Fallout: An Empire Changing
Battlelord Ric "Tater" Hunter (Sith) / QUA / House Imperium of Clan Scholae Palatinae
Pin 3160

XS Stock Light Freighter “Holdout” - Outer Rim

Malodin’Blade, Chiss loyalist and partner of Battlelord Ric Hunter, sat behind the controls of the old freighter and kept her on a return course to Seraph. The war had ended but the two members of Scholae Palatinae had missed most of it. They had urgent business to attend to and it had kept them away during most of the fighting. Mal knew that some things had happened but the details were a bit unclear. Ric had been in his cabin on the holonet almost the entire trip back from Dantooine. He knew that major things had happened and knew that Ric would fill him in once he finished.
The cockpit door opened and Ric stepped through. He took his seat and let out a loud sigh. He looked tired.
“So what news from home, Boss?” Mal asked.
“I don’t even know where to begin. Things have changed. I’m not sure of all the details but once I get there, we’ll know much more. I tried to reach Kiera and she was busy on an assignment. Which means that Shadow has asked her to do something. I couldn’t reach Shadow directly. All the calls I have made to the Quaestors office have bounced back. I even tried to check the backlog of Aedile messages with no luck. It seems the war left the clan in a weird way,” Ric leaned back and rubbed his eyes.
Mal had seen him like this before. It had been when he started the hunt for Alex Malone, the rogue Jedi with a large bounty on his head. Mal had worried then that it was going to become an obsession and after recent events, it just might have. Mal knew that they had left at the start of the war because of a tip they had received about Malone and Rics stubbornness had led him to follow it. This time it had almost paid off, they had closed on Malone but once more he had slipped through their fingers.

A Few hours Later - Seraph

The freighter touched down at Imperiums small landing pad. Ric dropped the hatch and made his way to the building as Malodin finished securing the ship and getting it refueled and ready to go again if needed. With the recent upheavals in the Clan, Ric wasn’t sure what kind of situation he was walking into. He took the turbolift to his office and let himself inside. The first thing he saw was the light on his com unit was flashing so he sat and began to read.
The first thing he saw was a death warrant for Empress Elincia Rei. It seemed that during the War she had betrayed Scholae and become a target for Imperial retribution. Part of Ric was surprised but another part of him really wasn’t. The Empress had always had a very good way of making sure that she preserved herself and if the opportunity arose, he could see her turning traitor if it was in her best interest. He knew there had to be more to the story though and he would find out later what it was.
The next message was for him to report to the ISN Retribution as soon as he returned. This message was sent from Shadow and was marked urgent. His Quaestor was on the Retribution? Now that was a strange development. Maybe she was helping the new Emperor settle in to his or her job. He would find out soon enough.
Ric brought up the shuttle schedule and logged a flight to take him to the Scholae Palatinae flagship. He hoped to finally find out everything that had gone on in his absence. Ric sent a short message to Mal and warned him if he didn’t return that he was to get Keira and Major Harkness and flee the system. He had seen purges before when a new ruler came to power in the clan and didn’t want to be caught in one if he could avoid it.
Ric changed out of his armor and settled took a quick shower. He dressed in his robes and attached his dual lightsabers to his belt. Once he was ready, he left for the hanger and whatever waited for him.

ISN Retribution - Seraph Orbit

The shuttle landed on the hanger deck without incident. Ric could feel something in the air, some sort of current that he couldn’t quite pin down. It was a cross between excitement and fear. It was mildly unsettling to be totally honest.
He checked in with the deck officer to log his arrival and was told to report to the Emperors shipboard throne room. Ric made his way to the turbolifts and within a few moments entered the Royal Deck area of the ship. As he approached the throne room, the two Royal Guards blocked his path.
“I was summoned,” Ric said, handing over his identification. They scanned him with the palm mounted sensors and without a word stepped aside to let him pass. The doors to the throne room swished open and Ric entered quietly. He approached the throne and knelt before it. It the shadows, the figure sitting on the throne motioned him forward. Ric stood and approached the darkened throne.
Ric couldn’t conceal the shock on his face as he recognized Shadow Nighthunter. His Quaestor had become Empress.
“My Empress, what shall you have of me?” Ric said as he bowed his head.
“What I have always needed of you. Service and loyalty,” Shadow replied.
“As always, whatever is needed,” Ric felt a bit more at ease now.
“I do have a job for you. I need to to take the Quaestor position in Imperium. Now more than ever, especially after the recent events in the war, we need to be aware of all threats, both from within and without,” Shadow continued. “We need to rebuild Imperial Intelligence and to watch all.”
Ric had spent years with the Intelligence Division while he had served the remnant. He was sure he could fulfil this task.
“Anything for the Empire, my Empress,” Ric replied. He seemed to have a lot of work cut out for him but at least he was secure and not in danger of being purged.
“Now go and begin your work,” Shadow dismissed him with a wave of her hand. Ric bowed and turned to leave. “I know you’ve got this,” She said as he neared the door.
“I won’t fail you,” Ric said as he exited the chamber.

Ric looked over the after action reports from the war and was shocked to see some of the things that had happened. He wished he had been here for it but knew that there was really nothing that he could have done to prevent most of the damage that had been done. All he could do was to move forward and build his network up.
“Let's do this,” Ric said aloud to his empty office.

Also for reference: https://www.darkjedibrotherhood.com/character_sheets/9591

Sorry it's not proofed :P

All Hollow’s Eve. A time of fun and games, a time for tricks and pranks. For Xendar Thendaris, it was a time to be naughty. He had been planning for this night for some time. And now, it was time. As he sat at his desk, looking over a fair number of items. He carefully checked each item for any possibility of failure and then placing each item in a large bag by his feet. As he was working, a small chime broke the silence. Xendar looked down at his wrist chrono, it was two hours till sunset. Time to set the plans in motion. Picking up the remaining items, he placed them in the bag. He then picked it up and closed the bag. Xendar rose from his chair and began to stretch to loosen up the stiff muscles, after sitting the desk for some time. He then made his way to the door. Stopping, as the door opened with a small hiss. He reached over and picked up a black hooded cloak that was hanging nearby. After getting the cloak on and adjusted on him, he stepped out into the rays of the waning rays of the afternoon sun.
As Tidrep Icanus made his way to his favorite study spot in the library. A small underused room at the back of the library, right next to a statue of some forgotten sith lord. His mind kept going back to the story that he had overheard during lunch. It was called the Whistling Sith Lord. The story was about a sith lord that had been murdered years before, and how its ghost haunts the halls of the library, seeking revenge against those responsible. It was a stated at this sith liked to whistle a certain tune, and on certain nights, you could hear this the sith’s haunting tune. Shaking his head as if trying to clear those thoughts. He plopped his work on the table as he settled in. Tidrep noticed that one of his pads had fallen on the floor, reaching down and picking up the pad, he set it on the table. Only to find that his neatly stacked pile pads had been skewed. As he straightened the pads, the carton holding his dinner seemed to have moved. Setting the carton back in its proper place, Tidrep turned his attention to his studies. Hearing a small squeak, Tidrep looked to where the sound came from and seeing that again, that his dinner carton was not where it should have been. He muttered something about the table not being level. And with a snort of annoyance, he pulled the carton back to its original place. It shot back to where it had been previously. With a growl of irritation, he grabbed the carton with both hands and held it down in front of him. And with all of his attention on his dinner, Tidrep had no idea about what was going to happen next. One minute he was staring down intently at the carton that held his dinner. The next, he was looking up at the bottom side of the table. It was like someone came up behind him and stole the chair he was sitting in. Getting up off the floor, he angrily reached in the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a scanner, and began looking for any kind of electronic signal. He was muttering to himself that the only other person in the library was the librarian who had let him in. So, someone must have set up this room up. As he was checking the wall behind him, he heard what sounded like a whistle. He paused to listen; he vaguely remembered the song, it involved a bush, a monkey, and a weasel. His eyes widened in realization. It was the song of the whistling Sith Lord. At first, the song seemed like it could be coming from anywhere. After a slight pause, the song began again. And this time, it seemed to be coming from the statue in the corner. Slowly and fearfully Tidrep made his way toward it, the details of the story ran wild through his mind. The head of the statue whipped toward him, Tidrep could see its face, it had a mouth full of glowing fangs and its eyes snapped opened and two glowing blue-green orbs stared back at him. That was it, Tidrep could not take it anymore. He let out a loud yelp and took off as fast as his legs would carry him.
Giving a light chuckle and shake of his head, Xendar removed his gloves and peeled off the face obscuring mask, followed by a set of glowing false fangs, and finishing it by removing the glowing lenses from his eyes. Turning around, he used the force to put the statue that had been hidden from view, back in its original place. Looking at his chrono, he saw the time and noted to himself that it was time to pack up and move on the next prank.
Carsh Brezlin was ready for a night on the town. Everything about today had worked out perfectly, he got the perfect speeder rental for the night, he got the perfect date, he got the perfect reservation spot at the most exclusive restaurant. Everything is going my way. He thought. As he swaggered up to the speeder. Getting in, he settled into the seat and hit the starter. Nothing happened, so he tried again, still nothing. He tried a third time; he could have sworn that this time he heard the speeder give off a humph sound. Growling in aggravation, he slammed his fist into the speeder’s dash console. “Hey!” A voice screeched at him. “That hurt, you jerk!” Momentarily taken aback by the outburst, Carsh sat dumbfounded. This speeder is not supposed to have an A.I in it, he thought. Someone has had this thing rigged. He reached over to hit the door release, and get out and open the engine hatch to take a look in there. The speeder had other ideas in mind. “Oh no you don’t!” the speeder yelled at him and locked the door. “Sit down, shut up, and listen, pal! I have a lot to complain about!” And for the next ten minutes, it ranted on about how it did so much for beings. And how it transported them places, protected them from the elements, carried their items, and how they did so little for it. At one point, he made the mistake of asking in a sarcastic tone if it was finished. Which caused it to spout off about how it was being abused and took advantage of. Carsh was at his wit’s end. This speeder had just kept going on and on, and it would not stop. When a rap at the window shook him back into reality. “Hey Carsh, You okay?” Xendar asked. “I am I okay? I am I okay? No! I’m not okay!” Carsh yelled, “This stupid thing is broken! And I can’t do anything about it!” “Do you mind if I take a look at it?” Xendar asked. “Go for it, it’s not like I can do anything anyway! This blasted thing has me locked in!” Carsh snarled. Xendar opened the engine hatch. In doing so, he disappeared from Carsh’s sight. Several minutes later, and with a lot of clanking and banging engine compartment, Xendar told Carsh to try it. Carsh nervously hit the starter. The speeder came to life, and apart from the engine noise, there was no other sound. “Whatever you did, thank you!” Carsh said. As he got the window to go down. “I didn’t do anything,” Xendar said. “I was just trying to wipe off some grime off something when my hand got caught.” “Well, whatever you did it worked, Thanks again!” And with that, he sped off. If Carsh had been a little more observant as he drove off, he might have noticed a small drone landing in a black bag alongside the road, and Xendar picking up various items off the ground and placing them in the bag.
Zentyi Galoron rushed into to her room. Her excitement was at an all-time high. She was just asked out on a date by Quian Ralt, one of the Shadow Academy’s rising stars. The first item on her agenda, was a hot shower, laced with various soaps and perfumes. After that, she then rushed about her room, as she tried on different combinations of outfits, shoes, and make-up. A chime from the door interrupted her. Throwing on a robe, she made a mad dash to the door. “Who is it?” She asked. As she neared the door. “Rostark Florals, I have a flower delivery for a Zentyi Galoron,” a voice responded. “Yes, that’s me,” She responded. “Okay, well then, these are yours. Oh, there is this as well,” The delivery agent said as he handed her the flowers as well as a small container of her favorite pastry candies. “Have a pleasant evening,” the delivery agent said as he turned around started walking back to his speeder. “Thank you!” Zentyi yelled as the delivery agent started his speeder and drove off.
Xendar chuckled as he got in the speeder and drove off, letting go of the force illusion he had been using to disguise himself. “Enjoy the goodies, he said chuckling as he drove off.
Zentyi walked back into her apartment, still enjoying the sight of the flowers. She placed them on a table. So that anyone walking in would see them. She then walked back into her bedroom to get changed. Fifteen minutes later, she walked back into the front room. Looking again at the flowers, she remembered the pastry candies. She picked up the box. Nope, need to leave them alone. She thought, and placed the box back on the table. She had taken two steps before turning around and grabbing the box again. No, leave it alone! She ordered herself, and put the box back on the table and walked away. Three seconds later, she rushed back to the table, she grabbed the box and ripped it open. And without another second thought, started to scarf the pastry candies down. A chime from the door announced that Quian Ralt had arrived. Looking at the door and then to the chrono on the wall, she realized what time it was. Quickly finishing the rest of the pastry candies. “Come on in, I’ll just be a few minutes,” she said. As she threw the box over her shoulder as she ran to the bathroom to fix her teeth. Standing in front of her mirror, she inspected her teeth. Making certain that nothing but the gleam of her pearly whites showed. Satisfied that everything was in order, she made her way back into her front room. “Oh, Quian Hello,” she said. As she entered the room. “Hello Zentyi, Wow!” Quian said. Staring at her. “Do you like it?” She shyly said as she spun around for him to see all of her outfit. “Yes, you look amazing, you're...,” his face changed from a look amazement to a look of shock. “You're glowing.” “Thank you, she said. Thinking that Quian was giving her a compliment. “No, your teeth... their glowing!” “What!” She said. And took off a top speed for her bathroom. Rushing in, she could see a bright pink glow reflecting off the mirror. Grabbing her toothbrush, she began to vigorously brush. But the more she brushed, the more her teeth began to glow brighter. In a fit of desperation, she began to brush so hard that her head started bobbing. But was all for naught. As her teeth were still glowing. Seeing this, she gave off a long pitiful whimper and fainted dead away.
Xendar lowered the macro binoculars from his eyes as he chuckled lightly. Tossing them into the speeder beside him. “Don’t worry Zentyi, in about three minutes that glow will be gone,” He said as he climbed into the speeder. And drove off to his next destination.
Naucria Xentos was not having a good day. If something could go wrong, it did go wrong. The only satisfaction she got was when she nearly beat an opponent to a pulp during a sparring match. In her mind, the day’s events going awry was not her fault. She set up the perfect training course. It was the fault of the trainees. Granted, none of them were force sensitive. But that was no excuse! Their performance was abysmal. And she demanded perfection. She made them do it again and again. Even their fighting skills were deplorable. I am a Sith Warrior! She thought. I am not some weak-willed classroom Jedi teacher who coddles their students. Letting out a growl of frustration, she began walking. She reached one of her favorite spots; a forest clearing with a small brook running through it. The lights from nearby lamps illuminated the trees as a light breeze played with the branches. Though, she would never admit it. This place was tranquil and serene. Then a mocking voice ruined it. “Well, well, well. What do we have here, if it isn’t everyone’s favorite person; The Twisted Sithster! Naucria hated that name. It was all because she had dated a Jedi when she attended the Shadow Academy. The other students took to calling her that. “Why don’t you show your face, so you can feel the heat of my blade!” She snarled. The air two meters in front of her started to shimmer, and a form began to appear. This caught her by off-guard as she did not feel anyone’s presence. Hiding her surprise, she pulled her lightsaber from her belt. And with a familiar snap-hiss. Her red blade added another light to the surrounding forest. The other figure mirrored her movement and ignited their own blade. Moving in close, she launched her attack. The other figure made no move to bring up their own blade. Bringing her blade down, she aimed for the figure’s hand. The figure seemed to have anticipated her attack. Just as she was swinging her blade down, the figure took a step to their left. Causing Naucria’s blade to completely miss her target. The figure took the opportunity and brought their blade down on top of Naucria’s, trapping her blade. Naucria felt something lightly grazing across her ribs. Her eyes widened in horror. The figure knew she was ticklish there and was using the Force to tickle her. “Tickle, tickle, tickle, said the figure, in a sing-songy voice. The tickling attack came fast and hard. Causing Naucria to go into a laughing fit and dropping her lightsaber. The tickling intensified which caused Naucria to drop to the ground and curl up into a small ball as a futile attempt to shield herself from the onslaught. Then as suddenly as it started, it stopped. Naucria slowly caught her breath and slowly rose to her feet. Looking around, she noticed that the other figure had vanished. The coward ran away, she thought to herself. Reaching out with the force, she grabbed her lightsaber. Deactivating the blade, she attached it to her belt. Suddenly, she was enveloped in a huge gooey mass. Clawing her way through it, she broke free. Naucria found that she was in the middle of a mass of half-cooked pastry dough. “Pastry,” she said in a whisper-quiet voice. “I HATE PASTRY!” She began to shout it at the top of her lungs. Xendar was making his back to his speeder when he heard Naucria raving tantrum. “If you hate pastry now, just wait until you look in the mirror, he said to no one in particular. “I would watch out, a Chiss might want to ask you out." After dropping his gear and getting a quick shower. He was on his way to a friend’s house to celebrate them moving in. Along the way, he thought about who he could prank next year. Perhaps the Shadow Academy staff, or the ruling members of his house, maybe the clan leaders or maybe even members of the Dark Council. He wasn’t certain, but he had a whole year to figure it out.

‘An old soldier drinks, but for what reason? Is it celebratory, have them been awarded a high honor, or has something from their past come to haunt them? What have they done to cause such a sadness, or was it something that happened to someone they loved? If the latter, what can be done to fix the trauma?’

Zodac dropped his head and sighed, closing his eyes as he began thinking. He closed his journal, on the bridge of absolutely falling apart, and leaned back in his seat. He raised his arm for the bill, then walked up to the room he managed to bargain for the night. What felt like a looming illness fell upon him, either from the alcohol of the night or from the hangover of yesterday. Either way, he needed the rest. A long day awaited him, and he needed to muster all the strength he possibly could.

As he settled for bed, he placed a slugthrower on the nightstand beside his bed, within arm’s reach, and allowed one to rest on the bed. However, he didn’t bother removing his gear to sleep. At least, not anything beside his helmet, which rested at the feet of the squeaking bed. Zodac hesitated as he reached to turn off the light, quickly deciding to receed his hand. His back rested against the wall as he stared at the door, almost expecting something, or someone, to walk through and attack. The bounty on his head surely contributed to his paranoia and insomnia, the previous nights being even more rough as he's noticed someone following him for the last two days. If there was a good as time as ever to claim the bounty, it would be now.

Within the blink of an eye, blackness. Zodac was sure it was time, the bounty hunter coming to stake his claim. The door to the room carefully slide open, and when movement was spotted, Zodac unleashed a flurry of slugs, but no avail. Whatever was moving, it didn’t even bother slowing down. Instinctively reaching for his other firearm, he felt a sudden chill run down his spine. As he gazed upwards to the person approaching, he did not find it to be a bounty hunter. Instead, a familiar woman with a young face. “Viera…?” He whispered to himself, frozen.

“Zodac,” the voice responded, condescendingly, “what has become of you? Is this what your life has become? Running, hiding, scraping by with your thoughts dwelling on the past? Can you not move on?”

“I know you aren’t real.” Zodac responded. “You, I don’t know what you are. An illusion, or something, but you aren’t real.” His voice shook only momentarily, but he stood firm. “Now, leave me. I’ve got a lot to do tomorrow.”

“I hope I'm real enough to get through that thick skull of yours. How can you live this kind of life? You seem to be more of a dead man walking than anything else.”

“And do you think I dont know that? How can I move on, from anything, when the damn government is trying to capture me? How, please, tell me, because I’ve been searching for an answer since Jakku!” He cried out, his gun waving around in his hand. “Do you think I like being miserable, looking over my shoulder every waking moment, just to make it through the day, do you?” His eyes began to water.

“I haven’t seen you do anything to try and help yourself. Not since Jakku. Not ever. How can you expect to move on when you can’t forgive yourself for anything you’ve ever done? It hurts me to see you like this. You know I love you. But Zodac… This is not you. You're not the man I remember.” The entity sat beside the old man, and ran her hand along his scarred, bearded cheek. “There is still time to change. You have to find it. You must, if you ever want to see me again.”

Zodac, with a shaky breath, looking at the woman in her eyes. Despite what she had to say, he only repeated a phrase. “You aren’t real. Leave me.” He closed his eyes as he repeated, and after a minute, he opened them. The lights were on, but the holes from his slug thrower were ever present on the doors and walls. The touch from the woman felt real as well, but he shook his head. He wiped his face and eyes, loaded his firearm, then stared at the door. He was in for another long, sleepless night.

File submitted

Imperium: Unleashed

Battlelord Ric "Tater" Hunter (Sith) / AED / House Imperium of Clan Scholae Palatinae
DBpin # 3160

Caelestis City – Imperial Palace

Battlelord Ric Hunter, Aedile and acting Quaestor of House Imperium, stood at the railing overlooking the formed troopers below. As acting commander of Imperium, he was given an operations order to begin the final assault against the Meraxis forces. He knew what his mission involved, it wasn't his first time to be thrown into the breach.
His mind flashed back to the days before the Exodus, to the days of Empire. In his minds eye, he could see the combined might of full battlegroups of ships as well as legions of troopers decked out in full armor, waiting for battle. With a wistful smile, he shook those thoughts from his mind to focus on the task at hand.
Placing his hands on his hips, he turned to look at his longtime friend and confidant, Malodin'Blade. The Chiss merely smiled and waited. Ric turned back towards the gathered troops below.
“This is it. The day has finally arrived where we are going to finally finish what was started with the Meraxis Empire. As of last night, we received messages from members of the Meraxis military who want to overthrow their Emperor. This information has been verified and we have been given orders to link up with the separatist members and do what we do. Check your datapads for detailed orders and get ready to move out. Serve the Empire above all others!” Ric watched over the assembled crowd of force users and soldiers as they raised their arms and shouted in response.

5 kilometers from Nardash – Lead LAAT/i Transport

Ric could feel the air rushing through the open troop door as they traveled towards the capital of Meraxis. He was outfitted in his Katarn commando armor but had decided to not wear the helmet in favor of a headset.
“THIRTY SECONDS!” Ric shouted above the wind. The troopers nodded as they made their final preparations. The transports began to move towards their designated areas and descended to drop their assault teams off.
As soon as the transport touched down, Ric dropped to a crouch with a E-11 rifle clutched in his hands. He scanned the perimeter as the rest of the troops took their positions. Once they were all there, Ric headed towards the designated rendezvous point to meet up the separatist leaders.
As he rounded the corner, he saw a woman wearing a dark uniform wave at him from the darkened doorway of an abandoned shop. He signaled his troopers to cover him and crossed over the street with Malodin right behind him. Ric crouched by the woman and was a bit surprised to see that she was a Zeltron. Zeltrons were not rare by any means but she seemed to be out of place on this world.
“The Colonel is inside and waiting for you, sir,” she said in a whisper. Ric knew from her accent that she had at least grown up on this planet, she shared the local inflections as the rest of them.
“Lead the way,” Ric replied and followed her in. Malodin waited and had the other soldiers to take up defensive positions around the area and then followed Ric inside. As they entered, Ric peered around the room and noticed a man leaning over a table studying a map.
“Ahh, you must be the one we have been waiting for. I am Colonel Jace Calson, formerly of the Royal Meraxis Army,” The man held out his hand and Ric took it.
“Colonel, I am Ric Hunter and this is my second, Malodin'Blade. Its very good to meet you sir,” Ric reached into a puch on his armor and pulled out a datapad. “So what's the situation here?”
“Loyalist forces are set up around the palace here, here, and here,” he pointed out the positions on the map. “The shield generator is lightly guarded by about a platoon of soldiers. It should be relatively easy the destroy.”
“Great, that needs to be our first objective then. Once the shield is down, then other elements will arrive. Malodin, get the men ready to roll. Anytime you are ready to go, Colonel,” Ric took the helmet for his armor from his pack and slipped it on his head. With a click it locked into place and the visors tactical display lit up.
The group left the building and made their way towards the objective. Ric began to feel uneasy as they moved down the darkened streets. He could feel something was in the air and something wasn't right. It seemed that the local population had just disappeared. Checking the display screen on his HUD, Ric saw that they were one block over from the target.
Ric caught movement in his display from a second floor window. Suddenly blaster fire filled the air and rained down on them. Ric dropped behind the cover a a halfway that separated the sidewalk from the street and began to return fire. Ric watched as Colonel Calson and three of his men were caught in the open and were cut down by a barrage of blaster fire.
“NOOOO!” Major Harkness screamed and tried to run into the street to her commander. Ric grabbed her by the flak vest and threw her to the ground.
“They are GONE! You can't help them!” Ric yelled as he pinned her to the ground. Ric looked at Malodin across the way and used hand signals to send men up into the buildings. Malodin nodded and took three men and moved out. Harkness finally stopped struggling and had calmed down. Ric looked down at her and could see tears welled up in her eyes. He knew how she felt but there was no time to grieve at that moment.
Blaster fire stopped coming from the windows on the second floor. Finally, after a few moments it stopped completely.
“Objective secure,” the comm unit in Rics helmet crackled.
“Copy, regroup and prepare to move out,” Ric replied.
The men dropped down from the second floor and got back in formation and ready to move. Ric motioned forward and the troopers moved out. Ric walked next to Major Harkness to make sure her head was in the game.
“We good here?” he asked.
“Good to go sir,” she replied quickly.
“Good because I need your head in the game for whats next,” Ric saw that his troops were now in their position to attack the shield generators “Take your men and follow me. Better or worse, this fight ends tonight.”
“Copy that sir,” Major Harkness signaled her troops to follow and they moved to the check point. Ric fell in behind them as they approached the guards station. As they approached one of the guards called out.
“Who is there?” he yelled.
“Major Harkness, fourteenth regiment. We are here to reinforce you and take over. You may have heard the firefight a few streets over and we were ordered here by command,” she replied.
“Ma'am, we were not notified about this. I need to check with headquarters to verify these orders<” the guard reached for the com switch. Major Harkness abruptly brought up here blaster and sprayed the man as her troops followed her lead. The sergeant that had been reaching for the com unit fell back into the man behind him, knocking him to the ground. Ric leapt forward and ignited his lightsaber to deflect a few blaster bolts that were headed towards the Major.
The fight at the guard station was very short and very violent. It ended after only a few minutes of intense fire from the forces of Imperium and the separatist forces. Malodin made his way towards Ric to update him on the situation.
“Looks clear into the building, Boss. I still think it'll be best if we breach the wall instead of the doorway,” Malodin was great with breaching charges and Ric nodded.
“Let's get t his done. The rest of Scholae will be landing soon and we need to open the door,” Ric checked his watch and saw that they were indeed right on schedule even after the ambush. Malodin set his charges and they were ready to roll.
“Fire in the hole!” he shouted as he fired the detonator. With a flash and a thump, the wall was now a door. Malodin entered as soon as the flash had subsided and began to clear his side of the room. The rest of the team followed right behind him. Ric followed them into the building with Major Harkness and her troops behind.
“Building clear, Boss” Malodin commed after a few minutes.
“Set the charges and evac. We got to move to meet up with the others,” Ric glanced over at Major Harkness and made ready to leave. “This is it. There will be no going back now.”
She nodded grimly.
“Going back was never an option, sir. Going forward is what scares me,” she seemed to deflate a little at the thoughts about her future.
“Not 'sir', call me Ric. After this is all over, I may have a place for you if you want it,” she nodded and seemed to consider it.
“Kristil,” she said as she walked towards her soldiers.
Ric smiled as he left the building to the speeders that his men had captured. He knew that he had just added another person to his life. As the speeders moved away, Ric flipped the switch on his detonator and the shield generator building exploded.
“One to command. Shields are down, you may start your landings at your convenience,” Ric smiled as he watched the ships start their landings. 'Yeah' he thought to himself 'There will be no going back and everything is going to change.'