Sgt. Slaughter

((It's General Slaughter and I'm a little bit surprised that you could get that name, considering that most of my interaction with people outside the Republic/Jedi has to do with killing them.)) A small fleet of armament transports appeared out of hyperspace. Within minutes, transports from every ship in the Third Fleet swarmed upon them to transfer their cargo on board. All the crews had been briefed, but even an outsider would have been able to tell from the frenetic activity in the hangars and batteries of each warship in the fleet””they were preparing for battle. A single Interdictor Cruiser, the Snare, joined the fleet for its next operation. _______________________________________________________ Cadan had tried to clean up, but General Slaughter could tell that she'd just come from Iziz. The smell of death didn't wash away that easily. ”œLieutenant Cadan, we're just about to embark on our next mission. We're not going to pursue the Mandalorians”¦ not at the moment. They've covered their tracks too well. Now, if you'll come with me, we need to go over our battle plan”¦”

As the airspace above Iziz suddenly cleared, Aira Cadan received a message from the Nemesis, which rested above Onderon in a geosynchronous orbit. ”œCadan, recall to Nemesis. General Slaughter needs to speak to you.”

One major project that contributed to the defense of Sullust completed, another began, with a number of minor corvettes seeding a number of convenient spacelanes with mines. Meanwhile, a squadron of thirteen ships in various states of disrepair arrived at the shipyards for refitting, having been pummeled in battle. Some confusion ensued amongst the shipyard's crews when they saw that the corvettes were operating on a skeleton crew--literally, the bare minimum to ensure that it could travel a short distance without the ship falling apart--and that the new fitting left the ships almost entirely without any means to defend themselves.

”œSir, two hyperspace contacts: a Venator- and a Victory-class Star Destroyer.”

Without a second of hesitation, the muzzle of that efficient-looking rifle snapped from the edge of the door, replaced by a pair of soldiers. The first of them reached for Dr. Isel's blaster, unloaded and engaged its safety catch; the second, wearing a corporal's insignia on the breastplate of his armor, approached the academic and took off his helmet before speaking. ”œYou won't have to move. We've got medics on the way and they're setting up an aid station as we speak.”

((I'll get to you ASAP Robbie, but I'm having writer's block on that part.)) ”œYou can begin by not saluting when we're in the field. Colonel, you're in charge until I get back.”

A small unmanned probe arrived at the outskirts of the Mandalore system. Its fuel already expended by its journey through hyperspace, it simply coasted through space, bent on a suicidal collision course with one of Mandalore's moons. Giving off no significant emissions and passively sampling the space around the planet for signs of activity, detecting it would have been a task bordering on impossible”¦ at least until it sent off an encrypted hypercomm transmission approximately one second before its journey ended. Considering how brief the transmission was, it was unlikely that the Mandalorians would detect evidence of its passage””especially considering that it smashed into one of their homeworld's moons like a very expensive meteorite.

Valkyrie-class transports began to swoop down towards Iziz, hovering over the city's abandoned streets at extremely low altitude to search for any signs of survivors before landing at their designated landing points. Disgorging squads of infantry to search the ruined buildings more thoroughly, they were soon followed by shuttles carrying engineers and other noncombat personnel to set up field hospitals and issue emergency first aid. To their horror, the vast majority of the city's inhabitants had been summarily massacred””few of the dead appeared to have been able to put up a fight””and many of the survivors were suffering from vibroblade or blaster wounds, whose treatment all but required immediate bacta therapy. This mission would place a huge strain on the fleet's medical resources unless calls for civilian aid were answered. Within minutes the scale of this operation was realized and orders came from command to conserve bacta to treat only the survivors that required it””a doctrine that General Slaughter refused to slacken, even after a platoon of boots found that the city's hospitals had not been looted. The emergency signal sent out at the university was high on the Third Fleet's list of priorities and was swiftly responded to by one of the many medical teams descending towards Iziz, its shuttle landing directly in the courtyard of the Archaeology building. It dispatched a number of medical personnel and an armed escort, a few of them entering into it. Like in the rest of the city, the vast majority of its denizens had been massacred, but a few survivors had been found. Among these was Dr. Van Isel. Aside from the armored boots steadily pounding their way towards his office, the first thing he saw was the blunt muzzle of an AC-15 blaster rifle poking around the edge of his office door; it dipped, aiming towards the body of the Mandalorian, then scanned the rest of the room”¦ and fixed on the academic. ”œMedics to room”¦ AS three point five six one. We've got a live one. Sir, put down the blaster. We're here to help.”

From Gala to Onderon was not a short journey, but due to unexpected events, General Slaughter was kept busy through most of it. "The last place that I wanted you to be at was here. And why didn't you tell me that you were going to enlist?" "Because I knew that we would be having the very same conversation that we are now, and the results would have been exactly the same. I made up my mind a long time ago; I completed my tour with the Foundation; I completed my training, and they just don't have anything more to offer me. You know the Republic's policy about this--they try to station families together if they can." Bruce let out a groan of dismay; he knew the reasoning behind that and had agreed with it. "Besides, it looks like you've done well--a General, so quickly?" "It's not..." Slaughter gritted his teeth. No, that wasn't completely true. "It's not just that I don't want to see you in harm's way." Corell fixed him in a violet stare--that chauvanistic tendency was so common, but it was understandable. Her husband paced along the brief walls of his quarters””on a warship, even on a MC90 cruiser, even a General's quarters had to be sparse. "When I'm with my men... I'm not the same man that I am with you. I'm”¦ I'm”””œ Bruce was struggling for words when an harsh buzz cut him off””the Nemesis was about to pull out of hyperspace. ”œI just don't think you're going like what you see. I”¦”

((Forgive the double post))

Two more Golan III space stations were completed and deployed to defend Sullust's shipyards, with work commencing on a final fortification. Meanwhile, vague indications leaked out that the Republic was planning something huge for the defense of one of its most vital members. None of the shipyard workers would offer any information about what the military-industrial complex had planned for the future of Sullust's defense, but the regional market leaked some clues. An unprecedented level of industrial traffic began to pass through the system, with a large amount of it visiting Sullust's moon, Sulon. Huge numbers of unspecified ”œparts”

After a great length of time in construction, a new training center for the Republic's ground forces was completed. It was situated in the northern tundra of Naboo, a thoroughly inhospitable climate, but far from any civilized area and the curious eyes of civilians or spies. Regardless, the soldiers sent to this base wouldn't be spending much time outside, as it was built specifically as a state-of-the-art training center for urban operations. It was a relatively small for military bases, but it made use of technology to match the capabilities of far larger bases, like the one on Gala. Through holograms, containment fields, and similar technologies, new environments could be built electronically in a matter of minutes. In preparation for the next campaign in the civil war, units of Talons and the Republic's regular army immediately began to rotate through the facility. ____ A single Valkyrie-class transport departed from the Rancor and set out into hyperspace.

It was over in just a few seconds. The assault team made its way to Cephi's cell and filled it with stun fire, blanketing every surface with their barrage. Just behind them, Commander Slaughter watched coldly. ”œGel him,”

((One: Sullust's atmosphere is hostile on the surface, and so you don't exactly walk up to a building. Two: The next time you post my men's actions like that, I'll kill you out of spite.)) The reaction to the Mandalorian's actions was swift and best described as "overkill". A pair of squadrons from the Forth Unto Dawn were dispatched to watch over the captured garrison: one of E-Wing space superiority fighters and another of A-Wing interceptors. A quartet of the new transports were dispatched to the surface, offloading soldiers equipped with atmospheric suits and specialized weapons in the area around the garrison. A fifth, however, took up watch at the mouth of one of the area's natural cave formations, taking shelter from the elements just within its depths. The fleet, anticipating an Imperial attack, scrambled and took up positions to intercept incoming vessels along the most likely hyperspace routes. After the initial shock of the idiot's one-man attack on a Republic garrison, the commander of the garrison scrambled his soldiers and sent his men into pursuit within the bowels of the base. It was not the Republic's policy to allow criminals to take its citizens hostage and let them get away with it.

"By all means, your daughter is far more important than talking to an old man like me." Giving Miss Nargal an tight smile, General Aesop bent into an abbreviated bow. "Contact us if anything develops. Until we meet again, Miss Nargal." The aged general turned away from her ship in a crisp about face, striding back into his ship as he spoke into his comlink. "Commander Slaughter, what are you doing about my prisoner?" ______________________________________________________ "About to breach, sir. Bridge, unseal on my mark." Bruce Slaughter, accompanied by a squad of twenty of his soldiers and a single Wolf Spider battle droid, stood at the exterior of the closed blast door to the brig. Another squad had been alerted as a reserve, just to be cautious. The four-legged droid was almost trembling with anticipation, eager to charge through and get into combat again. The droid's Coruscanti commander, however, stared through his protective goggles with his jaw clenched, feeling the awful energy that always came at the start of a battle. ”œRemember, people, keep him alive if you can.”

”œA Sith with principles. How novel.”

Corell Slaughter's CHARACTER SHEET Identity [!ident] Real Name: Corell Slaughter nee' Krauser A.K.A: Homeworld: Coruscant Species: Human Physical Description [!dscrp] Age: 26 Height: 5'4”

Name: Urban-class Wolf Spider, Republic variant Size: At its full height it stands a few inches shy of six feet, but it is regularly hunched over to half its full height. Manufacturer: Factories all over the galaxy Designer: Armiena Draygo, with heavy modification by the Republic's armed forces Description: The WS-u was originally designed to support the Assault-class Wolf Spider, which was intended to be the answer to the Empire's AT-AT. However, this droid was soon identified to be absolutely lethal in engagements on its own, and was ”œloaned”

A group of six soldiers followed the two into Ms. Nargal's shuttle, including their non-commissioned officer and a medic. When the Sith was presented to General Aesop, he noticed one of the privates in the fireteam grin at Zara's explanation, and the General instantly understood. Here was a woman who knew how to restrain a Sith, and she wasn't even of a military background””in fact, some of the Rebellion's commanders had made the foolish mistake of not following similar procedures and later found that a Sith could not be incapacitated so easily. As Aesop understood it, the ground soldiers gave the procedure the mnemonic ”œThe Three S's: Stun, Sedate, and reStrain.”

A pair of tractor beams from the Rancor locked onto Ms. Nargal's shuttle and pulled it into one of the MC90 Star Cruiser's smaller hangars, one that was typically reserved for the private use of the officers' shuttles. This time, however, a guard of twenty armed and armored Talons stood ready to take custody of the Lady Dathomiri's prisoner, as well as a single four-legged Wolf Spider battle droid. Striding up the gauntlet was General Aesop, clad in the khaki uniform of a Republic officer. He and one of the four-man fireteams stopped at where the foot of the shuttle would drop, arms clasped behind his back, waiting for Zara to present herself.

Following proper tradecraft, the pilot of the Bon Mot made a randomized hyperspace jump before performing a full sweep of the ship's interior and exterior for homing devices, then made another randomized jump before finally making its way towards its final destination.

The Republic's armed forces offered a far better reply than a remote reply to Nargal's message. About thirty seconds later, a blazing-fast Corellian Gunship diverted from a patrol above Naboo and closed in with the shuttle with the alacrity expected from a ship designed by a planet legendary for its speed demons. It was the Tonbogiri, one of the ships belonging to General Aesop's fleet. ”œMadam Nargal, this is General Aesop of the Rancor. We will take temporary custody of the Sith until permanent arrangements can be made. The Corellian Gunship Tonbogiri will escort you in. On a side note, if you will indulge my curiosity, I would like to speak to you before you're on your way again.”

Bruce Slaughter's CHARACTER SHEET Identity Real Name: Bruce Slaughter A.K.A: Mispronouncing his name as “Slaw-ter,” rather than “Slaff-ter.” Homeworld: Coruscant Species: Human Physical Description Age: 42 Height: 5’ 7” Weight: Somewhat stout: muscular, but has a little bit of fat on him. Hair: Dirty blond, cut military-short Eyes: Hazel Sex: Male Equipment Clothing or Armor: Almost always wears his uniform, a military shirt and trousers with digital camouflage. Weapon: Typically carries his service sidearm, but has access to a host of weaponry supplied through the galactic alliance, including rifles, carbines, and squad automatic weapons. Common Inventory: Comlinks, datapads Faction Information Non-Force User Alignment: Lawful Neutral Current Faction Affiliation: Galactic Alliance Current Faction Rank: Admiral History: Force Side: N/A Trained by: N/A Trained who: N/A Known Skills: N/A Background: Bruce Slaughter grew up in a rough part of Coruscant and had a somewhat spotty education. Through a combination of good fortune and the influence of his sister, he managed to avoid getting involved in the gangs that operated in his neighborhood. After years of enduring Sith attacks on his homeworld, including the infamous Shield Incident and countless massacres by bored Sith, he enlisted in the Republic’s military, finding a way off the planet and making his way to Gala despite the Empire being in control of Coruscant at the time. Although his education wasn’t great, he was identified as a natural leader of ground troops and an extremely aggressive soldier and rose quickly through the ranks, eventually commanding of the marines of one of the Republic’s capital ships and nearly dying at the final battle with the Arach’tar at Centerpoint Station. After the war against the Empire resumed, he continued rising through the ranks. He commanded the Republic fleet during the beginning stages of the final battle of the war, but was quickly eliminated by a Sith boarding party. Much to his surprise, that death was not the end of his existence. By the time he was cloned, however, the negotiations were over and the General’s services were no longer needed. Bruce spent the peace polishing up the gaps in his education, most notably in higher mathematics, expecting that one day his commission would be reactivated... Ship Registration Name: He typically hitches rides on Mon Calamari cruisers. Class: Model: Manufacturer: Length: Armaments: Armor: Anti-Personnel Defenses: Appearance: Modifications:

As it turned out, Corellia was not to be Bruce's destination. A few hours before he expected to arrive at the planet, Bruce's pilot reverted the shuttle from hyperspace in the middle of nowhere. Correction, there was a single YT-2400 freighter within a few kilometers of their Lambda-class shuttle. With no explanation, Commander Slaughter and Lieutenant Speirs were transferred over to the Corellian freighter via umbilical, where they met an intelligence operative that informed them of their mission. And then they were off again.

As it turned out, three days went by quickly. It helped that Bruce's leave was cut short, as he received a transmission from the fleet on the morning of the third day of his absence. There was no time to explain. All Slaughter knew was that he would be briefed along with his XO on the way to Corellia. Why Corellia, he had no idea.