Bastion,
Empire Ruling Council Building
Council Meeting Room
Grand Admiral Palleon, as First Council, summoned all members of the Empire Ruling Council to discuss the events surrounding the destruction of the capital planet of the New Republic, Hosnian Prime. Some of the Empire Ruling Council members were unable to attend because they were still in their respective sectors and attended via a secure Holonet connection.
After opening the meeting, Grand Admiral Palleon said, "Gentlebeing, as we all know, the New Republic is no more. The loss of top leadership and the capital planet has destroyed the New Republic's chain of command. At this time, we cannot know or contact anyone who holds the government in the New Republic. We suspect the second shot of the First Order superweapon will hit the Bastion or base of the Resistance. We must prevent that."
"Are we going to conduct a general armament that activates all of our hidden military capabilities?" asked Grand Moff Epin Serreti.
"I have already taken the initiative to do just that. All of our hidden combat ships are 100% active and ready to leave their hiding places. I have also instructed the majority of our combat ships to evacuate Bastion to prevent any potential damage. The ships that stayed in Bastion have moved away from Bastion to avoid being destroyed if Bastion is hit." Grand Admiral Palleon said.
Grand Moff Kaskus said, "We have also ordered the reactivation of our ships."
"But more importantly, how do we prevent an attack on the Bastion?" said Grand Admiral Palleon.
"Has the source of the fire been determined?" asked Moff Bemos.
"Yes, we have triangulated the origin of the fire to be on the planet Ilum, an ice planet in an unknown region that is the mining site for the kyber crystals used in the manufacture of the two death stars." Palleon said. "We have also conducted a reconnaissance using a high speed probe."
Palleon showed a schematic of the planet Ilum and its superweapon. Palleon asked a data specialist to explain the superweapon to all members of the Empire Ruling Council.
The Galactic Empire/Empire Remnant leaders listened intently to the data specialist's detailed explanation of the planet Ilum.
"We hear that the planet Ilum is now known as Starkiller Base by the First Order." Grand Admiral Palleon said.
"We should proceed to attack that installation," Moff Bemos said.
"True, but how? The installation is equipped with a planetary shield." Moff Hort said.
"The scans from Ilum reveal that when the superweapon on Ilum energises due to the amount of energy it collects, a containment field is required to keep the entire planet intact. It appears that a regulator and containment system are in place to regulate this process. The scans show the use of thermal oscillators to create containment for the energy needed to fire the superweapon." Grand Admiral Palleon spoke.
"Thermal oscillator? Isn't that the device we developed to stabilise the planet's core while mining?" asked Moff Bemos.
"Right, somehow, it seems that technology was acquired by the First Order and developed to contain the energy from the superweapons on Ilum," said Grand Admiral Palleon.
"Remember when they left, they copied a lot of our technology database," said Grand Moff Serreti.
"Right, maybe it was from that database that they got the coordinates of the planet Ilum and the thermal oscillator technology." Grand Admiral Palleon said.
"So, to destroy this weapon, we need to destroy one of the thermal oscillators when it starts to gather power?" asked Moff Hort.
"That's right. We also discovered that the starkiller base, or Ilum, uses a rather ancient planetary shield technology, which has a fairly long fractional refresh rate. Enough time for a starship or fighter to enter the shield from hyperspace." Grand Admiral Palleon said.
"Using hyperspace directly above the planet's surface?" Are you mad? There is not enough time for the ship to reduce its speed." Moff Hort said.
"We can only consider the speed of pseudomotion when the ship exits hyperspace, provided it is at zero relative speed. Therefore, we calculated that the ship must enter in a parallel position from the ground of the planet Ilum so that it has enough space to exit hyperspace without having to immediately dive upwards." Grand Admiral Palleon said. "We have already conducted experiments with the Corelian Corvette and TIE Fighter, with successful results."
"If so, a few small ships can be sent to infiltrate Starkiller Base and destroy part of the planetary shield, so that we can conduct a full invasion." Grand Moff Serreti said.
"That's right. We should send several small ships in 2 or 3 waves to guarantee success. Then we can send a battlefleet to destroy the installation." Kaskus said.
"We should also bring enough fighters to protect those ships. We could potentially utilise TIE Droids, given their superior precision compared to human control." Moff Hort said.
"According to the test results, the fighter is easier to do, and the allowance for margin of error is high, so we can use a TIE Fighter with hyperdrive." Palleon said. "We will use manned and unmanned TIE Fighters that will be carried by capital ships to a rendezvous point outside the Ilum star system," said Grand Admiral Palleon.
"Alright, if it has been tried, then we will do it that way. But we must provide a support fleet at the rendezvous point as a backup in case there are enemy capital ships in Ilum's orbit," said Moff Hort.
Everyone present nodded in agreement about that.
"I guess we all agree on that." Grand Admiral Palleon said. "In the meantime, I will order the evacuation of the Bastion, especially the leadership of the Galactic Empire."
"Alright, we will send a battlefleet to Ilum." Kaskus said.
"We will prepare our infiltration force. We request permission to use the Dark Trooper DT-1 owned by the Alliance." Palleon said.
"We allow the use of the Dark Trooper DT-1." Kaskus said.
"I will try to contact the Resistance," Bamos said.
"By the way, we are calling this operation 'Silent Dart'. Do you all agree?" asked Grand Admiral Palleon.
"We don't mind, it's just a code name after all. That is your prerogative." Bamos said.
As a result, the Council had made a decision and would implement it. The meeting ended.
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Bastion,
Office of Grand Admiral Palleon
Grand Moff Serreti and Grand Admiral Palleon gathered after the Empire Ruling Council meeting to discuss the infiltration force to be sent to Ilum.
"The ship we are most likely to send is the Raider class corvette. It's small enough to make a hyperspace jump directly into the planet's atmosphere. It's also large enough to carry dark troopers and elite troops to attack the installation," Serreti said.
"It can also carry fighters for air cover. Maybe an Automatic Fighter Droid, an AD-1 from the Alliance. We could bring enough to confuse the First Order forces there. We can replace the TIE Fighter with an AD-1." Palleon said.
"That's right, don't forget the Alliance's dark trooper. For the Raider Class, if I'm not mistaken, we have 8 Raider II Covettes that happened to be at the Bastion. Hopefully, that will be enough." Serreti said.
"We will divide them into two waves. Hopefully, at least one of the waves can enter the Ilum." Palleon said.
"I hope so." Serreti said.
"I will meet with Grand Moff Kaskus to coordinate fleet assistance from the Alliance for this operation. They are the only faction that uses droid fighters." said Grand Admiral Palleon.
"Alright, I'll take care of the departing team and those Corvette Raider ships." Grand Moff Serreti said.
The two men immediately decided on other matters regarding the operation and immediately made preparations for its execution. That was because it was expected that within four hours, the operation could begin.
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2 hours later
Bastion
Empire Central Command
Meeting Room
In the meeting room, a briefing on the 'Silent Dart' operation will be held. Grand Moff Serreti chaired the meeting. The participants in the briefing were:
- 8 captains and XOs of 8 Raider Class Corvettes
- 8 special forces squad leaders
- Admiral Ileri, leader of the fleet supporting the 'Silent Dart' operation.
The meeting discussed what would be done in Operation 'Silent Dart.'
After the opening of the meeting, Grand Moff Serreti gave a briefing on Operation 'Silent Dart', which was followed by a discussion. Good military discipline prevented any comments during Serreti's presentation. However, the faces of the captains and XOs of the Raider Corvettes clearly showed their opposition to the operation. When Serreti opened the floor for discussion, the outburst of questions only began.
"Are you mad? That's a suicide mission! How can we make a hyperspace jump directly into a planet's atmosphere?" Captain Laincome of the Raider II Clas Corvette 'Mayari' spoke up.
'Mayari' was the flagship of a task force of eight Raider Class Corvettes that would infiltrate Ilum. All the captains and XOs of the Raider Class Corvette ships spearheading the 'Silent Dart' operation agreed with Captain Laincome's words.
"Stay calm. We have made several attempts, and without fail, we can do it. It's not a suicide mission. We've tried with the Corellian Corvette and had 100% success." Serreti said.
"Still, if we are wrong by just a fraction of a second, then our ship either smashes into a planet or smashes into a planetary shield," said another captain.
Therefore, the ship's computer and astromech droid will automatically control the final hyperspace jump to ensure a reaction time of less than 1 millisecond. The hyperspace jump timing will be given by the probe droid that has been placed near Ilum." Serreti said.
"Still, we will be surrounded by the planetary shield. If anything happens, it will be difficult for us to escape," said Captain Laincome.
"Therefore, as soon as they exit hyperspace, most of the ships will destroy the shield generators. With that, the gap in the planetary shield will be able to be used for escape in the event of anything wrong and can also be used for the support fleet to conduct orbital bombardment." said Serreti.
"Given Ilum's status as a Fortress Word, it is bound to have many orbital defence assets, including defence stations and ground-to-space weaponry. Are our forces sufficient to deal with that?" asked Admiral Ileri.
"Fortunately, until an hour ago, we did not find any orbital defence assets. You just have to deal with ground-to-space weaponry, and possibly the starfighter stationed on Ilum." Serreti replied.
"Does that mean that as soon as we arrive, we will conduct an orbital bombardment and launch all our starfighters?" asked Admiral Ileri.
"Yes, even all hyperspace-capable fighters must be deployed before you make the final hyperspace jump to Ilum from the rendezvous point." Serreti said.
"Hmm, I'd be happy if I had more capital ship assets." Admiral Ileri said.
"That's all we can spare for this operation. The rest were used for the Bastion evacuation. But I heard that some Alliance capital ships will join us at the rendezvous point. They are closer to Ilium, so they will hyperspace jump to the rendezvous point to save time." Serreti said.
"They will be under my command?" asked Admiral Ileri.
"That's right, they will be under your command," replied Serreti.
While Grand Admiral Serreti was answering Admiral Ileri's questions, the captains of the Raider Class Corvettes were whispering to each other about this operation.
"How did it go? Does everyone know their duties?" Serreti asked.
"I still think this mission is a suicide mission," Laincome said.
"Objection noted. We have no other choice. We cannot possibly make a frontal attack. Even a super-star destroyer's firepower is not enough to penetrate the planetary shield of Ilum. We must conduct this operation unconventionally." Serreti replied.
"Very well, for the sake of the Empire, we approve this 'Silent Dart' operation," said Captain Laincome.
"We are providing the maximum number of fighters, we are asking the Alliance to include droid fighters to double the number of assets we bring to Ilum. We anticipate that several thousand fighters will be deployed on Ilum. That should take care of any opposition, as well as enemy reinforcement if there is any." Serreti said.
"Hmm, I feel like we are becoming more like the Rebel Alliance these days. We've been putting a lot of emphasis on fighters lately, especially during this 'Silent Dart' operation." An aged captain of a Raider Corvette spoke up.
"We did take lessons from the Rebel Alliance. Otherwise, how could we keep up with the New Republic when we are in conflict?" said Admiral Ileri.
Everyone there nodded their heads as they thought about that fact.
"Alright, then we will end this meeting. We will immediately replace the TIE Fighter on the Raider Corvette with an automated fighter drone to increase fire power and support the Raider Corvette's operations. Remember that the Raider Corvettes that spearheaded our attack on Ilum are named Task Force A, while our support fleet is named Task Force B," said Serreti.
With that, the 'Silent Dart' operation briefing ended.
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Bastion Orbit
There was a great flurry of activity in Bastion. Passenger ships and shuttles were busy evacuating Bastion. In addition, all passenger ships and any star ships that were close enough to Bastion also arrived at Bastion to evacuate the population of Bastion.
All the ships descended to near the surface or even landed on the surface of Bastion to speed up the evacuation process. People filled Star Destroyers, which descended to the surface to expedite the evacuation process, as temporary shelters. Each star destroyer carried nearly 100,000 people.
The 20 existing star destroyers that still in the system can carry nearly 2 million people, as well as various cruisers, frigates, and even freighters transformed into passenger ships.
In addition, the space station in Bastion's orbit began using its thrusters to move away from Bastion. The space station also served as a refuge. The cargo bay underwent a transformation, becoming a dense temporary residence. Even outposts are used as temporary refugee camps. But on the other hand, many people insisted on staying in Bastion because they considered it their home. The number was quite large, more than a quarter of Bastion's population chose to stay in Bastion.
Despite the chaotic nature of the situation, the Bastion government was able to evacuate more than a third of the population from Bastion in less than a day. This was also because the population of Bastion, although an industrial world, was not that large. However, this effort could be carried out because there were thousands of starships, from military to passenger ships to freighters, that participated in the evacuation effort. Efforts to evacuate the population of Bastion will be carried out until the last second. Probe droids have been secretly placed near the planet Ilum to determine when the weapons on the planet Ilum are fired, and at that time the effort to evacuate Bastion will be stopped.
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Defence station 21
Defence Station 21 is a Golan III Defence Station. Currently, the defence station is slowly being moved away from Bastion, like other stations. The difference, however, is that all refugees at Defense Station 21 are from the military.
On the outside of Defence Station 21, there were 8 Raider Class Corvettes that would be used in the 'Silent Dart' operation. There were also 2 Imperial Class Star Destroyers, 1 Victory Class Star Destroyer, 2 battlestars, 4 Nebulon B Frigates, 8 Modified Carrack Cruisers, and 6 Arquitens-class light cruisers that were also part of the 'Silent Dart' operation.
Moments later, the entire fleet of the 'Silent Dart' operation began to undock from Defence Station 21. The fleet of the 'Silent Dart' operation gathered in Bastion's orbit and immediately began to orient its course, making a hyperspace jump to deep space near Ilum...
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For more information on starship, starfighter, droid that Alliance have, you can read in my other story: Galactic Empire in New World