General Jagged Fell was lost in thought, gazing at the holocube on a table by the view port of his combination office and quarters. He was a relatively young man, only twenty-eight years old, but had a lifetime of experience behind his eyes. The holocube was cycling through pictures of a blue-skinned couple, Jagged and his wife, Shiri’ala. Jagged was half Chiss, with his human father’s influence only visible in his brown, rather than blue-black, hair, while his wife was a twi’lek he met some years back when he recused her from some pirates who were after her cargo and ship. Jagged was feeling rather forlorn as he had been recently promoted to General, but due to the on-going war with the First Order was unable to get back to Aurora to celebrate with Shiri’ala.

He was stationed aboard the Imperial Class-II Star Destroyer Challenge, in service to the Emperor’s Hammer. The Emperor’s Hammer had formed in fall of the Galactic Empire after the disaster of Endor. It seeks to uphold the true ideals of the Empire in providing peace, security, and prosperity to all its subjects through overwhelming military might and direct, unquestioning, leadership from those in positions of command. About eighteen months ago the Emperor’s Hammer had come upon another Imperial Faction in the Unknown Regions calling themselves the First Order. The leader of the contingent they first met, Grand Marshall Takeda, had DEMANDED the Emperor’s Hammer’s immediate surrender and subjugation to her authority as she claimed to belong to the true continuation of the Empire. Jagged didn’t know or care if she was right that the First Order was a continuation of the Empire, all he knew was that the Emperor’s Hammer had been pushing back against the New Republic all of his life while this First Order hid in the Unknown Regions. And he would serve the Emperor’s Hammer until his dying breath to ensure the safety of all that he held dear.

After Takeda’s demand was rejected, the forces of the Emperor’s Hammer had gone to war with the First Order. At first, everything seemed to go well for the Emperor’s Hammer. They captured many First Order ships for study and recommissioning, then the fuel depot in the Gasriese System, and finally the world of Jundaxa just about a year ago now. However, the First Order had struck back with overwhelming force and drove them off Jundaxa, but the Emperor’s Hammer was able to keep control of the fuel depot, despite the First Order sending Mandalorian mercenaries to attempt acts of sabotage on the station. The Emperor’s Hammer wasn’t willing to go quietly into the night and six months ago had struck back in the Eisvahn System, first performing a daring data raid at Evisahn IV and then a masterful campaign against the forces in the area. Nevertheless, the First Order responded with an absolutely massive armada. Against which the forward elements of the Emperor’s Hammer had no hope of prevailing.

Now, once again, the Emperor’s Hammer was back in the Gasriese System, battered and bruised, waiting for the First Order to move their armada against them. No one understood why the First Order was content to sit back and harass only their resupply convoys. Jagged was the Commander of Typhoon Squadron and was tasked with sending out patrols and scouting missions against the First Order fleet, holding station at the edge of the system. Jagged kept his own counsel on the advisability of holding this system, so far from their support in the Minos Cluster, but it didn’t matter what he personally thought of the operation, it was his duty to follow orders and that was what he was going to do.

Jagged turned his back to the holocube and returned his attention to his terminal at his desk and began the preparations for today’s recon run against the First Order. A few minutes later there was a chime at his door.

“Come,” Jagged ordered. The door opened with the typical Imperial abruptness and in sauntered his newest pilot, Lieutenant Qask Merrow. The man was nearly double Jagged’s age at fifty-five but only had just recently joined the Emperor’s Hammer. He had served with the Empire and been at the battle over the second Death Star but had gone into “retirement” after the Empire’s defeat.

“Kid, I mean Jag, do you have a minute?” The informality was not typical of new recruits in the Emperor’s Hammer but Jagged didn’t mind, this man was old enough to be his father and had served the Empire before Jagged had ever been born.

“Sure, take a seat.” After the older man had done so Jagged queried, “What’s on your mind, Lieutenant.” Jagged couldn’t help putting in the gentle reminder of the man’s new rank.

“Oh yeah...General...well any way...I have been going over the mission reports you gave me when I reported in and I think I may have found something.”

“What do you think you could have discovered from those old reports?”

“Well, on my way here our relief convoy happened to run into that First Order fleet.”

“Indeed, they seem to move position every day or two, so we never know exactly where they are. Means we got to keep doing all these scouting patrols to keep tabs on them. Then they chase us. It is just a big hassle.”

“Yeah, well, they chased us too. And when I saw the asinine number of ships they sent after just three lousy corvettes it got me thinking.”

“Thinking what?”

“Patience young pup. I want to lay this out in order. Don’t want to have to go back and retread old ground just because you want to jump to the end.” Jagged’s brow furrowed a bit at the gruff manor of his newest, and at least in the Emperor’s Hammer, most junior pilot, but let it go. “When I saw that they sent a star destroyer and four cruisers after our piddly convoy I got to wondering if they are always that jumpy.”

“Well, if you can spare the ships, why not respond with overwhelming force?”

It was Qask’s turn to show annoyance at being interrupted. “Any who...I got to thinking and started combing through the old after action reports from the different scouting missions and supply convoys. Not sure you appreciate it, but it isn’t good to split up your forces unnecessarily.”

“I am familiar with the concept,” replied Jagged, a bit icily.

“There you go interrupting me again...Well, when I checked the records, I saw that, as you said, they always give chase through hyperspace to any ships that come their way...You know, I think the addition of hyperdrives to their fighters has really warped their tactics. Back in my day, we didn’t have hyperdrives on our fighters unless you were a wing commander or better. Means we would have to go back to the destroyer to give chase. It-”

“You were talking about the First Order, Lieutenant,” redirected Jagged.

“Right...well they always give chase in the direction of the fleeing craft’s hyperspace vector to the next mass shadow on that course.”

“Yes, that is why we now have learned to manually drop out of hyperspace when running from them or get stuck in a gravity well with hundreds of First Order craft on your rear.”

“But from all reports they still persist in doing it, chasing down all craft to the next gravity well in line. Even though it hasn’t caught more than a dozen ships across all the months you have been holed up here.” Jagged was beginning to see where the old pilot was going with this. “If you ask me, they have a rigid SOP they are following, and even though it isn’t working that Marshall Talky-”

“Grand Marshall Takeda,” corrected Jagged, automatically.

“Ok, Takeda, she isn’t adapting at all. All she is doing is following the rules laid out for her. That was a problem too in the old Empire. Most officers just rigidly followed the SOP and didn’t think for themselves and adapt. And this First Order seems to be even worse at that. At least you guys in the Emperor’s Hammer actually use your brains.”

“You mean, we in the Emperor’s Hammer. You are one of us now.”

“Yeah, old habits and all.”

“So, she sends ships in a predictable way after any provocation, what good does that do us?”

Qask seemed to have warmed to his subject and wasn’t being nearly as irascible as he had been at the start anymore. “It isn’t just that she always sends ships after us, it is how many ships she sends. It is like a formula what she sends. Honestly, probably is, her computer could just pop up a prefilled order for the ships to send after a scouting party, and she just issues the orders.”

“What do you mean exactly?”

“That if she sees X number of corvettes running from her, she ALWAYS sends Y number of such and such craft after it. And if it is instead T number of Carrack Cruisers and S number of Dreadnaughts then it is a different craft make up but always U and V numbers of the different ships available to her.”

“Ok, that is something we could use against her. But we need to verify it and quantify it...”

---

It took three days to make all the preparations, but finally everything was ready to test Qask’s observations. Fleet Admiral Locke Setzer addressed the pilots in the Challenge’s briefing room.

“There wasn’t a TIE Phantom available to us to perform this observation mission, but Stee’ve and Roolo were able to put together a spy satellite equipped with an overpowered decoy system and a power generator to keep it running for forty or so hours.

“The real trick is going to be placing the satellite without the First Order logging its location. Then it will just be down to our planned test runs to determine the predictability of Takeda’s response.”

The Fleet Admiral pressed a button on his console and the tactical map illuminated before the gathered pilots.

“I have tasked Blizzard 1 and 2 along with Storm Cloud Squadron with placing several covert observation posts at four different, logical, mass shadows that we might head towards when running from the First Order. While that is happening, Typhoon Squadron, since this was your idea, will be tasked with first finding the position of the First Order fleet today and then placing the stealth probe. You will have to engage the First Order fighters with your lead elements first before the rear echelon deploys the satellite in order to prevent them from taking notice of the asset.”

The tactical display showed the three separate flights of the squadron performing their various duties while Locke spoke.

“Once the probe is successfully emplaced, we will begin our progressive testing of the First Order’s response. First, we will have Blizzard 3 arrive and run. Next, we will see if they respond with greater numbers to more craft and send all three Raider Corvettes of the Lightning group into the area. Once they are clear we will continue the testing with first one Arquitens cruiser, the Illustrious, and then three more half an hour later. Finally, we will send the Challenge herself and the Grey Wolf and Relentless shortly afterwards.”

“Sir,” chimed in the trandoshan Captain Yoyo, “are we not concerned that they may grow suspicious of all these fleeting encounters.”

“There is some concern. And I would never pursue this plan against a competent commander. But Marshall Takeda has not shown she is that adaptable of a commander thus far and the admiralty is willing to chance this tactic in order to gain a way to spring a trap on some of their forces. If they respond as Lieutenant Qask believes they will, we will gain the ability to choose the time, place, and fleet compliment they send into an ambush the rest of the fleet is beginning to prepare.

“Unless there are more questions,” he paused for just a few heartbeats. “Then you are dismissed.”

---

Jagged adjusted himself in his pilot’s couch as he watched the timer count down on his hyperdrive. He was to lead Typhoon flights 1 and 2 in their diversion from the work of Major Starr and flight 3 in positioning the spy probe.

The plan of attack Captain GamerRat, his squadron executive officer, and he had agreed to was that flight 2, four fully armed missile boats, would select a pair of light cruisers at the lead edge of the First Order formation and make two rocket sorties upon each. Hopefully, the warheads would fly true, and both ships could be severely crippled if not outright destroyed. Once their work was completed, flight 2 was to micro jump away along the galactic arm before changing course back to the Challenge. Jagged would be responsible, along with the other pilots of flight 1, for keeping the First Order TIE fighters away from the assault fighters. They were flying in TIE Defenders, the best space superiority fighter in mass production by the Emperor’s Hammer.

The countdown reached zero and he heard the familiar sound of his hyperdrive spooling down. His cockpit displays showed all seven of his pilots in the expected positions behind him as he began to scan the area for fighter threats.

“Marking targets one and two, fifteen degrees to starboard from our current course, ten klicks out,” announced GamerRat over the squadron frequency.

“Acknowledged, good hunting,” replied Jagged.

“Just keep them off us and those cruisers are as good as space dust.”

Keying the proposed targets into his system, Jagged began a detailed search for any fighters near the planned attack route. It didn’t take long for his search to yield results.

“Eyes up, I am showing fifteen blackeyes up ahead.”

“This is where the fun begins,” chimed in Commander Reece Torenn, Jagged’s wingman.

“I see them,” came the reply from General Schueler.

“See you on the other side kid,” was the only thing Qask had to say, and then they were in the thick of it...

---

In what felt like hours later, but the chrono reported had been only a bit over twenty minutes, Typhoon Squadron was racing away in hyperspace after making their mid-course direction change. About halfway through the furball, Major Starr and his flight of TIE Avenger fighters, having completed their primary mission of emplacing the observation probe, had joined the rest of the squadron, helping them all to smoothly disengage and make it to the planned hyperspace jump point.

Typhoon Squadron dropped out of hyperspace near the Challenge and Jagged spoke into the radio, “All here in accounted for Admiral.”

Fleet Admiral Setzer replied with, “The probe seems to have gone unnoticed so far by the First Order. Good job, Typhoon Squadron. Come aboard and get cleaned up. General Fell, Lieutenant Merrow, report to my command suite. Let's see if this was all for naught.”

---

As Jagged and Qask entered Fleet Admiral Setzer's chambers, the admiral asked, “How did it go?”

“Well, Reece's fighter’s aft shield generator is completely blown out, and he'll need a replacement engine too. But other than that, no damage to the rest of us that can't be fixed with little elbow grease and some paint.”

“Very well. That's good to hear. Now let's see if this was all worth it or not.”

---

Over the course of the next 8 hours, the planned probing of the First Order’s responses was commenced. At the conclusion of it all, they now knew for certainty that they could lead a sizable portion of Grand Marshall Takeda’s fleet into an ambush. The time for the Emperor’s Hammer’s counteroffensive had begun...