First Reply Ghosts of a Fallen Empire

[Rackham]

G H O S T S_O F_A_F A L L E N_E M P I R E

EMPIRE REBORN
EMPRESS TETA, DEEP CORE

​

Colonel Rackham stepped out of the Utility Shuttle as it made landfall outside the Imperial Safehouse, flanked by two squads of SpecNav Commandos. It was rare for the Imperial Intelligence Officer to make use of Civilian Shuttles to travel but given his current circumstances and assignment it was a necessary sacrifice even if it were a far cry from the militaristic luxuries of the traditional military shuttles of the Empire. He was here on official business on the behalf of the Imperial Warlord Marlon Sularen, having arranged a meeting with one of the high-profile Imperial Collaborators on Empress Teta who had chosen to remain on the planet during the Alliance takeover and had gone underground as per Sularen's instructions.

With Imperial Military Forces now gone from the Deep Core, many Imperial Sympathizers and Collaborators in the region were now left vulnerable to the wrath of the Galactic Alliance and it's followers. Having already seen the outcome of such scenarios on Byss, Epoch and Kuat with violent lynching and political purges and crackdowns against Imperials, Sularen had made plans to sabotage the transition period of the former Imperial Deep Core as the Alliance began the slow process of restoring friendly local governments in the area. Among these plans included the creation of local Imperial resistance movements to challenge the legitimacy of the newly established Pro-Alliance governments, hence why Rackham was here on the Warlord's behalf to meet with one of Empress Teta's primary Imperial Collaborators.

Once Rackham stepped outside his Shuttle he was greeted by the Collaborator in question, Pana Tanau, who had arrived with with a group of other Imperial Sympathizers and Collaborators who would form the core of Tanau's fledging resistance movement. "Warlord Sularen sends his regards, Tanau." Rackham said. "As promised. Your weapons and supplies." the Imperial Intelligence officer said as he gestured to the Shuttle's open doors as his SpecNav Commandos began to unload a few crates from the Shuttle. "The Warlord looks forward to seeing your progress"

[Tags] | OPEN​

 

[The Vulptex]

Tag: Rackham
Names: Lyra, Samantha, Alex, Beatrix​

<Eyes on target. Bogey is keeping an eye on them.>

<Imperials. Wish we could've infiltrated these assholes. Easy pickings, just walk the walk and yell "LOVE LIVE THE EMPIRE", and you're golden.>

<Keep on task Eagle.>

<I've got a gun trained on one of the commandos. Do we want to take the shot?>

<Take it. If we take out even one, we should be able to get them to scramble. Pick them off one by one.>

The silent round of The Viper flew through the air, aimed right at one of the commandos.

 

[Rackham]

G H O S T S_O F_A_F A L L E N_E M P I R E

EMPIRE REBORN
EMPRESS TETA, DEEP CORE

​

"It's nice to see that the Empire hasn't completely abandoned us to the Alliance's Dogs" Tanau said as the SpecNav Commandos unloaded the Weapon Caches. "It's simply a matter of interest, Warlord Sularen has no intention of allowing the transition period here go smoot-" suddenly Rackham was interrupted by the sound of a single shot, followed by the sound of one of his Commandos crumpling to the ground. "We're compromised" Rackham said as he pulled out his Blaster while a trio of Commandos grabbed him and pulled him to cover near one of the weapons which had been dropped. "Where did that shot come from?" Rackham asked. "I don't know sir." the closest Commando said.

Meanwhile the Sympathizers and Collaborators had quickly retreated into the Safehouse while the Commandos began to take cover within the Shuttle, behind the weapons crates and even behind some of the walls of the Safehouse, all while pointing their blasters all around them, looking for the source of the shot. "What do we do? We're still exposed and the transaction is only half complete" one of the Commandos inquired. "And we don't know how many of them are out there." another one added.

"Get me to the Shuttle now." Rackham ordered. "Sir, but-" the Commando was interrupted by Rackham. "No buts. Get me to the Shuttle now!" he shouted. The other Commandos simply nodded and began to prepare themselves with the other Commandos taking point, their guns aimed at all the possible vintage points that could have been used as a sniping position, Rackham and the three Commandos protecting him stood up and began a mad dash towards the Shuttle.

[Tags] | The Vulptex ​

 

[The Vulptex]

Tag: Rackham
Names: Lyra, Samantha, Alex, Beatrix​

<One down. That'll be hard to replace.>

Somewhere deep in the urban sprawl, near a mile away, they repositioned. Then another shot sung through the air, from an entirely different position and direction.

This time, aimed right at the head of the pointman.

<Won't know what hit 'em.>

<Eyes on the shuttle. What's the plan Wizard>

<Get in, set the explosives and trackers, get out.>

<Copy.>

A shadow in the night. No sensors could see them, no eyes could track them. The concrete jungle was their domain, and as one slipped over to the shuttle, they didn't need any help setting a small explosive on the engine before slipping away.

 

[Rackham]

G H O S T S_O F_A_F A L L E N_E M P I R E

EMPIRE REBORN
EMPRESS TETA, DEEP CORE

​

As Colonel Rackham and the three men rushed forth towards the entrance of the Shuttle, another shot rang out and the lead Commando fell down on the ground lifeless. However his sacrifice was enough to give Rackham the time he needed to reach the Shuttle entrance. After reaching the safety of the shuttle, Rackham shouted out to the rest of the Commandos outside who were still scanning their surroundings in search of the enemy. "Any sign of where that second shot came from?" he shouted. "No sir. Not even our Thermal and Infrared Sensors are picking up anything." another Commando shouted.

"Abort the mission. Get the Collaborators out here and into the Shuttle and rig the crates to explode. Leave nothing behind for them to find afterwards." he ordered. The Commandos quickly nodded with half a dozen of them rushing into the safehouse to retrieve the Collaborators while another half dozen Commandos began throwing Grenades into the Weapons Crates that had been loaded off the Shuttle. As the Commandos got to work, Rackham observed them unamused. Today was supposed to be the set-up for something greater on Empress Teta, but alas that would have to wait another day.

Now, his priority was to get out here intact with the rest of the Commandos and Collaborators as well as leave zero trace of the Empire's presence behind that could expose the Lord-Regent's larger operation.

[Tags] | The Vulptex ​

 

[The Vulptex]

Tag: Rackham
Names: Lyra, Samantha, Alex, Beatrix​

Another shot rang out, and another commando dead, from another entirely different direction.

And yet, high above, silently, a drone zipped through the city, keeping an eye on it all. Recording sound, sight, identifying individuals with the SIA's database.

<Charges are set. Gimme the signal and we'll blow these imps out of the sky.>

<Hold off. We'll wait till they get airbourne, then knock them down. Eagle, Vixen, shift and wait for the signal to move in once they crash.>

<Copy. Shifting.>

<Shifting, but I'm hanging back. We'll need someone as insurance incase they call our bluff.>

<...Copy Eagle. Hold position, and wait for the signal. Drop another one if they don't go in quietly.>

 

[Rackham]

G H O S T S_O F_A_F A L L E N_E M P I R E

EMPIRE REBORN
EMPRESS TETA, DEEP CORE

​

Within the shuttle Rackham anxiously waited as his men moved forth to toss grenades into the unloaded weapons crates while also moving into the safehouse to grab the local Imperial sympathizers. The more time they wasted was more time given to whoever was out there to call to either directly attack them or call for backup. But at the same time they needed to leave no trace of their presence behind as to give the Alliance zero leads on their plans and operations. It was a double-edged sword, leave now and risk leaving a trail that could compromise the larger operation, but stay a bit longer and give the Alliance an opportunity to mop them up and nip their plans in the bud.

Then, the Commandos from the safehouse emerged guiding the many Imperial Collaborators to the Shuttle holding them down as the other Commandos looked around for any movement in order to protect the Collaborators from further attack. At the same time the last grenades had been thrown into the unloaded weapons crates which would allow the Empire to destroy all evidence of it's presence here today. However more caution would have to be taken next time to ensure that their plans would not be compromised to the degree that they were last time.

"Alright everyone in the shuttle. It's about time we got out of here" Rackham said as the Collaborators and Commandos began to board the Shuttle as the engines came live with the Shuttle preparing to make it's departure as the last Imperials made their way towards it's entrance.

[Tags] | The Vulptex ​

 

[The Vulptex]

Tag: Rackham
Names: Lyra, Samantha, Alex, Beatrix​

The group waited...and waited.

Every bit of it, recorded. Every face, analyzed. Cataloged. The SIA had taught them to do as much, and they knew better than to let a single soul go. Finally, the shuttle's engines revved up, and the wait was over.

Moments after taking off, only a few hundred feet from the landing pad...

The explosives went off, and an earth shattering kaboom rang through the engines. Thermal Detonators, rigged to be thrice as potent as the stuff you could get on the military market.

They only needed one survivor. It didn't much matter who, to be honest...