Orbit of Rea Seatan

The Provocator exited out of the reach of the planet's gravity well followed by it's escorting Star Destroyers. On the bridge, Captain Faerian turned to the navigator. "Plot a course for Spacedock."

Captain Faerian breathed a sigh of relief as he thought of the innumerable issues the old girl needed to have addressed when a sensor technician said "Sir, we have an unknown ship coming out of hyperspace. Fighter sized."

A few moments later the TIE Advanced V1 left hyperspace and at maximum sublight rushed to the Provocator. The cannons of the flagship and Star Destroyers aimed at the fighter until it's ID code was transmitted.

The ship was directed to the hangar but the pilot simply said "Put me on with the Grand Moff. I have a message."

"Very well." The Comms officer said, "You're pilot number?"

"DZ-7108. Code: Alpha-Epsilon-Urex-Farel-7-9-Alpha-Zed. I am declaring a code red in the Telos System. Golan Station under heavy attack. Multiple capital ships with multiple escorts. Rebel ships have crippled communications on the Golan, the defense fleet is destroyed. Transmitting data now." The pilot responded a minute later.

The Comms officer of the Provocator turned to Captain Dez Faerian and said "Attack on the Golan System captain. Rebel ships have attacked the Telos System in force. Requesting immediate assistance."

The captain's face turned white, thoughts of the depleted Hypermatter crystals and near-empty Hyperfuel tanks flooded his mind. However, the size of the Rebel forces and the absence of Phantom Squadron meant that Sylaks had to respond. He turned to the first officer, a young woman named Kae Maern and said "You have the bridge until I return. I must talk to the Admiral." She nodded and asked, "Should I prepare the ship for combat?"

"Make it so." The captain replied as he entered the lift.

He breathed a sigh of frustration as the lift lowered to the Admiral's room.

For ten years the Provocator had run non-stop putting out fires all over the Sector without a refit or visit to Kuat for a rebuild. She was a battered, thirsty and essentially obsolete vessel on a good day. Still, if the forces were merely some converted Mon-Calamari pieces of trash then they should be fine.

The lift stopped and he got out and walked to the Admiral's room. Outside of it were 4 Dark Troopers who eyed him. He stopped and one scanned and patted him before stepping away from him. Normally he might have felt insulted by the treatment but the sheer number of assassination attempts on Sylaks' life had convinced him otherwise.

He said "I'm here to speak with the Grand Moff on fleet business. We need to respond to an attack."

The troop walked to an intercom and spoke into it. Captain Faerian winced as the static-filled noise that passed for language left the trooper.

A second later Sylaks responded, "Let him enter."

The trooper nodded and turned to Faerian, it motioned for him to go into the sanctum of the Grand Moff.

Unlike Admirals like Thrawn or leaders like Vader, the sanctum was warm and inviting. It astounded Faerian on how personable Sylaks could be when not having prisoners murdered.

The man himself sat in the sanctum watching a series of holograms move. As the captain approached he saw they were of recordings of Scarif, the Death Star, and Hoth.

Sylaks spoke, "The first officer informed me that you were approaching and on the business involved. Somehow, I don't think the Rebel fleet attacking is like any of these."

"I have yet to review the data myself." The captain responded, "Then let us. If it only requires a star destroyer then I'll head to the Centurion so Provocator can finally get its overhaul." Sylaks replied.

Captain Faerian let a small smile of relief escape and tried to suppress it. Sylaks was too busy summoning the data from the fighter to notice.

As the data filtered in and formed a cohesive picture, both men's faces dropped.

"I wasn't aware that there were four missing Star Destroyers." Sylaks spoke incredulously.

After a minute Captain Faerian spoke "Should I summon Phantom Squadron? Rear Admiral Yzen could be here soon. We can afford to lose Telos, they can't afford to lose those ships."

Sylaks shook his head, "The Rebel Fleet is probably being reinforced on the ground. If the rebels have the hypervelocity gun and ion cannon emplacements under their control, that adds a force multiplier even the Executor would find risky. If we attack with forces that can be gathered from the systems then it'll be possible to recapture the planet before they can fix any damage."

"The Telosians are rebelling? The data shows that the planet is fine." Captain Faerian replied incredulously.

"Attacking a planet, even one with diminished value is a risky proposition. Telos received much investment from the Separatists to become a droid manufacturer and has much in the way of asteroid based resources. Governor P'Daen has not been popular and with the remaining CIS supporters on the planet plus with the absorption of the CIS holdouts by the Rebellion, it is a fertile planet for revolt. The data from the start of the battle is fine. It's been nearly 6 hours since the start of the battle. The Golan is probably destroyed or will be soon and that would mean the only thing left is-"

"The planet itself. Still, after the Queen's betrayal of the Rebel fleet." Faerian responded.

"Because they failed to recognize the woman was a snake." The Moff responded with a hiss, the woman, in particular, had never been on good terms with him. "The Telosians, despite their surrender to the Empire, have resisted Imperial efforts to incorporate them in a way that has not allowed me to bring a proper education on disobedience. Now the Rebels gained some new toys the Telosians have gained heart." Sylaks replied. "The Rebels are foolish in some respects but they are not stupid."

"They trapped us though." The captain responded crestfallen.

"They simply used an ancient trick, we'll need to respond now. Call forth a dozen fuel tankers. After the battle, I'll have the Provocator refueled with hyperfuel. Hypermatter can be supplied at Kuat during the overhaul." The Grand Moff replied.

The captain nodded back and said, "Should we depart?"

"Call Dreadnought and put on Admiral Koren. His ships will be required." The Grand Moff replied as he made plans.

"They're aged frigates." The Captain responded.

"Dreadnought and Retribution are 900 meters and heavily armed. The other four are the usual dreadnoughts. You also seem to be ignoring the Lucrehulk and Providence in the fleet." The captain's eyes lifted as he realized the issues, "We'd be overwhelmed in a heartbeat."

"Yes," Sylaks responded with a slight growl. "CIS ships are quite powerful in their own right and should not be undervalued."

"Very well, with your permission, I could also contact the Immobilizers of this system to join us." The captain responded. Sylaks shook his head, "Too fragile. A few turbolaser volleys from even a wounded star destroyer would tear them to shreds. Once they flee I will have bounty hunters contacted to hunt down their location."

"Very well, I'll return to the bridge." The captain responded, "Inform me when we reach the Telos System." Sylaks responded, "I'll join you then."

The captain walked out as the Grand Moff returned to looking at Rebel tactics from past battles.