Tear The World Down [Part I]

[Tatiana Renkl]

Anoat and Koradin Border.

It was time to clean up, permanently. There was no room for pests on imperial territory, and when the vermin believed it had a right to run any sort of show, it was time to turn it to blood and ashes. Moff Renkl was not the kind of woman who tolerated infestations and today was no different. A recent mission (https://theholo.net/forum/showthread.php?57076-Vengeance-Venom) close to the Tancon system had squashed pocket of resistance in her sector, prisoners had eventually surrendered to expert imperial torture techniques and much got uncovered.

Underworld scum had been setting camp at the border of the Anoat and Koradin sectors, having supported anti-imperial actions across the areas. For some reason, they had been able to remain under the radar, careful not to deploy more than what looked like regular traffic ships over the past months. The Moff had been in contact with imperial leaders in the Greater Javin Sector. She had volunteered to lead the strike team that would wipe out their enemies. She had been given the green light, especially given her reputation; she was fine with people from the Anoat Sector having issues with her if they had to. Imperial leadership was fine with her actions, and she had been granted resources for the attack, including but not limited to the assistance of Shadow Squadron.

They had chosen to come quick and hard on the area where the base was hiding. They could expect heavier resistance than the recent pirate base she had torn apart with her troops. It was why they would limit the reaction time as much as they could. The destroyers would drop out of hyperspace right in the perimeter before launching squadrons and moving in. Additional ships were ready to drop out if needed from secondary strike points to.

Standing on the bridge of her flagship, the Durendal, the imperial was staring through the viewport, as they exited hyperspace. Their target was coming into view. A small planet, with two moons. Reports had it the main base was on the largest moon, while backups may come from the planet itself.

“First wave units, deploy.”

[Willem Van Beek]

"Fighter's ready," the junior officer to his far right informed. "On standby now."

Nodding quietly, Willem continued studying the system information of the small world and it's neighboring satellites, knowing that any world could have more dangers awaiting them than just what was noted by Intel scouting reports. A smart enemy found ways to hide what they didn't want you to see until the right moment. "Wait for the word," he stated as the din of conversation from a host of other stations in the CIC continued organizing the Imperial response to the pirate activity in this sector.

"Aye, sir."

An ear bud in his right ear, the order finally came down from the Moff, which everyone had been waiting for since the briefing. "All squadrons up," Willem relayed. "Assume attack formations to target destination."

Soon, the mass of TIE's began screaming from the host of hangars aboard the ships, creating a wave of dots on the holoscreen before him, and on the larger one that the command staff viewed. Shortly after, four freighter sized craft were also denoted, trying to make a run for it.

"Four tangos running into your sector, Ajax," Willem passed on to the gunship stationed on the far side of the planet.

"Good, our first catch of the day," the captain replied over the comm.

Smirking, Willem hoped it would be that easy.

[Zachariah Jak'el]

There was a saying in the Imperial War machine; Hurry up and wait, and much waiting was to be had. Most pilots would be chomping at the bit as hours of stewing in a cockpit reduced them to bored maniacs waiting for some out of sight officer in a comfy chair on the bridge to finally let them go. Others found ways to occupy themselves. Zachariah Jak'el recited memorized texts of Shiraya, the Moon Goddess of his homeworld; Naboo. He sung her psalms and prayed to her for protection, and sometimes he just sat there in silence, enjoying a moment alone. Patience was a virtue and he had plenty of it to spare.

He could not say the same for the rest of his Squadron.

The light finally went green, and the comms filled with cries of joy. All around him waves of TIE fighters detached from their moorings and dropped into the void of space. Shadow Squadron dropped last. They had a saying of their own, and it was "Never go first." When they were finally cleared to drop the collection of TIE Interceptors and TIE Interdictors followed suit. A simple flip of a switch and Zach's heavy bomber dropped like a rock. Shields up. All four ordnance pods stocked and ready. What he lacked in maneuverability he made up with raw firepower.

"Shadow Nine standing by."

[Tatiana Renkl]

The Moff's eyes remained riveted on the situation she could see through the viewport. She had the tactical display available too, but hadn't felt the need to stare at it yet. Having started at the bottom of the ladder in the Navy years ago, years flying a TIE fighter had taught her to trust her eyes and not only the technology showings. She valued both but knew when to rely on one or the other. She kept listening to the different commands relayed from the deck just behind her.

Enemy ships were already engaging the imperial space crafts.

"Terrestrial Scan report?" She inquired without turning to the aide by her side. They had initiated one from the get go to get a closer idea of the potential ground weapons from the planet and its two moons.

"Send the Firestorm and its squadrons to the second moon. Shadow Squadron, engage enemy ships."