Imperial Despot
AN AGE OF STRIFE STORY
OPERATION SCIMITAR
WAR!
In the wake of the whirlwind of events leading to the pacification of the TION CLUSTER, as well as the full-scale outbreak of hostilities between the EMPIRE and the GALACTIC ALLIANCE; the resurgence of the CHISS ASCENDANCY continues on in the galactic-west of the EMPIRE. Through a series of skirmishes and battles of attribution following the most recent defensive stand on NIRUAUN, the Chiss offensive has ground to a halt.
Despite being newly appointed to the vaunted position of Grand Moff over the Western Frontier mere months prior to the initial Chiss offensive, IGNACIOUS KORVAN has been bogged down in a web of Imperial politics within the heartland of Bastion itself, as well as in the Empire’s wars abroad. After both fending off attempts by rivals great and small, and rallying support from unlikely allies; the Grand Moff returns to the WESTERN FRONTIER to personally oversee the delayed counteroffensive known as OPERATION SCIMITAR.
OPERATION SCIMITAR was originally intended to be a methodical series of redeployments mixed with feints to push Chiss forces off balance and secure the world of Iridonia; which would serve as a launchpad for a steady push westward. Yet after the aforementioned events transpiring across the Empire, the need arose for significant revisions to make up for lost time and regain the initiative. While the focal point of the operation remains the recapture of Iridonia, its scope has been expanded into the wholesale advance and liberation of the entire section of border worlds - VEROLEEM, IRIDONIA, and SHU TORUN. The plan is bold, but risky; and has several moving parts - any of which could go wrong.
But to underestimate the EMPIRE is to tempt fate itself. The forces within the region are composed of men and women at the highest and lowest levels of the Imperial war machine; all of whom have something to prove, and will stop at nothing to see the job done.
FOR THE EMPIRE!
Current state of the Chiss-Imperial Conflict, 877 ABY
HIT AND FADE
"Imperial Naval doctrine mandates a concentration of overwhelming force where the enemy is weakest."
Shu Torun is a resource rich world, feeding a wide variety of rare ores and minerals into the Imperial Industrial Complex. During the Chiss offensive, military strategists prioritized the defense of more tactically crucial worlds given their increased short term importance of such worlds as Ansion and Niruaun. But Shu Torun is vital in the long term for the Imperial economy, and the mounting war effort against her enemies. The resurgent Chiss Ascendancy knew this well, and was quick to secure and reestablish industrial operations on the world to kick-start its own industrial capacity in the hopes of rebuilding and outfitting itself for a prolonged existence on the galactic stage. In the months that followed its capture, remnants of the Imperial garrison and surrounding naval forces set about a campaign of destabilization, sabotaging Shu Torun’s industrial capacity in the hopes of buying the Empire time to mount a more decisive reaction.
The first phase of OPERATION SCIMITAR will see this world once again at the flashpoint of conflict. With orders originating from the highest level, the Imperial Navy is tasked with engaging in a series of raids and disruptive maneuvers to capture shipping convoys departing the world’s space docks, as well as to cut a swathe through the weakened sector of space from the remainder of occupied territory; with the ultimate objective of establishing a blockade around the planet and deploying shock troops to secure its vital space docks and industrial facilities.
ROOT AND STEM
"We shall crush them in one swift stroke."
Execution of a potential infiltration mission had been ruled too risky to be considered up until recently, when a Chiss defector confirmed the presence of an underground base he referred to as ‘a forward strike base’. If his intelligence can be believed, the base contains the capacity to house and sustain hundreds of hyperdrive capable long range strike craft, which would pose a significant threat to military assets in surrounding systems. With the direct approval of Grand Moff Korvan himself, a task force of ISB agents and special forces units will be deployed to the planet via a JC-747 Nox-class Raider Corvette. The task force’s objective is two-fold - first, to confirm the presence of the facility at the coordinates provided by the defector; and second, to infiltrate the facility, secure what information exists within it, and totally destroy it.
IT’S TREASON THEN
"Wipe them out... all of them."
But there is a complication to be considered during the mobilization. Intelligence has reported the presence of a Zabrak resistance movement that has acted against the Chiss occupying force. While this would normally be welcome news of loyalty amongst the local populace, it has further been revealed that the resistance appears to be utilizing powers considered to be... unnatural. Rumors of a dark side cult have long been purported amongst the populace of Iridonia, and it would appear the conflict engulfing the planet was sufficient to bring it to the fore. While the Imperial Army sets about reclaiming the major settlements of the planet, the Imperial Knights are tasked with hunting and exterminating this force cult before it recedes back into hiding.
