Death Throes of the Cartels : Episode V

"You want to what?"

I gave the Neimoidian admiral on the main screen a cool look. I was a reasonable man, and I had asked for something rather unusual. Whatever excuses I would come up with later, there was no denying that at the moment, it was self-indulgence. I felt I deserved something a little self-centered after everything that had happened. I'd been a loyal employee of the Trade Federation for a little over two decades, I'd upheld my duty even at great personal risk, hell, I'd gotten my legs cut off in the line of duty! I'm supposed to be a merchant!

So yes, I asked for something a little out of the ordinary.

"I would appreciate it if you kept those Centurion-class battlecruisers pinned down while the Supply and Demand boarded and captured them."

-----

First Lieutenant Falleen readied his blaster rifle as his shuttle forced its way into the Centurion's launch bay. The ship's defenders did what they could to try and prevent the shuttle from landing, but the two frontal laser turrets quickly forced the pirate rabble into what cover they could find. Fortunately for the boarding teams, the Centurion's fighter complement was nowhere to be seen, most having been shot down over the past few weeks over Naboo, and the remainder ripped apart by the Neimoidian screening ships.

Four other shuttles were following his, while another eight were circling the battlecruiser, waiting for the first wave to clear room for them. The Demand also had a second company of naval security troopers that would reinforce Falleen's if things took a turn for the worse, but hopefully, they wouldn't be needed.

"We have touched down, doors opening now. Good luck," the pilot's voice called out over the intercom. The landing ramp slowly opened with a faint hiss, and a team of Trandoshan shield troopers took up positions in front. Then, before the ramp had finished lowering, they rushed out, followed by Mark X Sentinel droids. Modernization of a design originally utilized in the Jedi Civil War, the Mark X was much more agile than the original had been while retaining the thick armor and ability to carry heavy weaponry that had made the originals so effective. Pirates expecting a swarm of cheap and disposable OOM security droids were instead met with vicious, heavily armed, agile combatants.

Incidentally, Baktoid, for all they were happy to begin mass production of the war droids, were still a little bitter over the fact that the Mark X had killed their BX Commando droids in the prototyping stage.

Blaster fire began filling the launch bays as the naval troopers began their assault. Most of the defenders were rapidly cut down or forced into hallways to try and get out of the open. Return fire was almost nonexistent, with the heavy repeating blasters carried by several of the Sentinels suppressing or cutting down anyone who tried to shoot back. What little defensive fire there was ended up useless, hitting either the thick durasteel shields of the Trandoshans, or the personal shields of the Sentinels.

Falleen heard the shuttles begin taking off behind him, making room for the second wave to come in. He whistled sharply and pointed forwards. "Push them back into the corridors! Secure our foothold!"

The Trandoshans began moving forward, taking advantage of their shields to close in on the remaining defenders and put them down with blaster pistols. Then they moved into the corridors, providing cover for Twi`lek sharpshooters. Falleen's HUD highlighted one of the doorways, and he began moving towards it.

"First and Second squads, with me! We're taking the bridge! The third squad, hold the launch bay!"

Falleen and his men began moving through the ship. Almost immediately, they ran into stiff resistance. These were no pirate levies, these were professional mercenaries defending the ship. His team was quickly bogged down in corridor to corridor fighting. Though the mercenaries lacked the specialized equipment Falleen's troopers had, they clearly had experience in close quarters combat. Crates formed improvised barricades, and often sheltered repeating blasters, forcing his troopers into cover behind shield walls.

There was a sharp crack, and one of the shield bearers cried out in pain, though thankfully he had maglocked his shield to the floor so it didn't follow him to the ground. The Trandoshan bled from an ugly, deep wound in his shoulder. Falleen peered, and his HUD highlighted one of the mercenaries' weapons. A large caliber slugthrower, mounted on a bipod.

Falleen tapped on his wristpad, marking the sniper on his team's HUDs. Moments later, a sharpshooter planted a blaster bolt between the mercenary's eyes.

"Second Platoon is aboard, Lieutenant!" A voice called over his comms.

"Excellent! Second Platoon is to seize the main reactor and engineering."

-----

I watched as shuttles streamed between the Supply and Demand, ans the three Centurions in orbit. All three were putting up stiff resistance, but thanks to the boarding tactics created by Lieutenant Falleen of the Demand, casualties from my security troopers were nearly nonexistent. I made a note to get my hands on anti-material rifles for my own troops, I doubted it'd be long before other organizations began aping the doctrine.

With all the battles I could contribute to already well in hand, I began turning my mind to the future. There was no predicting what would come next, I'd done too much damage. So, naturally, I'd assume the absolute worst. I placed a call with Kuat Drice Yards.

Their representative didn't waste a moment before answering. Apparently, the Senate had ordered them to begin reactivating their many, many mothballed shipyards, but the Senate had yet to order enough ships to offset the cost. They were extremely eager to hear from potential buyers.

"Congratulations, the Venator-class has exceeded all my wildest dreams. Truly a marvelous ship. I'll take twenty."