"Sir!" said the Chief Weapons officer. "The Cultists are engaging our forces outside the temple. Giving you a visual." he pressed a few buttons, and Melkaroth's holographic screen lit up, this time showing the New Order's forces facing off against an army of Sith. He observed this impassively for a moment, then turned back the the holographic image of [member=Captain Gabel].
"Now is the time to strike, captain. Deploy all of your dropships and gunships. We shall break up the enemy lines and overwhelm them. I shall command the assault forces--my fleet is yours until my return." he tried to project an air of command with his words, as Darth Vulcanus had instructed him. He was no stranger to commanding a group of men, but this situation was quite different to when he had been in charge of a whole pirate ship with about eight men on board, and it was often difficult to maintain the proper tone of voice. Still, he did his best. To show weakness was death--that was what he had been taught. With that he waved his hand, signalling the comms officer to end the transmission. Striding back to his command chair, he pressed the button that activated the squad-wide communicator.
"All stormtroopers, report to assault stations. All ground forces will insert immediately behind enemy lines where possible--within their ranks if necessary. Today we shall strike a blow for the New Order and forever destroy these pretenders. Your Emperor is watching. Make sure that he is not ashamed!" With that, he cut off the transmission. It was hardly a rousing speech, but it was all he had time for.
"You have the bridge, Lieutenant." he said, turning to leave.
__________________
Within two minutes, the first dropships began their short journey through the remaining atmosphere between them and their enemies. Melkaorth had positioned himself aboard an S-80 MAAT gunship along with a personal squad of stormtroopers--the gunship wasn't part of the ship's standard compliment, but he'd had it transferred aboard for his personal use. It seemed practical to have some firepower readily available for his person if he was required to go planetside--besides, he was supposed to be acting like a commander, and it seemed like an appropriate thing to do.
Within just a few short seconds, the gunship was swooping over the chaotic battlefield.
"Pilot, slow to battle speed. Begin strafing runs." The pilot complied, and Melkaroth turned to the vessel's gunnery commander.
"Fire at will." he said. The officer relayed the order througout the small ship, and the vessel's weapons lit up in anger.
Melkaroth began to look around for a landing spot as he surveyed the chaos around him. Even as he watched, his dropships were raining down, deploying their cargoes of stormtroopers wherever there was space. Melkaroth knew that the soldiers were no match for the Sith, but the element of surprise was with them, and in sufficient groups they should be able to provide enough distraction and confusion for the main force to break the enemy lines altogether before his men sustained heavy casualties. Meanwhile, his gunships viciously strafed the enemy lines, sewing further confusion.
"Over there." said the Sith Acolyte, pointing to a clearing where several storm troopers of the first wave had secured a landing zone. The vessel swooped in, accompanied by two other dropships. They set down and Melkaroth's stormtroopers filed out, with the Sith close behind.
