Going on the Offensive

Entering Abominor space for the first time since the war began, the 1st Fleet under the command of Daimon was already in battle stations mode the moment they dropped out of hyperspace. The system itself consisted of 4 inhabited planets, all orbiting a white-hot star. Orbiting each world were hundreds of defensive structures, some asteroid-sized, some the size of small orbital emplacements, but all of them were active and armed.

Daimon ordered the fleet to move in seeing as how there was no enemy fleet, so all they had to do was take out the defensive structures and then invade the 4 planets. He split the fleet evenly into two separate forces, one led by himself and the other led by his second in command, Grand Admiral Dorian Caedus. Some would say there were risks posed to this decision, but Daimon used it to draw the enemy out.

He saw it in a vision which showed the Abominor fleet showing up once he split the fleets up and they start their siege on the planets. Grand Admiral Caedus was informed of this and had prepared his forces appropriately.

Daimon and his portion of the fleet proceeded to a planet that was designated as target Alpha while Caedus proceeded to the planet designated target Bravo.

At target Alpha, the fight was pretty simple. The defensive platforms targeted the Imperial warships with both ion beams and kinetic projectiles, but none of these managed to touch a warship as Daimon used battle meditation to link the entire fleet as one. Because of this, no ship had their shields fall and the defensive structures were thinned down in number which created an opening towards the planet.

With this opening, the ground forces led by Prince Malrik boarded their transport ships and descended towards the surface of the planet. tens of thousands of Fighters, bombers, and gunships took the lead, clearing the airspace for the ground troops and striking anti air emplacements.

Onboard his transport, Prince Malrik was holding onto one of the hooks as the ship descended through the atmosphere of the planet. Around him was the command team consisting of several officers and 20 members of the Empyrean Guard sent to support him. Bringing over a holo pad, one of the officers handed it to him, "Sir, this is a complete scan of the planets infrastructure, and this is where we're landing."

(A/N: Empyrean Guard Armor Image)

The holo pad panned to a city which looked more like a prison than anything. "What are the estimated enemy forces?" Malrik asked.

"We don't know the exact number, but there are tens of thousands battle slaves that have been detected via the scans. Though, our intelligence has pointed out that the droids might be deactivated in order to give us false reading on their number so that they can confuse and overwhelm our forces." It was a clever tactic, Malrik had to admit.

"Have orbital strikes on standby as well as gunships in case we start to get overwhelmed." Ordered Malrik.

"Copy that Sir," Replied the officer as he returned to his spot and waited for them to land.

Several minutes later, the ship touched down and the doors opened revealing the chaotic battlefield. Malrik was the first to run out, igniting his lightsaber as he ran towards the enemy lines. Behind him, the Empyrean Guards followed close behind supporting him as he cut through the enemy.

All around them, dozens of Imperial transport ships were landing and dropping off troops. The command staff under Malrik quickly set up a command post where they began to direct troops and call in air support.

Malrik, who was standing at 9 feet tall, was dashing through dozens of battle slaves, cutting them down as he moved forward towards the enemy artillery which was shelling their landing area.

The Empyrean Guards showed their strength and were like an immovable wall that kept pushing forward with great momentum. Around them, explosions and the battle cries of soldiers roared throughout the battlefield as they moved towards the artillery positions.

"Push forward! Neutralize their artillery positions!" Malrik commanded. His presence inspired the troops behind them to charge with even more momentum towards the enemy positions. Behind them, Imperial walkers provided support and covering fire for the ground troops as they moved forward.

Overhead, Imperial fighters and bombers flew through the skies, launching strikes against fortified Abominor emplacements. The ground beneath their feet shook from the relentless pounding of orbital strikes called down by Malrik's command staff, vaporizing pockets of entrenched battle slaves.

As Malrik closed in on the first line of enemy artillery, the sheer intensity of resistance increased dramatically. Hidden compartments along the enemy positions burst open, revealing previously dormant Abominor battle droids coming online.

"Droids incoming!" shouted one of the Empyrean Guards, immediately shifting his stance to brace against the new wave. This caused a momentary pause in the Imperial advance as they had to adjust to the new enemy.

Malrik spun around, his lightsaber deflecting incoming blaster bolts, sending them back into the ranks of the advancing droids. "Hold formation! Reinforce the line!" he ordered as the Imperial soldiers hastily reformed their defensive perimeter, firing volleys at the advancing Abominor battle droids.

The battlefield turned into an exchange of blaster fire, explosions, and the mass of Abominor battle droids. They pressed forward, unbothered by casualties or the devastation around them. For every droid that fell, two more seemed to replace them. The command team had already called in an Orbital strike, but it would take a few minutes.

In the meantime, Malrik reached out with the Force, using battle meditation to bolster the resolve and focus of every soldier on the field. The battle meditation took hold, sharpening reflexes, enhancing coordination, and transforming the Imperial forces into an unstoppable tide.

The Empyrean Guards moved forward, taking charge of the battlefield, using their weapons to cut deep into the enemy ranks. Soon after the Orbital strikes hit, Grenades were thrown at the droids, thinning their numbers.

"Bring forward the heavy walkers!" Malrik commanded through the comms, sensing the right moment for a decisive push. Moments later, towering Imperial walkers advanced onto the battlefield, their cannons unleashing devastating salvos that shattered enemy positions and obliterated entrenched droid emplacements.

(A/N: Heavy Walker Image here)

Despite their overwhelming initial advance, the Abominor battle droids began to lose the advantage under the combined pressure of orbital bombardments, heavy artillery, and Malrik.

From orbit, Daimon observed Malrik's progress, watching him and the rest of the ground forces slowly conquer the planet. However, at the same time the enemy fleet had entered the system and was heading straight towards Grand Admiral Caedus and his fleet.

Seeing this Daimon smiled as things were going exactly how he expected it to. "All ships remain here and continue providing support to the ground troops, I'll deal with the enemy reinforcements." there was a series of acknowledgements from the other captains as he ordered engineering to prep the skip drive.

The skip drive was a relatively new piece of experimental technology which was an engine that allowed a ship to essentially skip across a system in just a few seconds. It has been tested hundreds of times but was still experimental as it had a long recharge time. The engineers reported the skip drive ready and Daimon's flagship vanished from its place within the fleet, reappearing in front of Grand Admiral Caedus's fleet.

As soon as he appeared, the Abominor fleet didn't stop and had launched their fighters towards the fleet. However, Caedus didn't order any fighters to launch, instead he ordered the entire fleet to watch.

And watch they did as Daimon stood on the bridge of his ship and reached out through the Force. Raising one hand slowly, he focused his mind on the entire enemy fleet, sensing every vessel and fighter in front of him.

Suddenly, a massive shockwave erupted outward from Daimon's flagship, traveling towards the Abominor fleet. The wave tore through the incoming fighters, instantly disintegrating thousands of them as if they were nothing.

Caedus and the rest of the fleet watched in awe as the wave continued to travel toward the Abominor fleet. In response, the Abominor fleet targeted Daimon's flagship after detecting where the wave was coming from, unleashing volley after volley. Yet not a single projectile reached its target as Daimon extended his other hand, erecting an invisible barrier that absorbed and dispersed their attacks.

By this time, the wave had reached the fleet and started to slowly diminish their numbers. Some of the ships tried to run, but the wave was too fast, and they ended up being caught in it.

The battle was over as quickly as it had begun, leaving nothing remaining but the emptiness of space. Daimon slowly lowered his hands and opened his eyes. He turned to Grand Admiral Caedus who appeared on the center console. "Continue with the invasion, Grand Admiral."

Caedus nodded, still a little shocked at what he had just seen. An entire fleet wiped out with nothing left to show there was even a battle. "As you command, your highness."

Daimon remained in position waiting for the skip drive to recharge as the ground battle on surface of the planet continued.

After a week had passed, the system was completely under their control and the Abominor didn't launch any more attacks. The reason for this was because there was another situation that the Abominor was dealing with.

Their Empire wasn't all powerful, nor was it the only faction that existed in the Unknow regions. Various other factions were also fighting against the Abominor causing them to spread their forces thin on several fronts.