Liberation - Battle of Mandel

Tal sat watching the screen before him as he did every morning. Day after day he sat and listened to the soft hums of the data banks and power cells around him. His days were long and lonely, but so was life with the Empire. Everyone had their place. Some were glorious Moffs or Sector Governors whose lives were important and full of prestige and power. Some were soldiers who fought for the Empire. Some were scientists who worked on top secret projects and inventions. And some were like him; lowly sensor operators stuck in back waters systems looking at the same screen day after day.
Mandel was not the worst post in the galaxy but he longed for excitement and adventure and sitting behind a scanner didn’t offer much of either. Only shipping and trade traffic and the rare Imperial warship. Even the Imperial Defense garrison rarely operated. The single Golan station sat quiet and the five ships of the defense fleet hadn’t moved for almost a month. Tal had no idea when he joined the Imperial Academy he would end up as a desk drone. He wanted so much more yet his scores had limited his advancement and his family was not wealthy enough to buy him a place in the Military or Officer schools. His life was a shallow hull of what he had hoped and dreamed it would be.

Afternoon approached and the last convoy of the day had just docked at the massive orbital relay station. The surface had been off limits for some time and the bulk of trade was housed in the station. He had only been to the plaza once and then only for a meeting of system analysts. The military kept all of their personnel on a short leash and other then the personnel quarters he shared with Gaten he had no life other than his work. Tal sat quietly as the mid-day systems check finished its work. The report came back as it had every day for the last seven months. All systems at optimal performance and all scanners calibrated. Not even the surprise of an unscheduled bulk transport with engine trouble fazed him or jarred him from his boredom. He watched as tugs went to assist the Transport and drank from his cup of warm caf. The tugs had begun towing the damaged freighter to the station when a bright flash broke the otherwise empty screen.
Tal jumped from his seat and stared at the screen. Instantly warning claxons blasted the room and deafened Tal. His mind went numb and confusion took hold for what seemed like hours.

He moved his head swiftly back and forth in an attempt to shake off the shock rippling throughout his body. He pressed the com switch to notify his lieutenant of the situation.

“Lieutenant Farc, something‘s wrong…”

The Station commander rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stood from his bunk.

“What’s going on sergeant? Why are the warning sirens going off?”

Tal looked over the data scrolling the screen and for a moment did not believe his eyes. It must be a surprise drill. Maybe sector commands had grown tired of the lax security over Mandel, and were trying to shake up the defense force. The scanners scrolled and scrolled offering telemetry and data on the new vessels entering the system.

“Sir, it appears we have a group of ships in the outer quadrant. They appear to be staying outside the weapons range of the outer defense satellites and don’t seem to be moving in system.”

Farc stood silent for a moment then reached for his uniform.

“Set condition one and get the governor on the line. We need to get those lazy sons of bitches over in fleet up and get them going.”

Tal connected the lieutenant to the system governor line and sent a distress signal to system fleet command. The defense fleet over Mandel was small and spent most of its time with mundane drills or just in stand down. The Victory Star Destroyer Tigress had been all but decommissioned and sat docked to the Golan defense platform. The two smaller Carrack’s and IPV’s did the bulk of the patrol and police duties in the system and even they sat motionless for days on end. The world was just not as important in centuries past and the threat of attack had not been an issue.

Line Captain Jerris Gor sat at the officers dinning table enjoying his lunch when the call came from the sensor station. He was a large man for imperial service and enjoyed a small bit of influence because of his family’s importance on Mandel and their money.

“What seems to be the problem Sergeant?”

Gor smiled and half motioned the man on the other end of the vid screen to continue. He acted as if Tal were bothering him and never looked directly at the man. Tal notice the system fleet commander’s attitude and paid little attention to his lack of interest.

“Sir, we have a sizeable force of ships massing at the edge of the system.”

Captain Gor broke the gaze he had at something off screen and looked at Tal.

“What kind of force sergeant? Have you been contacted by sector command of any fleet movement or has the formation made an attempt to contact system control?”

Tal shook his head and began relaying the information which was scrolling on his screen. The ships had not moved since they entered the system twelve minutes ago. The scanners counted twenty two vessels of varying size and slowly began listing their class and severity of security risk. When the line scrolled up listing what seemed to be a destroyer class vessel a sigh of relief filled Tal. The feeling was shortly lived as the Transponder code listed it as the Formidable. A ship the rebels had captured almost 4 years before. The feeling was shortly lived as the Transponder code listed it as the Formidable, a ship the rebels had captured it almost four years before. As he read the data, the severity of the situation sank in and Tal looked at the Captain with a look of horror.

“Captain, Scanners report six destroyer class ships, two of which are listed as captured Imperator mark twos. The other four are of Calamari construction.”

Shock gripped the captain and he jumped from his meal and ran from the mess to the bridge. Tal sat for a moment staring at an empty screen. Moments later the screen fluttered and the image of a younger woman appeared.

“Captain Gor has asked me to thank you and to tell you to set condition red. Have your commanding officer inform us of any changes in the enemy group once he has joined you in command and send a priority one transmission to sector command informing them of the situation.”

Tal nodded and watched as the communications officer closed the vid transmission and then went about his orders. He had just opened the channel to sector command via hyper transceiver when Lieutenant Farc entered the room.

“Situation sergeant?”

Tal began describing the data he had received and the conversation with system command. Farc walked to the command podium and entered his code. Instantly the claxon stopped sounding and red light filled the room. Tal once again looked at the screen of the scanners and noticed a second flash and another large formation of ships moving to join the group already forming on the edge of the system.

“Lieutenant… Another group just entered the system!”

Lieutenant Farc ran to the scanner station and cursed.

“Have you gotten through to Bothawui yet?”

Tal nodded and answered.

“Yes sir. I am on hold for the officer of the watch.”

Farc cursed again then motioned for Tal to move. He replaced Tal in front of the vid screen and waited for Bothawui and sector command to answer. He waited for two minutes before the bearded face of the watch commander appeared on the screen.

“Ah… Lieutenant Farc, What can we do for you today?”

The smile was genuine and Farc had talked to the commodore more then once.

“Yes Commodore Arig, we have a situation here at Mandel. Captain Gor is in the process of scrambling the defense force. We have had a number of contacts appear on the edge of the system. From the size and make-up of the group they are massing for some large assault.”

Arig’s smile disappeared and he scratched his bearded. He looked off screen and shouted something to a page across the room. He turned back to the screen and the smile once again appeared. This time it was far darker and more sinister.

“The Alliance must be massing to assault Bothawui. We have been experiencing growing sympathy for the Rebellion and have had increasing numbers of anti-imperial protests as of late. They must think our fleet would be attending the inauguration at Coruscant.
It seems the Grand Admirals spies have once again fed false data to Alliance Intelligence.”

An Arig turned once again to look off screen as a series of inaudible words came from somewhere off screen. He returned his gaze to Farc and spoke.

“Inform Captain Gor he is to stand down. He is to engage only if they enter Mandel’s outer security areas. The High Admiral will be leaving within the hour for Mandel. If the ships jump do your best to calculate their heading and have Gor send his patrol ships to shadow them.”

Lieutenant Farc saluted and the commodore closed the channel. Farc relayed the message to system command and sat. Tal had been standing quietly while Farc talked with sector command. He was pale and looked as if he was in shock. Farc looked at the sergeant and shook his head.

“Well sergeant, you always wanted to see battle.”

Commodore Arig straightened his uniform and walked away from the communications station. Around him officers stood at attention waiting for him to pass so they could go about their normal duties. Arig smiled and walked slowly. His mind wondered to the idea of battle. The clash of titan starships, and agile fighter craft. It had been two years since he or any of the Bothawui fleet had been battle tested. He knew his men were the best and now he had the chance to prove that. He walked off the bridge and down the short hallway to the High Admirals office.
Soft music played from behind the door and the temperature was noticeable different near the admirals chambers. He pressed the buzzer and waited for the door to slide open.
High Admiral Castorii’s Chambers were plush and decorated with fine tapestries and art from around the sector. The room was larger then any private quarters Arig had seen aboard a Star Destroyer. The music grew louder as he entered the room and the cooler temperature was more then noticeable.
Across the room a large desk was centered near the bulkhead wall, behind which sat a medium build man near fifty with a scar on his right cheek. No one had even asked about the scar but it had become the basis of many rumors and some wagers through out the fleet. Many said it was from a pitched battle with the Alliance, Others said it was a love wound from his youth. The truth was lost in past commands and the pomp of command.
Arig walked to the desk and stood silently until the admiral acknowledged him.

“Welcome Commodore, Please sit.”

Castorii indicated a chair across the desk from him and waited for Arig to sit. Arig had always felt uncomfortable around Castorii. His relaxed and pleasant demeanor was odd with officers of his rank. Arig sat then began informing Castorii of the transmission and the situation at Mandel.

“So it seems the alliance is massing for an assault here in the Bothan Sector. The Bothan’s have become more restless as of late and intelligence has intercepted transmissions between Bothan gorillas and alliance spies.” I recommend we jump to Mandel and catch hem while they are disarrayed and unprepared.”

Arig finished his report. Castorii’s face had not changed during the entire briefing. He showed no surprise or emotion at all. Arig knew the man was calm and generally never lost his composure. A smile seemed to peek at the corners of his lips then he spoke.

“Seven days ago Intelligence told me of an eminent attack on Bothawui. They how ever did not know it would be so soon. The alliance would have to leave many key locations undefended to mount this bold an attack within such a short time frame. And to do so on the eve of the Empire securing its future and unifying once again. They are truly desperate. They have made many mistakes in the past three years and been lucky to have survived as long as they have. I believe we can break their backs if we strike fast and catch them off guard.”

Understanding washed over Commodore Arig. He had been confused by High Admiral Castorii’s order to recall the entire sector fleet to Bothawui and had openly objected the Admirals choice to leave the sector defenseless. Now it seemed the High Admiral had known exactly what he was doing.

“That explains why you recalled the entire fleet. Surely the rebels know by now the entire sector fleet is here.”

High Admiral Castorii stood and walked to the bar in the corner of his quarters. He poured a drink and turned to face Arig.

“I am sure they do Commodore Arig. I agree with your assessment. The situation planet side is contained but with support from the rebel fleet they could become a problem. We need to keep the rebels from making it to Bothawui and smash them when they least expect it. Prepare the fleet to jump to Mandel Commodore Arig. Then inform Bothawui command and Moff Rübezahl of our intent. I will be ready to depart in forty five standard minutes. Make sure your squadron is ready.”

Arig saluted then turned to carry out his order. Castorii returned to his set and brought up a halo display of the Mandel system. A grin filled his face as he thought of the battle to come. His fleet was ready and he knew they were the best the empire had. He leaned back and sipped from his cup and thought of the poor rebels. He felt sorry for the poor misguided men and women. Their lives will serve as an example to those who would rise against order, against justice, against the Empire.