaguered voice thick with strain answered.




Captain Wormwood tapped the interface on the arm of his throne, silencing the channel. He then got up and went over to a holo-table set up on one side of the bridge that was overseeing the ground assault. Two of his GraveScythes were already standing around the table, as bulky and menacing as Torviel in their modified suits of hazard trooper armour. Both were augmented humans, transformed by the Reaper Prime's alchemy and mechanical leanings. On the left there was the scarred and stern faced Crixus, and on the right, the tumorous abomination known as the Scabbed Nomad. Where one might easily recognize Crixus as a human by origin, the same was not as apparent of the second, whose flesh was practically scaled for all the leprous abrasions that covered the skin of his face. Also telling, where Crixus had pearly white teeth, the Scabbed Nomad's were yellowed and had been filed down to serrated saw tooth edges. The table groaned as Torviel placed his hands on its illuminated surface and eased some of his armours weight off on to it.

"Our transports are being targeted and may not make it to the LZ unmolested. I need solutions." The dim deck lightning reflected off Crixus' smooth shorn scalp as he leaned forwards. Stroking his thick stubbly chin with his the grey fingers of his gauntlet, he proposed an idea. "If we launch our drop pods now, we can encircle the city in an iron ring. Plausible, but not according to the Reaper Prime's original plan. Torviel shook his head. "Those are to be reserved until the shield has fallen. The Reaper Prime wanted them landed in the city to crush any resistance in one smooth stroke." Tears of blood dripped from the corners of the Scabbed Nomad's eyes as he looked to Captain Wormwood and joined his support with that of Crixus. "We won't be able to land them in the city if the shield is still up, and we won't be able to bring the shield down if we don't land our artillery so we can start pounding it." Before Torviel could interject, Crixus spoke again. "There are ground reinforcements aboard the rest of the fleet. If we land our pods to the south, we can prepare a beach head for their arrival. The enemy will have to split their attention between whatever we can land to the north, and our assaulting forces to the south. The only difference is that instead of using our superiority forces to crush them, they'll be used to soften the city's defenses, and then the arriving Stormtrooper Corps will be used for the final push."

It was a good plan. A bit out of order from the way he had envisioned the assault, but it would work. The Reaper Prime shouldn't be too vexed so long as the spirit of the attack remained unchanged. Or at least that was his hope.

"Very well. Prepare to launch..." Interrupted! "Enemy frigate has entered firing range." What the deuce? He brought up a visual of the Serroco still hot on their tail, making unusually impressive speed towards the Excruciator. Ridiculous. There was no way the much smaller Nebulon-B could hope to do any damage against the factory ship. It was suicide to even try...unless, that was the point. He studied the screen, noting the approach of the Serroco had it heading for the Excruciator's engines where the point defense system was thinnest. The Poisoned Breath was on an intercept course, but it wouldn't make it in time. They needed to respond. "This gnat is in need of a good scratch. Unleash TIE swarms as we turn hard to port. Open up on them with anything and everything. And get me a channel to Captain Sorentus."

On the viewscreen, the image of the Serroco was replaced with the cybernetic visage of Cicero Sorentus aboard the marauder. The rogue half metal man's glowing red lenses met Torviel's furious bulging orbs.





Captain Wormwood silenced the channel rather than respond with the expected platitude. He didn't have time for niceties. Firing maneuvering thrusters, the massive factory ship began to turn to port as it trundled across orbit, opening up at the lone frigate to its rear with banks of point defense lasers, filling the empty space between the two ships with coherent bolts of green energized blaster gas. From the massive columns along either side of its hull, TIE fighters began to weep from the hangars like ooze from a pustule, numberless and furious. These were not the creme-de-la-creme of the invasion force, but rather, a motley assortment of renegades and slaves put into service by the whim and will of the Reaper Prime. Unshielded, equipped with only two fire-linked laser cannons, and limitedly skilled...they would serve their part as fodder. In keeping to that theme, the Excruciator's point defense cannons made little effort to avoid friendly fire.

Slipping out amongst the swarm of TIEs, a single twelve man squadron of Shadow Droids, exited the factory ship and streaked into the atmosphere. Though perhaps 'man' was not the correct word to use, as each of the droid starfighters of Desolation Squadron was actually controlled by a lobotomized lump of grey tissue taken from Imperial pilots that had fallen in battle. Likewise, the maurauder-class corvette Poisoned Breath ceased taking pot shots at the Serroco's rear and began to turn, heading into the atmosphere of Obroa-Skai after the sleek black droid fighters of Desolation Squadron.

As it slowly turned, there was much activity in the bowels of the Excruciator. X-1 Viper droids were maneuvered on mechanical tracts or hoisted on conveyer assemblies as they were loaded into thick durasteel plated drop pods. Each pod was loaded with one X-1, and thirteen Glory-class Darktroopers armed with light repeating blasters. They were due to launch once all fifty pods had been loaded. 25% complete.

As for the remainder of the fleet continuing to close, they were ten minutes out from the Excruciator's current position.

As the battle raged around him, Reyn blasted through the remains of another destroyed enemy craft, and realized that his own forces and those of the defenders were still hopelessly outnumbered by the attacking force. The book said to make them pay for every inch of space. Reyn didn't like the book very much. His own instincts were not to play a losing game. To provoke the enemy into rash and ill concieved actions, now that was his game. Reyn flicked his transponder over to broadcast his IFF as Red Baron. The fighters all knew their jobs, and one more pilot wasn't going to make or break this battle. He could make a difference another way.

Pulling his craft away from the furball, and redlining his engines, Baron Reyn Australis made a direct course for the largest enemy ship he could see, the Arc Hammer looking capital ship hanging over the blue sphere of Obroa-Skai. Reyn made straight for it, activating his comm system as he did so. "Attention enemy scum, Red Baron here. Do I have the attention of your leader? Good. It's time to run, shitheel. Run far, and run fast. I'm coming for you. Catch me if you can." The IFF he'd activated would create a very large blip on any sensors, friendly or otherwise.

One light fighter against a dreadnaught? It seemed poor odds, and indeed it was. Reyn had taken stock of his own resources, several hundred rounds of ammunition for his personal weapons, plus explosives, and of course his blades, which required no ammo. More than enough for him to make a mess of anyone or anything that got in his way. Scythe would get him to his destination quickly, and the hole he hoped Serroco had made in the enemy ship was going to be his way inside. Once there, he'd core the blasted ship from stern to bow, using his fighter's guns, and then exiting to make personal his displeasure with the crew, until he fought his way to the command bridge.

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