Hannah Tyren walked through the hallways of the ISD Leviathan, massaging her temple out of sheer exhaustion as she read the document she had been given—detailing their newly assigned mission parameters.
Less than a few days had passed since the graduation of the Onyx Corps, and they had already been assigned a dangerous and difficult task—one that she doubted even Aaron could easily complete.
It was both a morally and strategically difficult task, and Hannah feared what it could potentially do to him. For this was no lightweight mission. He had been sent to clean up after Imperial cruelty—something he had been spared from for the past year and a half.
Her eyes turned toward her datapad. Vireen Prime. An ex-Separatist colony in the Western Outer Rim, previously the capital world of the Vireen Concordat in the Koradin Sector. Though officially non-aligned with the Rebel Alliance, the Concordat had sold medical and military-grade resources to them—resulting in the Moff performing a "show of force." Hannah nearly shook her head at the sheer incompetence behind such a decision.
To wipe out close to a billion humans to threaten a small Concordat of a few dozen planets...
The Concordat had backed down—but Vireen Prime had not. Hannah read through the reports: guerrilla warfare, sabotage, suicide charges, executions, massacres.
The people of Vireen Prime—the survivors—had nicknamed themselves the Ghosts of Vireen, and they were now launching a desperate attempt to kill as many Imperials as humanly possible.
And that would be inconsequential, normally. The Empire could simply blockade the planet and ignore those who lived on it. They'd naturally die out, Hannah thought. But naturally, the Moff would not do such a thing.
No. The man had gone out of his way to transform the planet into a system-wide industrial power—with the Moff and his family as the "owners."
Due to the planetary government dissolving, the Moff had taken power and begun industrializing the world with no thought for the settlers, believing he could place his family among the galaxy's elites by owning an industrial planet.
And so, the Moff was unwilling to retreat. Taking the valuable industrial equipment with him was out of the question. He was steadfast in his ideology of wiping out the last Vireens. And he had contacted Commodore Rysell to get it done.
But to make matters worse, natural phenomena made Rysell's task all the more difficult. She thought of the mutations to the planet's ecosystem—namely the creation of electromagnetic storms. Nine massive storms that covered 95% of the surface. And they moved regularly.
Meaning: reinforcing or resupplying ground forces could only happen by dropping them in the remaining 5% gap and transferring them via walkers or ground vehicles to their positions.
Repulsorlift technology did not work in those storms.
Hannah understood the Moff's position. Those storms made for perfect natural defenses. The planet not only had an abundance of energy-generation possibilities due to the storms—it also made for perfect defenses.
No fleet could take this planet if the Moff strengthened his ground forces and had a breakthrough in recycling electromagnetic pulses into energy. He could supply ground shields endlessly.
Though ranked as an Imperial Intelligence Department Chief, Hannah's department mostly consisted of Aaron's fleet. And therefore, Director Ysanne allowed her to remain with the fleet.
Yet Hannah wasn't just there to support Aaron—she had her own task. Ysanne had launched an investigation into the Moff, Cassian Thrunn, for corruption and embezzlement of Imperial funds.
The Moff had brought in a large portion of outside interests into his planet-building: independent investors and research bases that needed factories to pump out their produce. He had secured many investments from these individuals.
But he had also diverted Imperial funds into the project, even handing out Imperial contracts for the sector to himself. That alone was not that unusual—but he had also begun diverting contracts from other sectors.
Often through strength, kidnappings, political ploys, or bribery. And he had begun getting too comfortable—which had forced Ysanne to step in.
Hannah was her frontier chief on the assignment—alongside Chief Rysell. Her subordinate and lover. Though in some technical terms, she was his subordinate as well.
A complicated relationship indeed.
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Lieutenant General Kael Sallan stood on the bridge of his Acclamator-class Attack Cruiser—one of the dozens currently in the Vireen System.
The Acclamators had been initially phased out due to the Emperor's policy on ex-Republic warships. But his economy was not infinite, and some departments within the Imperial Military still required ground transports.
Namely, the less-funded Imperial Army.
Not to be confused with the Stormtrooper Corps, the Imperial Army was an establishment of barely trained and equipped enlistees, often thrown into battlefields with little concern for their well-being or the results.
Meatgrinders in all but name.
So, the Imperial Army had absorbed all those Acclamator-class Assault Cruisers, as they fit their assigned role quite well—designated troop transports, semi-capable of handling themselves in combat. At least against anything the Rebel Alliance would field.
The Acclamators had received a refit, allowing for 20,000 troops and improved capacity for ground vehicles and transports.
And Lieutenant General Kael Sallan had been given command of the 332nd Systems Army, composed of three Imperial Army formations—393,000 Imperial Army troopers. A surprising number for a Lieutenant General, but when one served beneath Commodore Rysell…
Then your authority often exceeded your rank, as you commanded the troops for someone else—using their authority to establish your own.
Kael had about 22 Acclamator-class Assault Cruisers and four Class-Four Container Transports. All 230 cargo crates on each transport were filled to the brim with tanks or ground vehicles.
The one thing Kael appreciated most about working with Rysell? He never spared a single penny. That man came to win, and that was the only thing on his mind. He didn't care about winning against overwhelming odds. Nor did he hesitate to spend resources.
The Moffs—especially this one—were rich in resources, and Rysell took full advantage of it. He had gathered every possible vehicle from across the galaxy based on Kael's suggestions. From what Kael had gathered, Rysell intended to fortify the planet—make it impossible to siege.
All the while, he would exterminate the insurgents dead set on hindering Imperial progress in any way possible. All Kael had to do was trust Rysell and follow his orders to the letter. Kael had seen immense career growth under the Commodore—and he wouldn't risk it.
__________________
Ross Farlin stood in a gladiator-like coliseum, watching as men in training gear fought on the surface—engaged in brutal hand-to-hand combat techniques, designed to kill quickly and efficiently.
Knives were often incorporated into the fighting style, but unlike Ross Farlin's previous assignments, these training courses did not appreciate casualties.
Ross had gone from training Death Troopers—the pinnacle of quality—to these, admittedly impressive but fairly standard Special Forces.
Ross never quite enjoyed watching talented Imperial operatives die during his training regimes, but it got results. And that's what mattered to him.
These men were not Death Troopers—but Ross had still grown fond of them. The Death Troopers were jacks-of-all-trades: assassinations, guarding procedures, boarding, trench warfare, biological warfare, psychological warfare, torture, and anti-torture.
But Commodore Rysell had focused more on specialized styles for each individual, rather than pure overall quality. Colonel Ross had learned to include teamwork in the equation. And he would be lying if he said he was disappointed by these Wraith or Spectre Troopers.
Sure, Death Troopers may have been more skilled individually. But with the speed at which Rysell desired new inductees, Ross knew they'd soon have ten Wraith Troopers for every Death Trooper. And for all the pride he held in his previous assignment, he knew a team of Wraiths could outclass a single Death Trooper.
And four Wraith squads would wipe the floor with four Death Trooper squads in their specialized fields—namely pitched fighting within ships, buildings, or structures.
Ross couldn't wait to see the results from the impending battle. All his newly graduated Onyx Corps members had been shipped off to Vireen Prime—alongside their Field Colonel, Lux.
Nevertheless, Ross pushed it to the back of his mind, focusing instead on the nearly 200 new inductees to Project Onyx. He would not disappoint.
__________________
CORUSCANT, OFFICE OF IMPERIAL INTELLIGENCE
Ysanne Isard sat in the harsh chair of her office, leaning forward as she stared at the individual seated before her: Doctor Venra Korliss.
A doctor of impressive knowledge—not quite on Krennic's level, but Ysanne had no qualms about her genius. Venra had proven herself time and time again. And this time was no different—Doctor Venra had dived into the area of pulsed lasers.
And through it, Imperial Intelligence had launched Project Scorch Net.
"How is it coming along?" Ysanne asked.
Venra smiled slightly. "Everything is proceeding according to plan. Four prototypes have been dispatched to the Vireen System, alongside eight dozen project scientists. It will be the first field test. And with Commodore Rysell's connections in Imperial Intelligence, we could not have asked for a more apt testing group."
Ysanne nodded, glad the project was gaining recognition.
"We are rapidly gaining face among the Emperor's inner circle—and the man himself. If this turns out to be a success, we can expect contracts and tasks equal to those of the ISB. The ISB Council has yet to provide sufficient results in their primary task—hunting down rebels. If we prove more efficient than them…" Ysanne trailed off, her expression cold—but the unmistakable ambition in her eyes blazed.
"The Imperial Security Bureau will finally be overshadowed by the true shadow of the Empire," Venra finished her sentence.
Ysanne nodded.
"Department Chief Hannah has placed a lot of trust in Chief Rysell. We shall see if it pays off."
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