Theed

While the Naboo N-1 had once been a majestic starfighter, it was little match for squadrons of TIE Interceptors and TIE Fighters, piloted by the deadly pilots of the First Order - the Empire's finest.

The Naboo Fighters may have stood a chance - if the vast majority of them hadn't been wiped out in the orbital strike before they ever lifted off of the ground.

With the Defense Forces routed, the First Order was making somewhat free with the violence - there were countless occasions of innocents simply being gunned down because they fled their bombed houses. Stormtroopers strode through streets, clearing the city block by block - they had come for the Wayward Sons, but they were using the opportunity to display what happened to rebels against the Empire.

A TIE Bomber screamed over the heads of Loki and Zalor, to deposit one of the most deadly weapons used yet - incendiary bombs - only a block away from Zalor's tavern. The fire was raging and spreading fast - fueled by harsh chemicals and the availability of easily burned materials.

Ahead of Zalor, his tavern would soon burn, but behind him a battalion of First Order troops systematically slaughtered one of the last bastions of Naboo resistance, a mixture of Royal Security Volunteers, Gungans and random civilians who had armed themselves. Zalor had a choice, save the lives of nearly two hundred of his freedom loving people, or save his tavern.

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Tamara had little trouble starting the shuttle - the men of the Brigand were obviously lax- for the consoles weren't properly locked down, and the girl would soon find herself in a database of clearance codes and communications frequencies - they would be able to run into Imperial communications. There was also some information on Yularen, including his rank, homeworld and his Command, though most of it was restricted.

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After initial surprise - resistance in this sector had been thought annihilated - the Stormtroopers reorganised. Two hundred troops set to sweeping the streets for that girl, hunting in squads.

When Sin reached the shuttle and Tamara, she would be greeted by the sight of a bombing screaming low overhead, to drop another set of incendiary explosives ten blocks away - the great grouts of flame visible even at that distance.

Naboo was being made an example of in the most ruthless way possible - the rape of her capital city.

An explosion behind Zalor destroyed the bridge - the brave actions of a dying Corporal Trevaux, shot through the guts by Blaster fire and left to die from horrific internal burns. Aside from a few parting shots from FO Stormtroopers, Zalor and his guests made it away unscathed and unopposed. The Stormtroopers were hindered by the loss of the bridge, and they were not pleased about it.

The only thing the band would find on their way to one of the few remaining RPF positions would be corpses and the wounded. The horrific moaning and screaming of wounded Naboo and Gungans was an even more prominent sound than the sound of gunfire and the scream of TIEs.

It was obvious the First Order had already been through here. Whole families lay butchered, men women and children. Zalor would find a pair of twins, one sitting weeping over the ruined body of his sibling, a young boy crushed by what was becoming an example of what happened to those who resisted - it had gone beyond war and become virtual genocide.

This was no longer the work of Commodore Yularen - a man who used brutality and violence for a purpose - and had become the handiwork of the extremely violent Colonel Rusper Blunt, commander of Yularen's ground forces.

When they reached the RPF barricades, they'd find the evidence of fierce fighting and bombing, and a recently withdrawn company of First Order Stormtroopers. There was little cheer among the Naboo, however, for they had been losing before the Stormtroopers pulled back - it was clear they simply held no more value in attacking their position, rather than being beaten back.

A few unexploded shells went off, and fires blazed across a ruined city, but Stormtroopers were slowly withdrawing back to their transports, in a slow but purposeful fashion, on orders from Yularen himself.

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The Stormtroopers took heavy casualties, but ultimately didn't care too much. They didn't bother chasing the prisoners. Save some missile fire and blasters, Tanara and Sin were mostly unopposed in their strafing runs.

Platoons and squads slowly withdrew to the plaza by ones and twos, setting up some sort of plan as they did so.

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A hologram of Yularen sprang up in the command post of his chief ground officer, cold and somewhat displeased. "You have been more than brutal in your pursuit of this mission, Blunt, and you've still failed. There is a difference between heavy handed force to make a point and virtual genocide."

Blunt nodded sheepishly, wondering what his commander would do to him. " Regardless, Blunt, we can make something of this. Soon Galactic Alliance troops will be on the ground, this is a perfect opportunity to kill them. "

Blunt cracked a smile, relieved. "Excellent, sir! I'll set up defe-" Yularen cut the Colonel off mid sentence. "You will continue your slow withdrawal, Blunt. Have your men set up the package as they retreat. We will deliver it from the ground and the air when we let the Alliance Troopers through."

Blunt nodded, somewhat unsure. "Very well. But what package will we deploy, Commodore?"

Yularen smiled.

"You will be deploying cannisters of Dioxis gas across the city, Colonel, we're going to wipe out the Alliance forces with Nerve Agent while Major Regulus retrieves our targets from their new positions."

The Fighters withdrew to their motherships to refuel and rearm.

Meanwhile, the First Order blocked all transmissions to and from the planet. As this was done by using varying frequencies of radio waves l, it couldn't be bypassed, even with secret networks. The only way to take a message to orbit was now via a messenger.