Run on Story: Chapter 1

[Wedge]

Here is the first chapter of the run on story for Operation Reforger. The deadline for all chapter 2 submissions is Saturday the 4th at 12:00 pm EST.


"Hit and Run"
By Commander La Forge

Prologue
One year before present time

Like a jewel in the rocks, the Imperator-class Mark-II Star Destroyer Chimaera sat in the dead of space, waiting. The Chimaera's running lights illuminated her hull brilliantly, but, at the same time, gave space the space around the warship a dangerous glow, much like the vessel itself. On one hand, she was sleek and powerful; one could almost say beautiful. On the other hand, she was as deadly and elegant as a lightsaber, ready to strike at all who opposed her. Right now, though, hers was the former role, for today was a day of diplomacy, as a shuttle made slow progress into the Star Destroyer's main hanger bay.
"Line Captain Vortagh, this is the Fleet Admiral. Our guests have arrived. Meet me in the main hanger in five standard minutes," said the leader of all Imperial forces, Fleet Admiral Polanski, into his comlink. Within a moment, his call's recipient picked up his own comlink, and replied.
"Yes, sir, on my way. Out."
The two officers met in the hanger just as the shuttle had landed. With the small whine of engines shutting down, a ramp appeared, and two robed figures glided slowly down. They soon came to a stop in front of the Fleet Admiral, and removed their hoods.
"Ah, you must be Fleet Admiral Polanski," said the first. Vortagh immediately assumed that he was the one of more importance, due to his more colorfully robe and shining silver eagle on his chest. The other wore nothing more than a drab, brown robe in comparison. "We have been eager to meet you. Allow me to introduce ourselves. I am Vice Praetor Daramus, chief of diplomatic operations on our planet. This is my companion and aide, Mr. Plourr Engh. On behalf of the world of Effinia, we thank you for this opportunity."
"Excellent," said the Fleet Admiral. "Captain Vortagh, please lead our guests to a conference room, so we may talk."
"Yes, sir," replied Vortagh. Talk about what, the captain wondered. The Fleet Admiral had not filled him in, only informing him that the ship would have arrivals, and he would learn the nature of the visit in good time. Soon the four of them had taken a seat around the small conference table, and, with the door closed behind them, they began.
"Now, as you know, the world of Effinia contacted the Empire several months ago, with a petition to join the Empire. We are here to finish the process. Provided, that is, that you can fix our little… domestic problem."
Now Vortagh spoke up. "And what would that problem be, Praetor?" Letting an unstable world into an already unstable Empire didn't sit well with the captain. It was not the diplomatic chief, though, but the Fleet Admiral, who answered him.
"Efferia is experiencing a somewhat… high crime rate, Captain, and a number of local militants have formed organizations to overthrow the current government. We don't want that to happen, thus our acceptance of their petition." The Admiral turned to the Efferian delegation, an unreadable smile on his face. "On behalf of the Imperial Navy, welcome to the Empire."
The two diplomats looked stunned. "Thank you, sir," the Praetor said shakily. When the two didn't move, Vortagh eyed them suspiciously. "Is there a problem, gentlemen?" he asked, trying to keep his tone as neutral as possible.
"Ah… no, sir," replied the Vice Praetor's aide. "We were just expecting this to be a somewhat more… lengthy discussion. However, that is of no concern." He took the Admiral and Captain's hand, and shook each in turn heartily. "This is a great and glorious day for the Efferian people." He bowed, and began moving toward the door to leave. Before the door could open, though, he turned around quickly, a thoughtful look on his face. "Admiral, when will the first shipments arrive?" Vortagh froze. He knew something was amiss the second those two landed! It was time to find out just what it was.
"You can expect the first transports within the month," said the Fleet Admiral flatly.
"Excellent." The two bowed another time, and left the room, leaving the Captain and Admiral alone.
As soon as the two officials left, Captain Vortagh turned the Fleet Admiral, and opened his mouth to speak. Polanski cut him off with a wave of his hand. "I assume you would like to know why we are allowing such a world into the Empire, and what it is exactly we are shipping to them. Am I correct?"
Vortagh nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Very well. I believe I mentioned earlier that a number of local militants had started forge various organizations. I believe I also stated that they were attempting to overthrow the present government." When Vortagh nodded, he continued. "What I didn't tell you is why the militants are doing what they are doing."
"I assumed that the current government was weak, and the leadership unpopular," said Vortagh, tilting his head slightly.
"Yes, most would presume that. They would, of course, be wrong," said the Fleet Admiral. "There is an entirely different reason for their problem."
"Which is…," asked Vortagh cautiously.
The Fleet Admiral did not answer him directly, but instead moved to a medium-sized console and tapped a few buttons. In a few seconds, a picture of a cloud covered world filled the small screen above the console.
"This is Efferia. As you can see, there is a dense cloud cover, but most of the surface underneath is land, and few oceans exist." When the Captain did not comment, Polanski moved on. "If you were to view this planet as a cross section," the Admiral pushed a few buttons, and the planet was sliced in half, leaving it's core and crust viewable. "You would get this."
Vortagh looked at the screen for a split second, then gasped loudly. It was not because of the planet's crust, or outer layers. No, it was the core that fascinated him the most.
"Sir, if that's what I think it is, then…" Vortagh's voice faded away.
"That is exactly what it looks like, Captain: A single, solid, two hundred trillion ton piece of platinum."
"Sir, if the Empire ever got it's hands on even a fraction of that material… we could build ships at a rate a hundred-fold over what we are doing now. The Republic would be powerless to stop us." Vortagh paused for a moment. "I assume that the transports you spoke of are carrying mining equipment?"
"That is correct. The equipment will arrive in pieces, and be fully operational in a year's time. Now, if there are no more questions…"
The Captain thought for a moment. "Actually, sir, I'm interested in knowing how their government discovered such a thing. Seems a bit… farfetched to me, sir."
"I thought it might, Captain. Simply put, the Efferian government decided ten years ago to tunnel through the planet's crust to move from continent to continent, in an attempt to save travel time. When they reached a certain point, they hit that," said the Fleet Admiral, pointing at the center of the still viewable planet cross section. "They continued to mine around it, in various places, to verify that it was what it was, and a year later, it was discovered that their planet's core was made of solid platinum. They had simply discovered the outer edge of that core."
"I see, sir."
"And that, Captain, is why we want them in the Empire. Now, go to the bridge and prepare the Chimaera for hyperspace. We do have other things on the agenda."
"Yes, sir." And with that, the Captain left.
Alone in the room for a few moments, the Fleet Admiral turned to the view screen one last time. Looking at it, an evil grin appeared on his face, one that would make any Rebel drop dead. He left the room, and the smile faded, but he knew one day soon, it would return again.
* * * * *

The two diplomats sat in the shuttle's flight deck, still waiting for departure clearance from the bridge. They had been quiet most of the time, running preflight checklists and system diagnostics, but the Vice Praetor knew it was time for him to do something more important, so he turned to his aide, and spoke up. "Continue the checklists. I am going back to check on our… cargo." He got up and left without another word.
The door slid closed behind him as he moved into the cargo bay of the shuttle. There, lying on the floor with hands and feet tied, were two unconscious Efferians. He moved toward the nearest one, and kicked him, hard, in the stomach. The man woke, rolling in pain, and clutching the site where the man's foot had connected with the his body. "Who… are… you…?" he said with difficulty.
"Oh, you know very well who I am, Vice Praetor," said the man, removing the mask from his face. When the true chief of diplomatic operations didn't respond, he spoke again, this time with a menacing tone. "Playing dumb will not save your life, Praetor. You know that I am Codinus Zimmerden. You know that I lead the People's Free Defense Force. You also know," he said in a threatening whisper, "that you and your comrade here will die if you do not give me the information I want."
"We will never help scum like you!" said Daramus angrily.
Codinus waved lazily for two guards to approach him. "Kill his companion," he said nonchalantly. The guards raised their blaster rifles, and the whines of lethal bolts charging could be heard. The Praetor opened his mouth to object, but too late. The guards fired simultaneously, leaving two charred holes in what was once Daramus's aide. The diplomatic chief rose angrily to speak, but was stopped by the rouge militant.
"Ah ah," he said, waving his finger, "you had your chance, and now your comrade is dead. Perhaps this lesson will loosen your tongue some." He began to pace around his prisoner. "Tell me, what do you know about our little planet's core?"
"Nothing!" the Praetor almost shouted at once. Codinus smiled inwardly; Daramus had spoken too soon.
"Really? I would have expected a man of your… position," he said, grinning at the irony of the word, "would know more." He paused. "It is of no matter now, though. Our meeting with the Fleet Admiral was more than enough to confirm this."
"I- How did you learn about this? It is our government's most carefully guarded secret!"
"My my, someone is nosy. But, if you must know, it took five long years of slicing. Five long years of carefully guarded infiltrations into your… government." He looked disgusted as he said the word, as if he had tasted bad wine. "And when we get our hands on that little diamond in the rock, that world and everything on it will be ours!" In a moment he regained his poise, and continued. "However, I think this conversation has lasted long enough." He motioned to the guards again, who had moved back to their positions by the door. "Guards! I do not want to deal with him anymore. Stun him. Now!" As the guards raised their rifles again, the Praetor tried desperately to save himself.
"Please! No! You can't do this to me!"
"Ah, but I can, Mr. Daramus, and I will." He turned to the guards who were awaiting his command to fire. "Put him to sleep for awhile." They did so, as the shuttle made the jump to hyperspace.

Chapter One
Current Time

Line Captain P.D. Calder sat in his command chair, closely surveying the bridge and her crew. His new first officer, Commander La Forge, stood up near the viewport, watching TIEs on maneuver. With the newly promoted Commander still having less than one full week of experience as an first officer, Calder was taking this opportunity to train him, and allow him to become acquainted with the job and it's duties. Right now, the bridge was peaceful, with the hum of the engines and crew the only sounds. That was not to last, however, as Calder's comlink beeped in his uniform's pocket pocket. He dug it out and turned it on.
"Line Captain Calder, this is the Fleet Admiral. Please report to my office immediately. I have something urgent to discuss with you."
"Aye, sir, on my way." Calder turned to La Forge, who was still observing TIE Fighters on patrol. "Commander, you have the bridge. Alert me to any problems." The Commander nodded.
"Aye sir," he said, and moved to the back of the bridge, to better oversee the bridge crew.
Calder made his way quickly to the office of the Supreme Commander, and pushed a button on a side panel, signaling he had arrived. In a moment, the door whooshed open and he stepped inside. "You wished to see me, sir?"
"That is correct, Captain." The Admiral got up from his desk, and handed the Senior Fleet Officer a datepad. The Captain scanned the text on the screen before looking up again.
"The planet Effinia, sir? They joined the Empire a year ago, yes? Something about a few rouge terrorists and smugglers that were getting out of hand, I believe," said Calder.
"That is correct, Captain. Or, more precisely, that is the cover for their admittance into the Empire."
"Cover, sir? You mean to say their problems with handling crime are not real?" asked the Captain cautiously.
"No, Captain, their difficulty with solving such problems is true enough. If you call up the second file on the pad, you will see the cause of their little domestic problem." Calder did so, and a look of extreme surprise crossed his face when he saw the contents of the file.
"Admiral, am I reading this right? Their planet's core is made up of ninety-seven percent platinum?" he asked, awestruck.
"You are reading it perfectly correct, I'm sure, because it is true: There is over 200 trillion tons of that material underneath the surface of the planet."
"Sir… has this been confirmed yet?" he asked.
"It was confirmed a year ago, when the agreement with the locals was reached. Which is what I need to talk to you about today, Captain." The Admiral paused for a moment before continuing. "You see, part of our agreement with the Efferians is that we will get that chunk of platinum if and when we solve their terror problem."
"But, sir, is it even possible to…," the Captain paused to think of the correct word before continuing. "…extract a piece of material that size? It would seem too much for even the most powerful and advanced technology."
"Oh, it is quite possible, Captain. As soon as an agreement with Efferian government was reached, mining equipment specifically created for this task began to make its way to the planet, where it was set up at various points on the surface. Once the operation begins, large holes will begin to be dug at points on the surface. A few days after that, once the drills have reached the first levels of platinum, pumps will be sent down, and the platinum liquefied in stages and drawn up, where it will be cooled and sent offworld to be sold. Waste products from factories as well as dirt and other materials will take the place of the platinum. The process should be completed a year after the drilling commences."
"And when is this operation scheduled to start?" asked Calder.
"Sometime this week," answered the Fleet Admiral. "Which is why you're here. You will take the Chimaera Efferia immediately, and enter orbit. After this is achieved, you and first officer will land near the main control center for the equipment, while other teams of your choosing will land near the drills themselves. In both cases, your goal will be to inspect the equipment itself, as well as the crews running it. I need not point out that we can not afford to foul up here, Captain."
"Yes, sir, I understand."
"Good. I want ground teams in place on the planet in the next two days."
"Yes, sir, consider it done."
"Very well, Captain, prepare the Chimaera hyperspace. I will join you on the bridge in a few minutes."
"Aye, sir," said Calder, saluting and leaving the room. The Supreme Commander smiled as he left. Yes, the Fleet Admiral though to himself, everything was going according to plan.