“And we’re sure we can avoid the mistakes we made last time?” Rizzit asked quietly. “We don’t get another shot at this.”

Angel was nodding agreement from where he sat across the table, and Jegora knew that he had to be very careful about what he said next. This mission had been a tough sell to begin with, and with the recent failure fresh in everyone’s mind it was going to be twice as difficult.

Gathering his thoughts, Jegora took a deep breath before speaking. “The original attempt failed due to circumstances that no one, not even the enemy, could have predicted,” he pointed out. “Intelligence indicates that operational security is still maintained. They have no idea we’re coming, and we still have all our assets in place.”

Rizzit was nodding thoughtfully, and even Angel seemed less opposed. Now, Jegora knew, he had to press his advantage.

“If anything, this delay has only served to increase our chances of success,” Jegora continued, becoming more and more animated as he spoke. “Recently, several more ground elements have become available for deployment. Our strength has actually increased since our first attempt. This mission is still possible!”

After that Jegora was silent. He had said his piece, and there was nothing he could do now but wait. He watched as Rizzit slowly bowed his head and ran a hand through his hair, obviously thinking. There was long moment in which the silence seemed to stretch on and on, becoming almost palpable in its nature. And then, slowly, Rizzit raised his head and gave a short nod.

“Go. You have mission authorization,” the Prefect said gravely.

Jegora met the Prefect’s gaze. It had been a long time since the Vast Empire had approved such a large scale operation, and this particular plan had been Jegora’s brainchild. He had sold it to the High Command once, and now he was being given a second chance, something that he knew was rare beyond belief. Suddenly, Jegora realized that the fate of nearly two hundred thousand men and women were being place in his hands, and with that realization came the understanding that if this operation were to fail, it would be his last.


***


There were nearly a hundred and fifty men and women gathered before him in the hangar of the VSD Dominion. The vast majority of them wore Snowtrooper armor, or some variant of such, but over a dozen of them wore the fatigues of Army combat pilots. These were the elite of the elite, the best Stormtroopers and pilots that the Vast Empire could offer, and they were waiting for Jegora to give them orders.

It was a truly humbling experience.

For Jegora’s part, he wasn’t outfitted in armor. He was dressed in a simple duty uniform, for he would not be accompanying his men on this mission. That was the hardest part, but it was a fact that he had long since accepted.

Looking out over the formations of troopers, Jegora decided it was time. “You all know your jobs,” he began. “You’ve been briefed and re-briefed; you’ve all studied the material. There is nothing more I can tell you that you don’t already know, so I won’t try.”

He turned, and began to pace. “You are all balancing on the tip of the knife. You have been trained to the point where further instruction only serves to dull your edge. You are the elite, unmatched in the arts of combat. Always before you have had the skills required to conquer your objectives.”

“But now things change.”

“Never before have you been confronted with what you’re about to face. Our objective here is different from nearly every operation that we’ve undertaken in the last five years. Today we do not fight to destroy, we fight to occupy.”

Jegora stopped pacing, turned, and saluted the mass. “Remember that. Remember your objectives. Remember the plan. Don’t try and be a hero. Do your jobs correctly, and we will hit Arkania with such force that they simply cannot recover.”

“You are dismissed. Good hunting.”

Jegora watched as the Stormtroopers and pilots moved in unison, snapping to attention with a great, “Ooh-ah,” then turning and boarding their respective transports. As the Sentinel’s powered up and then lifted out of the hangar one by one, Jegora could help but second guess himself. If he was wrong, if his plan didn’t work, then all those men and women would die for nothing.

Shaking his head, he shook off his doubts. He had done all he could. It was their turn now.

OOC:

Phase One

This is the initial phase of the operation. Four Sentinel-class assault shuttles, loaded with three squads each, will be deployed to each major city on Arkania. They will land some kilometers outside each biodome and will use combat sleds to traverse the frozen tundra. Once the teams arrive at their designated cities, they will proceed to blast there way inside the domes.

Once inside their city, each combat team will move to capture the command and control centers in order to allow further troops to land.

Estimated opposing forces will be minimal, as Arkania is affiliated with neither the Imperial Remnant nor the New Republic, but speed is crucial. If each team moves fast enough, they shouldn’t encounter more than fifty to a hundred civilian police. If a team moves too slowly and allows the local police and militia forces to mobilize, then they will face much more opposition.

Combat teams are as such:


Sentinel-class Assault Shuttle Aurek:

-BlackJack Squad (Elite)
-Stalker Squad
-Triton Squad (Demolitions)

Aurek team will deploy to the capital of Arkania, Adascopolis.


Sentinel-class Assault Shuttle Besh:

-Iron Horse Squad
-Marauder Squad (Demolitions)
-Valiance Squad

Besh team will deploy to Novania, a large spaceport city on Arkania.


Sentinel-class Assault Shuttle Cresh:

-RAIDERS Squad
-Rampage Squad
-Dagger Squad (Demolitions)

Cresh team will deploy to the Trade City of Arkania.


Sentinel-class Assault Shuttle Dorn:

-Wraith Squad
-Crater Squad (Demolitions)
-Oppressor Squad

Dorn team will deploy to Kanti, a major Arkanian city.

Jegora motioned Tanus over. “You’ll deploy to the capital city,” Jegora said, gesturing at the tactical display laid out in front of him. “BlackJack’s there right now. I need you to supervise the assault on the government headquarters.” Glancing over at the platoon commander, Jegora met the other man’s eyes with his own steely gaze. “I want their head-of-state alive. Understood?”

Tanus nodded once, and Jegora let out a tight smile. “Good,” he told his old friend. “Go and suit up. I have a feeling things are about to kick into high gear.”

As Tanus left, Jegora turned back to the display. It had been quite a while since he had received reports from any of the squads, and he was starting to feel a little anxious. That anxiety he kept bottled up, however, not wanting to alarm anyone in the situation room with his own doubts. Calling upon the discipline he had learned through his years of service to the Vast Empire, Jegora managed to keep his voice neutral, his face devoid of emotion. As far as he could tell, no one suspected a thing.

He should have known better, of course. Jegora was still studying the tactical display when Angel approached. The Corps’ Executive Officer had aged in recent months, but he was still as strong and as capable as ever, and if anything his already forceful presence had only grown more noticeable.

“You need to give them time to do their jobs,” Angel said, his voice quiet but his tone unyielding. “It’s only been a couple of hours. If you give your men orders, you have to trust them to execute those orders. You have to have faith.”

Jegora nodded his agreement, but he clenched his teeth all the same. He was new to this waiting game, having always served on the frontlines carrying out the orders that had come his way. Now he was the one behind a desk issuing the orders, and he found that just as stressful, if not more so, then actually being in combat himself.

Angel seemed to understand. “Give it time,” he repeated. “Your plan, it’s good. The waiting will grow more bearable. Trust me.”

With that the older man turned and made his way back towards Rizzit. Jegora sighed and ran a hand through his hair before taking a seat near the display. Maybe Angel was right, and Jegora just had to have faith in his men to accomplish their goals. On the other hand, maybe he was wrong and the men he had sent down onto a hostile planet were already dead. There was no way to know.

The minutes passed slowly. Time seemed to stretch as each second grew longer and longer. Eventually Jegora abandoned his chair and continued to pace around the tactical display. Why haven’t the squads reported their objectives complete yet? he wondered to himself. He had no answer, of course, and shaking his head in frustration Jegora promptly flung himself back into the chair, growing more and more disgusted with the waiting as time continued to inch slowly by.

Eventually, finally, after what seemed to be years of waiting, the first squad reported in. “Iron Horse to Dominion,” the female voice cackled over the communications unit. “Primary objective accomplished.”

There was a round of cheers from the staff in the tactical center, cheers that were cut off by another incoming transmission. “This is Raiders Squad to the VSD Dominion,” said yet another distinctly female voice. “Starport control is ours. I repeat, objective complete.”

Jegora rose from his chair slowly, the blood coursing through his veins. Only moments before he had been nearly physically ill with doubts and anxiety, but now he felt so alive. The first stage, and in many ways the hardest stage, of his plan was half done. All he needed were for the two other combat teams to report in, and then the operation could really start.

There were a few minutes of pained silence. Jegora began to wonder how long they would have to wait for the other teams to report in, but just as soon as that thought crossed his mind the comm unit cackled to life once more. “BlackJack squad reports mission accomplished,” said a resonating male voice.

Now the adrenaline was really pumping, and it was all Jegora could do to stay relatively still. There was only one more team that needed to report in, and Phase One would be complete. One more team, and they could proceed with the conquest of Arkania. One more team, and Jegora could say that he hadn’t completely failed.

Minutes passed. If the seconds had passed slowly before, now they seemed to downright crawl by. Jegora began to sweat, and he felt as giddy as a green recruit on his first mission. He resumed his pacing, and by now even Angel and Rizzit were beginning to show some signs of agitation.

Finally, he could stand it no longer. He made a move towards the communications console, intent on contacting the last combat team in order to figure out what in the hell was going on. In the end the action proved unnecessary; before he had even come close to the console, yet another voice cackled to life.

“We’re done,” said a breathless male voice. “Wraith Squad reports mission success.”

With those five words, a huge weight seemed to lift off Jegora’s shoulders. He let out a deep sigh before turning back to the tactical display. As of right then he had tactical and strategic access to the four largest cities on Arkania, centers of government and commerce for the entire planet. Those four cities were ripe for the taking, thanks to the efforts of the advance combat teams, and now all Jegora had to do was finish the job.

Crossing to the communications console, Jegora opened a link to all four of the advance teams. “Good work, troopers. Stand by. The invasion begins shortly.”

Opening another link straight to the bridge of the Dominion, Jegora took a breath before speaking again. “Captain,” he said when he had composed himself, “we have a green light for phase two. Inform the fleet, will you?”

Commodore Kara Elith, Captain of the Victory-class Star Destroyer Dominion, knew her business. “With pleasure,” she said, her tone utterly professional and controlled.

Jegora closed the link and turned to one of the men present in the situation room. “Colonel, are your men ready?” he asked.

The staff-grade officer bowed his head respectfully. “Yes sir,” he said with calm assurance. Jegora glanced at Angel and Rizzit, both of whom nodded yet again, giving Jegora the final approval to begin the next phase of the operation. “Good. Contact your transports. The taskforce is jumping into Arkanian space in moments.”

“Yes sir!” the colonel said before turning to a communications console. Jegora looked around the tactical center, noting the sudden increase in activity. Things were truly underway now.

OOC:

This phase will deal with the consolidation of the four major cities. There are numerous cities throughout Arkania, but by capturing the capital and three other major cities, more specifically the corporation headquarters and government buildings in each, we can force the other cities to bend knee. This may not be a permanent solution, but neither does it have to be. Once the other cities around Arkania open their doors to us, we can land enough troops to properly secure the planet and its relatively peaceful population.

Once the initial Stormtrooper strike force has accomplished their goal, the VSD Dominion, along with a sizable Navy escort and two heavily modified and retrofitted Acclamator-class transports will jump into the Arkania system. They will proceed to secure Arkania space and to land additional reinforcements into each of the four major cities to assist in the objectives there.

Forces deployed planet-side will include:

Four additional Stormtrooper Platoons –  48 Stormtroopers per city
Four regiments of regular Army troopers – 2,304 troopers per city

These fresh combat troops, along with the two stormtrooper squads already present in each city, will move swiftly to capture key installations in each city, including but not limited to corporation headquarters and government buildings.

Opposing forces are expected to have rallied by this time, and the combined might of the Stormtrooper Corps and Army Corps will face long odds. However, superior training and surprise are estimated to be enough to overcome the numbers disadvantage.

Opposing Forces in each city include:

2,000 Militia
4,000 civil service police forces