Chapter 4: The Sepan Civil War

GUSTAV jumped to hyperspace, leaving the Death Star, Tarkin, Vader, and J'Una behind. We had embarked Admiral Haarkov and several members of his staff and were enroute to the Sepan system.

The most difficult, and potentially frustrating, mission that any military organization can be assigned is one whose objective is not clear. The real purpose of any military, when you think about it, is twofold: 1)to kill people and break things when so directed, and 2)use the threat of force to keep potential adversaries at bay and preclude the necessity for 1). The political and diplomatic machinations which direct the use of a military force may vary, but it all comes down to the same thing. When it involved fighting the Rebels our mission was very clear: find them and kill them. Period. Their mission was the same regarding Imperials. One might debate the motivations of the respective governments involved, but the missions of the two military organizations were the same: defeat the enemy.

All of which brings me to our mission to the Sepan system. As its details unfolded during briefings with Admiral Haarkov and his staff, our mission was not to destroy an enemy or capture an objective, but rather to use force, or the threat of it, to separate two enemies and then bring about a settlement. Not an easy task for an organization that likes clear, precise missions. Almost no senior Imperial officer that I knew of was temperament- ally suited for diplomatic service- it requires too much give and take, too much compromise. I wondered if Admiral Haarkov was really any different.

"We want to remind you," the admiral was telling us during one briefing, "that this is a peace mission. Our objective will be to come to the aid, if necessary, of whichever side is currently being attacked. These will not be mop-up missions. We will deliver a telling blow to the aggressor, whichever side that is, but always allow some to escape to tell their superiors of the might and will of the Empire. The peoples of both Dimok and Repoblus must realize that the Empire will not tolerate the undermining of its interests in this sector because of some inter-planetary squabbling."

Talk about a convoluted mission, I thought. We'd probably just end up pissing off both sides and uniting them against us. And what force did we bring out here? Just our battered old frigate with a few squadrons of TIEs. Not a whole lot. The good news was that the best that either the Dimoks or Repoblans could put up against us were some older modified corvettes and some Y- wings they bought from the Rebels. They also had a lot of old Z-95's.

"I want to emphasize," Haarkov continued, "that the Emperor desires a peaceful solution to the Sepan problem." Admiral Haarkov was a short man with a thin, haggard appearance. His face was gaunt, and he had the general look of a man who was under a lot of pressure and needed some sleep. He seemed to be on edge, and his voice cracked and wavered at times, but he was intense, alert and knew his mission thoroughly.

"We must be prepared," the admiral said, "to act quickly and intervene to break up this conflict as soon as we reach the Sepan system." He stepped back from the podium in the center of the conference room and gestured to one of his staff officers.

Commander Solut, as he had been introduced, was every bit the stereotypical mindless Imperial automoton that the general public is now so familiar with. He was tall, thin, pale, had blue eyes and spoke in a monotone. His voice never betrayed any emotion and he always acted as though he expected that the admiral would hit him at any moment. His whole demeanor was quite disconcerting.

Solut moved to the podium, blinked, and shot a nervous glance at the admiral. "The Repoblans," he began, "have a mining operation on the outer moon that orbits their planet." A holographic image of Repoblus with its three moons appeared. The outer moon, by far the smallest, was colored differently, highlighting it.

"Although this moon is smaller," Solut continued, "it contains great concentrations of minerals and other resources. The Repoblans routinely run convoys from the moon to refineries and manufacturing installations on Repoblus. We have information that, as a result of the current dispute, the Dimoks will attempt to disrupt these convoys."

I was sitting next to Captain Kao Ijuf, flight leader of the SHAMUS groups currently stationed aboard GUSTAV. SHAMUS had suffered serious damage in an earlier operation [see pt 2] and was undergoing repairs. I leaned over to her and said dryly, "This ought to be fun. Escorting some convoy and not knowing who's going to shoot at us first." Kao nodded her agreement, the movement sending shimmers through her long, luscious red hair.

"There may be instances," Commander Solut continued, "when we will have to sieze installations or vessels. Our stormtroopers must be ready if such an occasion arises."

Major Maarek, our stormtrooper commander, nodded vigorously and smiled. He couldn't wait to kill people and break things.

Commander Solut droned on. "We also suspect that there may be other forces at work here. Specifically, we think that the Rebel Alliance may be fomenting some of these troubles." We all perked up at that, and I noticed Admiral Haarkov shift uncomfortably, eyes darting about. The guy was definitely nervous.

Kao leaned over to me. "All this and Rebels, too," she said sarcastically. "What more could a girl ask for on a mission?"

I chuckled.

Admiral Haarkov stood up. Commander Solut immediately resumed his seat. "The Rebel connection," the admiral began, "has not been verified." He scowled at Solut. "Imperial intelligence has received some indications that the Rebels may be involved in supplying arms to one or both sides but, again, there is no solid evidence that such a connection exists." Haarkov looked around the room, then nodded to Commander Cibock, GUSTAV's Commanding Officer.

"I think that's enough for now, Commander," Haarkov said, trying to sound pleasant. "Let me know when we're entering the Sepan system."

"Yes, sir," Cibock responded. "We should be there shortly."

Haarkov nodded curtly in acknowledgement then abruptly left the room before we could even stand to attention, as is customary. Commander Solut and other members of Haarkov's staff scrambled after the admiral.

As the room cleared out, Kao looked at me, shaking her head slightly. "I don't know about you," she said, "but I'm not used to allowing people who have been shooting at me to run away so they can come back and shoot at me again later."

I nodded. "I was wondering about that, too," I said. "I suppose that the purpose is to impress these folks by not destroying an entire attack force even though we could." I shrugged.

Kao's blue eyes narrowed and she scowled. "I don't like it," she said. "We ought to kick their asses and keep on kicking them until they've had enough and decide to do what we tell them to do. This half-assed approach could get a lot of us killed and still not do the job."

It was hard to argue with her logic, but I looked around to make sure no one was listening. Her kind of "logic" could get us into a lot of trouble. As I've said before, opinions that differed from official Imperial policy were not well received. They usually resulted in accusations of disloyalty or other such nonsense against the person voicing the opinion.

"We'll need to be careful," I said. "But you heard the admiral: hit 'em hard then let 'em go." I paused. "At least these guys don't have X-wings."

Kao snorted. "Unless the Rebels show up," she said, scoffing. "Are we supposed to let them get away, too?"

"I don't think so," I said, chuckling. "Obviously Haarkov and his staff don't agree on Rebel involvement to begin with."

"Yeah, that whole exchange was a little odd," she said. "First Solut says there might be Rebel involvement, then Haarkov all but says there isn't. So which is it?"

"I guess we'll find out," I said.

"Yeah. When some X-wing flames your ass. It'll be a little late then." Kao paused, then lowered her voice. "You know, Vel," she said, "I have a bad feeling about Admiral Haarkov."

"What do you mean?" I asked, curious. I took another quick look around. The room was empty, the passageways quiet.

"He seems so jumpy and edgy," Kao responded. "Marina came to talk to me about that earlier."

Hmmm, I thought. So it's "Marina" now, and not "Ensign Haarkov." I was unaware that Kao and the admiral's daughter, one of our maintenance officers, had anything other than a distant, professional relationship.

"Ensign Haarkov came to you?" I asked, sounding surprised. "What did she want?"

Kao laughed. "Of course she did. There aren't many females in this outfit so we tend to stick together. Marina is one of a handful of female officers assigned to the ship. Commander Selena's departure has left a pretty big void. She was a mentor, a counsellor to a lot of them. Now I'm the senior female onboard, so they come to me. Marina was upset and needed someone to talk to."

I nodded. That all made sense.

"Marina's concerned about her father," Kao said directly. "She's his only child, her mother's dead, she hasn't seen her father for over a year and he's made virtually no effort to see her or to spend time with her since coming aboard."

"He is kind of busy, Kao," I said. "He's got a tough assignment, and he probably has the Emperor, Vader, Tarkin or all three breathing down his neck. That would make me jumpy and edgy."

"That's what I said," Kao replied. "But Marina wouldn't buy it. She thinks there's something else going on."

"Like what?" I asked, a little impatiently.

Kao sighed. "Marina doesn't know. She just feels that something isn't right and it has upset her."

"I hadn't noticed anything," I said.

"Of course not," Kao said with a slight smile. "Marina's very brave, very professional. She wouldn't let on in public or let her personal life affect her professional performance. But believe me, we had a very long talk and I can tell you that she's worried."

"OK, she's worried," I said. "What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing, really," Kao replied. "I just thought you should know because Marina is a friend of yours and so that you could keep your eyes and ears open."

"I'll do that," I said. "Thanks for telling me."

Kao smiled and started to leave. She stopped abruptly and turned around.

"So, how are you doing?" she asked.

I was momentarily taken aback. "Me?" I finally managed to blurt out. "I'm fine. Why?"

"I was just wondering," Kao said softly,"how you were feeling now that Commander Selena is gone."

"Oh," I said. Then, after a pause, "She hasn't been gone that long, and we've been pretty busy, so I guess I haven't had much time to think about it."

Kao looked at me for a long moment. "You miss her already, don't you?"

"I guess I do," I responded quietly. I smiled bravely. "But I'll get over it."

Kao smiled warmly. "Well, captain," she said, "maybe I'll be around when you do." She turned and left the room, and I watched her gorgeous ass sway gently as she walked.

I smiled to myself. Well whaddya know?

A short time later, after completing a routine inspection of my squadron's TIEs to make sure that the equipment was ready if needed on short notice, I went to the Pilot's Lounge at the extreme forward part of the ship, just below the bridge. I wanted to check on the pilots and assure myself that they, too, were ready if needed.

I didn't make a habit of spending a lot of time in the lounge. I felt that, in general, it was a good idea not to get too chummy with guys that I might have to order to their deaths tomorrow. Although I have been critical of the way a lot of things are done in the Imperial Navy, I agreed with the concept of a commander keeping a distance between himself and his subordinates. Most good commanders followed this rule. It made things easier. Although my wingman, Dromo Acer, and I had become friends, that relationship was confined to off-ship and off-duty activities. Onboard GUSTAV Dromo was just another pilot in my squadron.

The Pilot's Lounge was one of the nicest compartments on the ship. It was very large, spacious, comfortably appointed, had a huge window that looked forward, and, best of all, the bar was always open. Say what you will about the Empire being a rigid, autocratic, unfeeling organization. The Imperial Navy knew how to take care of its pilots, even on a small starship like GUSTAV.

The lounge was crowded with both GUSTAV and SHAMUS pilots. I was pleased to see that it was getting harder to tell them apart. The efforts that Kao and I had been making to integrate all of the pilots into one team seemed to be working. A new sense of comradship was de- veloping that could only help us.

I was warmly greeted by several pilots as I made my way to a large table where Dromo and several other officers were seated next to the window. Through the window I could see the stars streaking by as GUSTAV continued her hyperspace journey to the Sepan system.

Dromo rose to greet me, offering a chair. "Please join us, captain," he said pleasantly.

"Thanks," I replied as I sat down. Dromo handed me a glass of some kind of ale. I had to watch it with Dromo. He could come up with some pretty strange stuff. This ale, I decided as I took a preliminary sip, wasn't too bad.

"Hey, captain," one of the pilots called, "any chance of getting some liberty out here?" He was one of the SHAMUS pilots, a big burly man who looked as though he would barely be able to fit into a TIE.

His companion, a smaller man who had had half his face shot away and then surgically reconstructed, took a gulp from his drink, nodded and said, "I hear Dimok women can't get enough."

"But, Zeno," another called, "you don't have that much to give anyway!"

I joined in the laughter that erupted around the table. Typical pilots, I thought. Always worried about getting off the ship and getting laid. The pilot called Zeno scowled and took another drink.

"I'm not sure how much time off we'll get out here," I said. "Remember, we're here to break up a civil war, so we probably won't endear our- selves to either side." There was a murmur of agreement. "But," I continued, "I'll keep an eye open for any liberty opportunities that arise."

There were some murmured 'thank you's' and I craned my neck, looking around the room for that long flowing red hair that would identify Kao Ijuf. I couldn't find her.

"Anyone seen Captain Ijuf?" I asked. Heads shook.

"No, sir," one pilot said. "The captain is a great pilot and a good leader, but she doesn't socialize with us very often."

Another pilot laughed. "That's because she's probably tired of most of these guys trying to get into her pants." Several pilots chuckled.

"Most?" said the first in mock indignation. "You mean there's some who aren't?" Uproarious laughter greeted that remark. I was sure that every one of those SHAMUS pilots was just itching to get into bed with Kao Ijuf. What the hell? So was I.

"Hey, look," said Dromo, pointing to the window. "We're coming out of hyperspace."

He was right. The panoply of streaking colors gave way to the still blackness of space. In the distance I saw what I presumed was the Sepan sun.

"What now?" Dromo asked me.

"Well," I said thoughtfully. "Commander Cibock said he was going to patrol the space between the two rival planets, Dimok and Repoblus. That would put us in a good position to respond to trouble."

I sat back in my chair and chuckled. "Sounds more like a job for a traffic cop than for an Imperial warrior, doesn't it?"

Dromo scowled. He was pro-Imperial through and through. His family was very wealthy and well connected on Coruscant, the Imperial capital. They viewed the conflict strictly in economic terms. To them the Rebellion was a threat to trade, commerce, and economic development. The political ideologies involved interested them not at all.

Dromo leaned forward and said to me, "I read somewhere that some military philosopher once said 'Ours is not to reason why. Ours is but to do or die.'"

"That certainly fits us, doesn't it?" I said sarcastically. "We've done a lot of dying."

Dromo's reply was cut off by the clanging, klaxon sound of the general quarters alarm.

"Red alert! Red alert! Dimok attack. All pilots to your ships. All hands to battle stations. Briefing in the hangar. Red alert!"

"That didn't take long," I said, taking one last gulp.

Dromo and I and all the other pilots piled through the doors in a mad scramble to get to our TIEs. The alarm clanged loudly in our ears, the red lights flashing. We lumbered down stairwells and through passageways, almost like a herd of Tatooine Banthas in a stampede in our relentless drive toward the hangars.

Finally, the mob dispersed as we entered the hangar, each pilot dashing off to his own TIE. I spotted Admiral Haarkov and Commander Cibock in a corner and ran toward them to find out what was happening. Kao Ijuf was just arriving also, zipping up her flight suit. I caught a glimpse of her breast as she did so and realized she was wearing nothing underneath. What had she been doing, I wondered briefly.

"A Repoblus convoy is under attack," Admiral Haarkov was saying. "Just as we feared. The Dimoks intend to disrupt the Repoblan convoy system."

Kao and I nodded.

"You will defend the Repoblan convoy," Haarkov said to us. "But, before using force against the Dimoks, I want you to issue them a warning."

Kao and I looked at each other, surprised.

"A warning, admiral?" I asked.

"Yes," he said tersely. "Maybe a warning will be all that is necessary."

"But, admiral," Kao said, "won't a warning alert them, and give them a chance to turn and shoot first? Wouldn't it be better..." Haarkov cut her off.

"Captain I gave you an order!" he shouted, almost trembling with rage. "How dare you question me. There will be no shooting on Dimok vessels until a warning has been given! Do you understand me, captain?"

Kao nodded. "Yes, sir."

Haarkov turned to me. His face was flushed, the veins in his neck throbbing. "What about you, Captain Tallig?"

"Understood, sir," I said in my best automoton voice. "They'll get a warning."

"Very well," Haarkov said, decompressing a little. During this entire exchange I noticed that Commander Cibock had been looking at Haarkov, an expression of deep concern on his face. However, he said nothing.

"Any other questions, captains?" Haarkov asked.

I wanted to say 'are you kidding?' but merely shook my head, as did Kao.

"Dismissed," the admiral said curtly, then turned and left the hangar.

Kao and I looked at each other and shrugged. She ran off toward her TIE as the hangar started to fill with the noise of TIE fighters winding up.

I was approaching my TIE when I heard a voice behind me.

"Captain Tallig! Captain Tallig!" I turned around as Marina Haarkov came running up to me.

"I'm in a hurry, ensign," I said. "What is it?"

"Yes, sir," she said. "We've installed a prototype of a new cargo scanner in your TIE."

"Cargo scanner?" I asked.

"Yes, sir. It scans the interior of ships for cargo. Things like munitions, contraband, droids, that sort of thing."

I nodded. Another new gadget.

"If you get a chance," she said, shouting above the noise, "try to fly close to a couple of container vessels and test it for us."

I nodded. "I will if I can," I shouted. She nodded her thanks and ran off to assist with the launchings.

I climbed into my TIE, strapped in, put on my helmet and connected the comm link.

The overhead cranes began picking us up and moving the TIEs to the launching bay. The huge door in the bottom of the ship slid open, the crane lowered me through it and released my TIE into space. I engaged the twin ion engines and the craft shot forward. I looped around GUSTAV and established communications as I waited for the rest of my flight to form up.

"GUSTAV, Gamma One," I called. "Flight group forming up."

"Acknowledged, Gamma One." I almost wet my pants. The voice was Admiral Haarkov's! What the hell was he doing taking direct tactical control of a mission? That was something Commander Cibock or another officer should be doing, not an admiral. Was it that he didn't trust us? Or was it that he was so nervous about this operation that he felt compelled to direct it himself? Either way, it was most unusual.

On my tactical displays I could see the Repoblan convoy heading toward Repoblus. It consisted of a large number of ASBO class container vessels guarded only by a handful of old Z-95's. These guys must really be counting on Imperial support, I thought.

I could also see the Dimok attack force approaching. It was considerable- a flight of Y-wings, a large number of Z-95's and a Corvette. Uh, oh.

"GUSTAV, Gamma One," I called. "The Dimoks have a Corvette. We'll need TIE bombers with some heavy stuff to tackle that one."

Admiral Haarkov's reply was gruff.

"We don't know that we'll need to shoot at all, Gamma One. Close the Dimoks and issue your warning. We'll worry about the Corvette later."

"Roger, GUSTAV," I said. Then,"Gamma One to flight group. Formation Delta. We'll approach at two-thirds speed. Keep your lasers charged up."

Formation Delta is a tight wedge formation. I chose this because, if we needed to fight, it would give us a concentrated attack. I chose a slower approach speed so as to give the Dimoks time to back off.

I switched to the Sepan channel that we had been instructed to use when communicating with the Dimoks and Repoblans.

"Dimok flight leader," I called, "this is Captain Tallig of the Imperial Navy."

There was a pause. On my displays I saw that Kao's flight group had formed up and was following at some distance. We had planned it that way so that her group would be free to respond as the situation dictated.

"Imperial Navy, this is Commander Tegy of the Dimok Self Defense Force. What do you want?" The voice was edgy and impatient. Self Defense Force? That was a new one, especially coming from a guy who was leading a flight in an attack on a convoy. I also noticed that he did not respond to my name. He wanted to remain impersonal. OK by me.

"Dimok flight leader," I said in my most authoritarian sounding voice, "you are ordered to cease and desist your aggressive action against the Repoblan convoy."

The response was quick. "Imperial Navy, you have no business here. I suggest you get out of our way. Any interference will be met by force."

I decided to try one more time.

"Dimok flight leader," I said sternly, "I must warn you that if you persist in this attack the Imperial Navy will stop you." If that didn't do it, I thought, nothing will.

There was no response. Instead, a large part of the Dimok attack force turned and headed toward us, just as Kao had predicted. Giving the warning had cost us the element of surprise.

"GUSTAV, Gamma One, " I said. "The warning didn't work.They are moving to attack us."

"Roger, Gamma One," Haarkov said with a sigh. "Commence your attack, but remember, hit them hard but don't chase them if they run. We'll commence launching TIE bombers to take on the Corvette."

"Acknowledged," I replied. At least he was doing that.

"Gamma One to Gamma flight," I called, "accelerate to maximum speed and begin attack. Gamma Two, you're with me."

"Roger, Gamma One," Dromo replied. Through my viewfinder I could see him take up his customary position just behind and to the left of me.

"Tau leader, this is Gamma leader," I said, calling Kao. "A group of Dimok craft is still closing the convoy. Move to intercept. We'll handle this group."

"Acknowledged, Gamma leader," Kao replied. "We're on our way."

Having covered all the bases, I now concentrated on our attack. Our tight formation sped toward the Dimoks, who had sent a couple of Y-wings and a lot of Z-95's against us. Although they heavily outnumbered us I was confident. For all its faults the TIE thoroughly outclassed both the Z-95, which was quite obsolete, and the Y-wing, though the latter was heavily shielded and tough to knock out. I was also supremely confident in my pilots. Most of us had flown together a long time and operated as a smooth, efficient Imperial machine. Add to this the fact that our TIEs had recently been modified to carry concussion missiles and you had what I felt was a truly superior fighting force. Particularly against relatively inexperienced pilots in out of date starfighters.

As we closed the Dimoks I noticed that they were approaching in a rather loose formation. Too bad for them, I thought.

Our tight wedge of TIEs barrelled into the Dimoks at top speed and three Dimok craft became space junk in a matter of seconds. Our formation dissolved as the battle quickly became one of individual contests. Dromo broke off to flame a Z-95 that had gotten behind one of our TIEs.

I targeted a Y-wing and got behind him. I activated the speed matching device, set my lasers on dual fire and began pounding away. I quickly took down his shields but the Y-wing twisted and turned violently, making it difficult to maintain a lock. I stayed with him but the bastard was re- charging his shields. He twisted and turned and looped and dove all over the place but, since the TIE is considerably more maneuverable than a Y-wing, I was able to hang on and take the occasional shot as I tried to regain a lock.

The Y-wing jerked wildly to the right and headed toward a couple of Dimok Z-95's which were headed toward us. Uh-oh. He's got help on the way. I didn't like one on three even if I was in a TIE. I activated the missile system, got a partial lock and fired two of my four missiles, then jerked my TIE upward in a loop to meet the Z-95's.

Sometimes you're lucky, and sometimes you're not. This time I was lucky. My two missiles found their mark and the Y-wing disintegrated. I didn't savor the victory long, however. The two Z-95's approached me, lasers blazing away. I put my TIE into a tight roll, sidestepped them, then jerked her around hard to the left and came in behind them. It was a pretty fancy maneuver that I'm sure those poor Dimok bastards never saw before. Or would see again. I got a quick lock on the nearest Z-95, put my lasers on rapid single fire and hammered away. My lasers quickly disabled the Z-95's shields then cut into his port engine mount. The port wing disintegrated and then the entire craft exploded. I was so close that I had to fly through the debris and I felt it clatter against my hull.

The second Z-95 had looped to the right, hoping to evade me. I was on his ass before he knew it. His attempts at evasion were pathetically amateur and, as I blew his ship apart, I thought that this was quickly becoming a massacre. We had lost only one TIE so far and the Dimok force sent to attack us had been decimated. On my tactical display I could see that Kao's flight was having similar success nearer the convoy, though that Corvette was causing problems. I noticed that the TIE bombers had launched, however, and should make short work of that Corvette if it stayed around.

The remnants of the Dimok force facing my group turned and began running away. A couple of my pilots, their blood up, pursued. I put a quick halt to that.

"Gamma One to Gamma flight, let them go, boys," I called. "All units form up on me. That convoy still needs help."

Kao's flight group now had its hands full. That damned Corvette was stubbornly pressing home its attack, trying to get at the Repoblan convoy. Kao had lost two TIE's and still had a bunch of Z-95's to worry about. The few Repoblan Z-95's stayed well clear of the action, content to let the Empire's minions save their asses.

"Gamma leader to Tau leader," I called to Kao, "we've run off this bunch. We're on our way to assist you."

"Roger, Gamma leader," Kao replied. "We can use the help."

Several Dimok Z-95s had managed to break away and get in among the Repoblan convoy. The Repoblan Z-95s fired a few shots then took off, the bastards. The convoy broke up and scattered all over the place as the Dimok vessels made repeated attack runs.

The ASBO container vessel, while slow and underarmed, is quite large, much larger than a starfighter. It takes more than a few laser hits to knock one out. Also, when operating in close to these vessels you have to be careful that you don't collide with one. The ASBO has the law of gross tonnage on its side and you lose. Particularly in an unshielded fighter.

I was pretty pissed off when I saw the Repoblan Z-95s, who were supposed to be guarding the convoy, run away. I wanted to call the whole thing off and let the Dimoks have their way, but I remembered that our primary mission was to protect the convoy.

We formed up and dove in among the ASBOs and the Dimok starfighters, adding to the total mess and confusion that the melee had become.

I maneuvered between two ASBOs and flamed a Z-95 that had been strafing them. I looped around another container and covered Dromo while he killed another Z-95.