Post by Lt. Renz on Oct 18, 2007 2:00:53 GMT
Ord Mantell: The jewel of the rim. A gem beautiful to behold from afar, but once you draw closer you can see its flaws. The planet is full of murderers, confidence artists, and fugitives from Imperial justice. To Lt. Renz of the Imperial ground forces, they can all be summed up in two words: despicable scum. It is not his duty to judge, however. It is his duty to carry out the will of the Emperor no matter where he is sent, and no matter what odds he faces. Even if that place is supposed to be free of Imperial intervention. The Emperor takes priority over all these things, for his will is absolute. Those who disobey it die. That, or they will wish they had.
The Imperial-1 Class Star Destroyer Glory's Warrior waited in high orbit over the planet, drifting lazily over the blue surface. Even as it sat in near stillness a pocket of activity exploded into life at the rear starboard hangar bay. A single Lambda shuttle shot out of the behemoth's side, a tiny drop of perspiration falling to the world beneath. The ship shot toward sector 266 of the planet's surface, readying its weapons as it went. Its mission was dangerous, and failure was not an option.
Within the ship's silver confines Lt. Renz sat buckled into his chair. He ignored the ten white-clad stormtroopers in the entry bay behind him and the black-clad pilots in front of him, paying them as much heed as the faint whining of the engines. He was focused on the screen in front of him, through which his superior was speaking. His focus was near perfect, embodying the discipline expected of all Imperial officers.
"Lt. Renz, I apologise that I was unable to brief you earlier. Anti-imperial protests on Uyter have been difficult to contain, and coordinating the efforts of our troops there has required my undivided attention. But on to the task at hand. I believe you visited the prison ship Penance a standard month ago?"
"That's correct, Colonel. I wrote a report on the atrocious breaches of security protocol on board the ship."
"They should have heeded your advice, Lieutenant. As you may know, the ship was transporting the Rebel cell leader Lanlena Ardonel to Imperial Center to await trial. Unfortunately during a routine inspection two standard days ago several prisoners managed to break free, Ardonel among them. She successfully transmitted the ship's position to a nearby rebel frigate, the Tolerance II. Tolerance II managed to reach the Penance before it could jump to hyperspace. It disabled the ship, boarded it, and escaped with half the inmates. Most of the onboard stormtrooper garrison was killed in the process, but the TIE Fighter escort was able to badly damage the Tolerance II before it escaped into hyperspace. We were able to track their jump coordinates to this system and, with the help of the ISB, locate the hidden facility where Tolerance II is being repaired. We believe that Ardonel is present at the site. Your task is to recover the rebel prisoners, especially Ardonel, and if possible disable the Tolerance II so that we can capture it. Unfortunately Ord Mantell is supposed to be free of Imperial activity, so the number of troopers we can assign to your squad is limited. You will be inserted on a ruined landing pad just above the target area. Do you have any questions?"
"No, sir."
"Very well, then. Good luck, Lieutenant."
The shuttle glided smoothly to a halt, the engines deactivating as the repulsorlifts kicked in. The wings folded up to either side of the craft, which then lowered itself slowly to the ground. The ten stormtroopers rushed out of the craft the moment the ramp dropped, pointing their blasters every which way. After a moment the lead trooper, RG-607, activated his helmet comm to contact Renz.
"Landing site secure, sir."
Renz descended the ramp slowly, hand on his blaster's custom handgrip that had been his eighteenth birthday present. Though Renz had been through many blasters he had always managed to tinker with them enough to swap the handles with the one that fit his hand so perfectly. He scanned the deserted landing pad, taking in all possible cover and potential hiding places for enemy troops, then gave the order to move out. It was fairly dark, three of the planet's moons high in the sky and a fourth visible. All the better to move unseen in.
The troopers and officer moved to the end of the platform. It was badly corroded, clearly not in compliance with Imperial safety standards. Through one of the gaps in the fragile-looking framework Renz could see a small group of buildings. They were twenty, no, fifty feet down, and just large enough to hide a light frigate within them. The sounds of repair droids hard at work filtered faintly up to the group on the platform. Unless the ISB was mistaken, this was their target. And the ISB was never mistaken, or there was hell to pay.
"Squad, use your liquid cable launchers to descend from our position to the outskirts of the compound. They should be caught completely by surprise, but to preserve that element we need to infiltrate the area stealthily. Now move!"
The troopers made their way down the jagged metal cliff, all that remained of a once sprawling Old Republic military base. Renz followed a little behind them, keeping an eye on the compound through his electrobinoculars. He could see several R4 units and a Binary Load Lifter moving around something inside, but it was impossible to make out even with the aid of his night-vision mode. After a few minutes the troopers reached the ground, followed by their commanding officer.
Renz immediately set up a retreat path up the steep slope formed by a crashed starship hulk, since if they were under fire or had secured prisoners it would be impossible to climb the cables. The stormtroopers broke off the cables, allowing them to become brittle and crumble into a pile of fine dust. The guns could be reused, and if a Rebel spotted the climbing aids they would know something was amiss.
Moving slowly toward the entrance of the first building the squad set their blasters for stun. They could hear the breathing of a Rebel sentry on the other side of the wall, and would need to take him down quickly if they were to proceed undetected. Renz made hand signals, and the troopers nodded their affirmation. One of them tapped his armored fist on the wall, and the Rebel jumped.
"Blasted little critters! Scare the hell out of me every time! They'd better not be chewin' on those cables again..."
The man came around the corner and didn't even have time to gurgle before he was knocked out with the butt of an E-11 rifle. The squad dragged him up against the cliff behind some pieces of debris and stun-cuffed his hands and feet. A lump was forming on his head where he had been struck, and Renz was sure it would be some time before he woke up again.
Moving back to the door they had just cleared Renz and his troops moved into the tiny building. It was clearly some kind of converted tool shed, with broken hydrospanners and fusion cutters among the detritus littering the floor. This layer of refuse crunched slightly as Renz walked across it, surveying the little chamber. The Rebels were clearly using it as a forward watch post, probably switching the guards every few standard hours. They seemed to assume that anyone who attacked would use blasters, alerting the others because of the sound. Renz had been careful not to allow that.
The squad stared out into the central courtyard to behold an impressive site. The Rebels had managed to erect a makeshift scaffold strong enough to support a light frigate. The frigate looked like it had been through a supernova: carbon scored, heavy damage to the sensor array, several weapons mounts blown clean off. What was even more impressive was the speed at which it was being repaired: several astromech droids working in tandem with Binary Load Lifers and remodeled recycling droids had already repaired the engines and rear armor of the vessel. It was a pity that their builders were Rebels. They could have secured an excellent position at the University of Coruscant.
Renz and his troops moved slowly and carefully through the courtyard, trying to ensure that the droids didn't spot them. The Rebel robots were too absorbed in their work to see a Mandalorian armada, but Renz was careful by nature. At last the squad reached the second building, from which laughing, cursing, and snoring emanated all at he same time. This had to be the main barracks, the Imperial squad's primary target.
Renz made a few more hand motions, and the squad unhooked their stun grenades from their belts and primed them. It was the moment of truth; would surprise be enough? Taking a deep breath the commanding officer counted to three, and on the final number the squad leapt around the corner. Grenades flew into the building alongside blue stun blasts. Exclamations of shock and muted explosions came from within. Had they succeeded? They could only hope so.
The Imperial-1 Class Star Destroyer Glory's Warrior waited in high orbit over the planet, drifting lazily over the blue surface. Even as it sat in near stillness a pocket of activity exploded into life at the rear starboard hangar bay. A single Lambda shuttle shot out of the behemoth's side, a tiny drop of perspiration falling to the world beneath. The ship shot toward sector 266 of the planet's surface, readying its weapons as it went. Its mission was dangerous, and failure was not an option.
Within the ship's silver confines Lt. Renz sat buckled into his chair. He ignored the ten white-clad stormtroopers in the entry bay behind him and the black-clad pilots in front of him, paying them as much heed as the faint whining of the engines. He was focused on the screen in front of him, through which his superior was speaking. His focus was near perfect, embodying the discipline expected of all Imperial officers.
"Lt. Renz, I apologise that I was unable to brief you earlier. Anti-imperial protests on Uyter have been difficult to contain, and coordinating the efforts of our troops there has required my undivided attention. But on to the task at hand. I believe you visited the prison ship Penance a standard month ago?"
"That's correct, Colonel. I wrote a report on the atrocious breaches of security protocol on board the ship."
"They should have heeded your advice, Lieutenant. As you may know, the ship was transporting the Rebel cell leader Lanlena Ardonel to Imperial Center to await trial. Unfortunately during a routine inspection two standard days ago several prisoners managed to break free, Ardonel among them. She successfully transmitted the ship's position to a nearby rebel frigate, the Tolerance II. Tolerance II managed to reach the Penance before it could jump to hyperspace. It disabled the ship, boarded it, and escaped with half the inmates. Most of the onboard stormtrooper garrison was killed in the process, but the TIE Fighter escort was able to badly damage the Tolerance II before it escaped into hyperspace. We were able to track their jump coordinates to this system and, with the help of the ISB, locate the hidden facility where Tolerance II is being repaired. We believe that Ardonel is present at the site. Your task is to recover the rebel prisoners, especially Ardonel, and if possible disable the Tolerance II so that we can capture it. Unfortunately Ord Mantell is supposed to be free of Imperial activity, so the number of troopers we can assign to your squad is limited. You will be inserted on a ruined landing pad just above the target area. Do you have any questions?"
"No, sir."
"Very well, then. Good luck, Lieutenant."
The shuttle glided smoothly to a halt, the engines deactivating as the repulsorlifts kicked in. The wings folded up to either side of the craft, which then lowered itself slowly to the ground. The ten stormtroopers rushed out of the craft the moment the ramp dropped, pointing their blasters every which way. After a moment the lead trooper, RG-607, activated his helmet comm to contact Renz.
"Landing site secure, sir."
Renz descended the ramp slowly, hand on his blaster's custom handgrip that had been his eighteenth birthday present. Though Renz had been through many blasters he had always managed to tinker with them enough to swap the handles with the one that fit his hand so perfectly. He scanned the deserted landing pad, taking in all possible cover and potential hiding places for enemy troops, then gave the order to move out. It was fairly dark, three of the planet's moons high in the sky and a fourth visible. All the better to move unseen in.
The troopers and officer moved to the end of the platform. It was badly corroded, clearly not in compliance with Imperial safety standards. Through one of the gaps in the fragile-looking framework Renz could see a small group of buildings. They were twenty, no, fifty feet down, and just large enough to hide a light frigate within them. The sounds of repair droids hard at work filtered faintly up to the group on the platform. Unless the ISB was mistaken, this was their target. And the ISB was never mistaken, or there was hell to pay.
"Squad, use your liquid cable launchers to descend from our position to the outskirts of the compound. They should be caught completely by surprise, but to preserve that element we need to infiltrate the area stealthily. Now move!"
The troopers made their way down the jagged metal cliff, all that remained of a once sprawling Old Republic military base. Renz followed a little behind them, keeping an eye on the compound through his electrobinoculars. He could see several R4 units and a Binary Load Lifter moving around something inside, but it was impossible to make out even with the aid of his night-vision mode. After a few minutes the troopers reached the ground, followed by their commanding officer.
Renz immediately set up a retreat path up the steep slope formed by a crashed starship hulk, since if they were under fire or had secured prisoners it would be impossible to climb the cables. The stormtroopers broke off the cables, allowing them to become brittle and crumble into a pile of fine dust. The guns could be reused, and if a Rebel spotted the climbing aids they would know something was amiss.
Moving slowly toward the entrance of the first building the squad set their blasters for stun. They could hear the breathing of a Rebel sentry on the other side of the wall, and would need to take him down quickly if they were to proceed undetected. Renz made hand signals, and the troopers nodded their affirmation. One of them tapped his armored fist on the wall, and the Rebel jumped.
"Blasted little critters! Scare the hell out of me every time! They'd better not be chewin' on those cables again..."
The man came around the corner and didn't even have time to gurgle before he was knocked out with the butt of an E-11 rifle. The squad dragged him up against the cliff behind some pieces of debris and stun-cuffed his hands and feet. A lump was forming on his head where he had been struck, and Renz was sure it would be some time before he woke up again.
Moving back to the door they had just cleared Renz and his troops moved into the tiny building. It was clearly some kind of converted tool shed, with broken hydrospanners and fusion cutters among the detritus littering the floor. This layer of refuse crunched slightly as Renz walked across it, surveying the little chamber. The Rebels were clearly using it as a forward watch post, probably switching the guards every few standard hours. They seemed to assume that anyone who attacked would use blasters, alerting the others because of the sound. Renz had been careful not to allow that.
The squad stared out into the central courtyard to behold an impressive site. The Rebels had managed to erect a makeshift scaffold strong enough to support a light frigate. The frigate looked like it had been through a supernova: carbon scored, heavy damage to the sensor array, several weapons mounts blown clean off. What was even more impressive was the speed at which it was being repaired: several astromech droids working in tandem with Binary Load Lifers and remodeled recycling droids had already repaired the engines and rear armor of the vessel. It was a pity that their builders were Rebels. They could have secured an excellent position at the University of Coruscant.
Renz and his troops moved slowly and carefully through the courtyard, trying to ensure that the droids didn't spot them. The Rebel robots were too absorbed in their work to see a Mandalorian armada, but Renz was careful by nature. At last the squad reached the second building, from which laughing, cursing, and snoring emanated all at he same time. This had to be the main barracks, the Imperial squad's primary target.
Renz made a few more hand motions, and the squad unhooked their stun grenades from their belts and primed them. It was the moment of truth; would surprise be enough? Taking a deep breath the commanding officer counted to three, and on the final number the squad leapt around the corner. Grenades flew into the building alongside blue stun blasts. Exclamations of shock and muted explosions came from within. Had they succeeded? They could only hope so.
