Brandished

[Marcus Itera]

Brandished​

Imperial City, Coruscant​

[member="Ivy Lasranae"]​

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Marcus could never understand why Imperials liked to build statues and plazas in their name, even going so far as to rebuild much of the archaic structures dating back even to the era of the first Galactic civil war. But the One Sith did it anyways, partly in remembering their traditions and mostly for aesthetic effects in reminding the upper crust of the populace that obedience wasn't optional.

"Are we really going to be sitting here all day? I've seen several tasty looking FroYo and McYoda vending speeders fly by, and I bet you're hungry." The AI danced across his HUD, rubbing her tummy, "I'm hungry and I don't even eat."

"Miranda," he squinted a bit more through the scope, "I've been here for only four hours. I've got ration cubes too. I don't need civvie food."

The white-haired girl appeared a bit disgruntled at that response, surprised that a grown man would rather consume a tasteless, white cube the size of a spoon's ladle rather than gulp down a warm, delicious meal. But the conditions dictated for the two to remain in place. After all, this wasn't the Republic's territory anymore.

That was right.

He was even breaking Republic rules by daring to be here. Not only that - he'd stolen a StealthX fighter to make his stunningly short voyage and had "issued" himself a variety of demolitions and insurgency equipment. A few of the Quartermasters had gaped at his collection of deathbringing gear and many had granted him full access once he told them what he had in mind.

Alone, determined, and supplied. He was here to find someone, take something from them, and then go home.

Simple as that, or so he thought.

 

[Marcus Itera]

And so the pair waited, and waited, and waited. They waited for a man who had all the answers that they desired. Of course it was typical of most commando or special forces teams to jump on him the moment he made his appearance but only Dreadguard and their most elite of brethren were devoted to even closer intelligence work. Pappy and Miranda had staked out this area to watch for a few key things: the density of the pedestrian crowds, the airspeeder traffic, the routine patrols made by Imperial and law enforcement personnel, and the rare occurrence that a Sith minion strolled about the perimeter.

The Imperial Palace was one of the most heavily guarded and watched buildings on the face of the galaxy. That wasn't such a case anymore. Ever since the centuries passing with the New Republic and the following sovereign nations that had controlled this center of the galaxy, it had faded from its place at the top of the list. Now that the One Sith had recaptured the world, the palace was being refurbished with new technology and serving as a place for the upper crust to convene.

"I'm still not so sure about this, Marcus. Are we even sure anything is still inside of it?" The artificial girl looked concerned, folding her arms over and glancing warily into her plethora of files on the Imperial Center. "Even if there is anything, is it worth all of this effort?"

Marcus stayed completely still, just peering through his scope. "Yes. I need some form of penance and this is the best place to get it from. I want to take something important away from them like they did to me."

"Mar-"

"Movement, 3 o'clock."

The silhouette of an Imperial Moff materialized into sight as an armored airspeeder touched down in the courtyard. Several Stormtroopers and guards departed along with the man, marching into the palace in a methodical manner.

"Show time."

 

[Marcus Itera]

The Dreadguard Sergeant Major set his sniper rifle down and immediately began stowing away his gear. Black, waterproof bags and casings covered much of the material that was intended to remain in place while the commando himself only grabbed bare necessities along with a plethora of ammunition and other combat-oriented equipment.

"Better make it snappy, Pappy. They're bound to bolster their defenses the moment this Moff gets himself situated."

The man was already booking it towards the right flank of the building, "I know, I know. Just keep an eye on their surveillance systems. It'd be a shame if my party surprise was ruined."

He crouched down and produced a grappling hook along with its launcher. Lots of construction and reconstruction was going on in this sector so the odd amount of structures in progress offered ample locations to maneuver and evade detection. Marcus fired the mechanism and it wrapped around a support beam about a level below his original position. Once the man had secured himself to the high-tension wire, he hooked up and took off.

The trip was short and uneventful with a rather abnormal amount of wind gales jostling him. Once he landed, it was time to repeat the whole process once again after removing evidence of his first trip. One more building to go and then he'd be able to directly connect to the Imperial Center.

"Surveillance systems will be coming back online in four minutes - actually, three minutes and fifty three seconds."

Marcus slid down his second line of tension wire and made it to his last building. Now all he needed was a brief break in their foot patrols to hook to the side of the Imperial building and then descend down a sewer grate positioned almost directly next to the Center itself.

"Tell me when."

A pause.

"Now."

He hurled himself up onto the wire, zipping down the thing as if he were a hulking human being adorned in a suit of armor with the mass of a starship. His boots came forward to absorb the impact of the landing before he unhooked the wire and sent it reeling back to its original latch.

"You've got a minute and four seconds before they come back online. Hurry, Marcus."

The Dreadguard dropped from his position onto the story below and then the ground, sprinting for the sewer grate. Miranda were his eyes and ears; nothing seemed out of the ordinary when he peeled the grate off and slipped inside, covering the hatch back up.