Yag'Dhul Insurrection: Operation: Quad Root

[Fromikeable]

Horst was getting tired of looking at hyperspace. It wasn’t the streaking lights that bothered him any more, nor the idle, faint rushing sensation. A healthy military career had seen to those two annoyances fading away. No, these days, the experience only ever bugged Horst when it was nearing its end. When the familiar lurch of exiting meant instant action, a waiting opponent, and being literally launched into the fray.

It left him chomping at the bit every time.

”Sir. Admiral Talion has sent the signal.” The captain manning the battleship’s helm spun in his seat to report. Horst nodded with a grunt, rolling his shoulders, shrugging around imaginary battle armor. Once spec ops, always spec ops, it seemed.

”Kill the evasive maneuvers, let’s head in.” Turning back around to the deck’s command console, Horst looked over their battlegroup’s trajectory one more time. The ships were all turning, adjust their course to aim straight at a holographic Yag’Dhul, and the planet spun in the meantime, Parabolis slowly moving into their sights.

Eyeing the other command and logistic staff around the console, Horst nodded as he punched the radio. Setting the broadcast to all commanders, he cleared his throat before transmitting.

”Sixty seconds to go. All preliminary teams, launch as soon as we’re out of hyperspace.” Switching the channels, Horst focused the broadcast to the preliminary teams only. Punching the radio again, his voice took on a less formal tone.

”All preliminary teams, this’s General Stellar. From here on out, you’re designated as follows. 24th Armored, 367th and 512th Infanty, 38th Artillery, 294th Anti-Air, you’re all Strike Force Alpha. Lieutenant Randuur in command, Alpha Prime. Agent Phantom, Master Shatani, you and the 687th Spec. Ops. Division’re Strike Force Bravo. Shatani commanding, acting colonel, Bravo Prime.” With the vegetables out of the way, Horst grunted.

”Alpha, your objective’s to land as close to the city as you can without gettin’ shot to hell. Ram through whatever they’ve got taped together on the walls as fast as you can, rout ‘em toward the center. Bravo, you fly in stealth and fast. You’re linkin’ up with our intel guys on the ground at the rendezvous. Get ‘em to report n’ then secure city hall, free prisoners at your discretion. Provide Alpha with any intel you get. Both’ve you link up at the city center, the Parabolis Arch megastructure. Neutralize the anti-ship ordinance there, neutralize the garrison, then prep for rapid redeployment.”

”10 seconds, general!” The appearance of hyperspace outside began to stretch as their movement threatened to slow.

”Squadrons Ulak, Yocto, and Hadron, you’re runnin’ escort. You get these guys planetside, you get out before those guns chew ya’ alive, you got that?” The naval staff aboard the battleship, The Iron Will, were set to bustle as each began to relay orders of their own. The commanding army staff were no different, but far fewer; most of them were already prepping to land with the main landing force, Horst among them. Command would dictate that he went last, sadly. In the meantime, guns were loaded, electronic warfare suites prepared, ships given clearances, orders relayed down chains of-

The ship lurched. Hyperspace was replaced in an instant by the light of the planet of Yag’Dhul, it’s brutal surface red and brown against the galactic black.

That only last for a second before the rest of the battlegroup appeared and began to flood the sky with bolts.

”Status?”

”Minimal resistance! Admiral Talion’s group is checking in, they’re drawing most orbiting ships to the other side of the planet.” As the battlegroup began to form up, their spaceborne opponents became clear; a sparse few orbital cannons as a few token ships left behind, none bigger than a frigate. ”We’ll be through in a few minutes assuming the Admiral’s successful.”

”You bet your ass he will be, Captain.” Watching on the console as the battlegroup’s carriers aligned themselves toward the planet and opened their hangars, Horst gave a tiny smile as he watched the engagement begin.

”All carriers, launch!” Each carrier's color changed from blue to green as their ships began to deploy. Horst could swear that he could hear the launch warning bells ringing in the back of his head.

[Zarkan]

As her long strides carried her into the troopship's large forward hanger bay Elinenna Kanduur slipped the small red leather book into her thigh pouch. Up ahead she could see Regina and the rest of the tanks of Raven Platoon pulling into the positions laid out in the bright yellow painted lines on the hanger decking for pick up. Picking up her pace to a light jog she returned staff sergeant Hasek's quick salute as she passed between Raven-3 and four before finally making it up to Raven-1's right rear drive unit. Using the rear track as a step she paused only for a few seconds of light bouncing on the track before, satisfied with the track's tension, she continued her clamber onto the top of the turret. The two part commander's hatched opened with a slight hiss or released pressure as the air seal broke. Eli used the rim of the hatch as a hand hold to slide into commander's position and with a quick manipulation of the controls lowered the seat back to it's normal slightly reclined position and sealed the hatch. The young lieutenant's fingers glided gracefully over the glowing control panel mechanically running though the start of regime as holopanels displaying the vehicles status, sensor readings, and a three-hundred and sixty panoramic view of the world outside of the tank. Eli strapped herself down with the six point harness before taking the helmet sitting in the rack to her left and sliding the light plasteel shell over her head. Switching to the channel for the tank's internal comm network spoke first to the tanks gunner. "Natalie did you take your anti's?" Specialist Natalie Komorov had a history of taking poorly the to bumpy often unpleasant ride that came with being shoved in a tin can hanging below a drop-ship. "Yes, Lieutenant." "Thank the force you kno-" Eli let her mind wander over the battle plan as she only half listened to her gunner and driver bicker good naturally with a small half smile. "Alright you two, put your game faces on and strap in." She cut their banter off before keying up channel for their battle taxi. "Albatross, this is Raven-1 we're ready for pick up."

There was a short pause across the comm unit before a low voice replied. "Copy Raven-1, get ready for a bumpy ride." A muffled whine filled the inside of the tank moments before a large shadow fell across the vehicle. The whine was rapidly joined by a series of nine metallic thuds as the large four engine cargo drop-ship gasped the vehicle with it's magnetic cargo arms. "What's the expected ETA?" she asked across the communicator. "Approximately eight minutes raven-1. I will advise at forty seconds to drop."

"Affirmative, thank you Albatross." Eli shifted in her seat before activating the command link to the other tanks. "Alright Raven's listen up." She said as she brought up a display of the approved landing zone. "We're going to be landing first at sector Twenty-six Fox. Intel says there shouldn't be anything waiting for us, but just in case we're going to land first and clear anything that might be there." She paused looking at the screen to her right where the landing secdual was listed. "We'll only have forty seconds to clear the zone before they drop the five twelfths mechanized infantry unit behind us. At approximately the same time fourth and fith platoons will be landing about three clicks to our south west they'll move up to shield our exposed flank the rest of the twenty-forth as well as the three-sixty-seventh will be landing about hundred kilometers due north on the other side of the city." Elinenna paused as the armored vehicle jerked under the drop-ship's acceleration. "We're the spear head on our side of the city so we've got to move if we want to avoid losing bravo once we're moving I want Raven-2 to stick with me Raven-3 keep a three-hundred meter separation to our five o'clock." The armored can groaned as the drop-ship jerked to avoid something in the void. "Finally when we reach the city Raven-3 and I will dig in on ridge romeo six" She said highlighting a wide ridge rising sixty meters over the main road into the city from the south west. "Raven-4 you'll take your orders from Raven-2 lead the convoy into the city and link up with bravo we'll follow once fourth and fifth platoon get into their over watch positions." Eli could see the sky shifting from black, to purple, and finally to blue as the drop-ship hurtled though the atmosphere. "Is everyone clear on the plan?" she asked receiving a quick chorus of yes, ma'am from the other tank commanders before the drop-ship pilot spoke over the lift frequency. "Raven-1 forty seconds." Eli grimaced and gripped onto her harness. "Ravens get ready."

The pilot counted down to landing before eli's stomach dropped along with the tank as the drop-ship let the vehicle free fall the last few feet to the ground leaving a deep furrow in the grey dust as the heavy vehicle skidded under it's residual momentum before comming to a stop. "Driver take us to that low rise at our two o'clock." She ordered over the internal comm as the tank's engine began to spin up. "The rest of you spread out keeping forty to sixty meter spreads. Sergeant Cadwell do you have anything on your sensors?" she asked the commander of Raven three which had a long range sensor unit equipped. "Nothing yet commander, but it won't take the rebels long to notice the landings." Even though none of the crew in her own vehicle could see much less Marcus Cadwell Eli still nodded her head before replying. "Agreed sergeant keep your eyes out the rest of the convoy will be arriving in approximately thirty seconds."

[DreadPirateMike]

Acting Colonel. Jaidan actually caught himself chuckling a bit at that.  It would seem he'd been demoted since his last tour of duty with the Republic military.  The observation carried with it no real bitterness; if any slight was intended, then the Jedi Master's ego would bear it would complaint.  In fact, he appreciated the logic behind the designation.  Based on his preference for seeing the situation up close, with his own two eyes before attempting to devise any clever tactics he might have to offer in response, and based on his understanding of how the armed forces normally doled out responsibilities, he'd always personally felt that his style and strengths befit a rank well below General.  Probably below Colonel, for that matter.  Still, he'd been granted all the authority he'd need to take charge of his part of the operation, and no more.  It made sense.

Even so, he kept thinking back on his conversation with his current commanding officer a few days prior.  Was it possible, just possible, that General Horst was trying to make some subtle point here?

Well.  Mind on the present, young Padawan.

And while he'd never begrudge himself a bit of optimism, he dared say the present was well in hand.  The feel of the jet black armorweave bodysuit was unfamiliar, but not entirely alien, and he found his range of movement entirely acceptable.  Moreover, while he'd made due without on any number of occasions, the insulation would be a welcome companion in the opening phase of the operation to come...almost as welcome as welcome as the on board oxygen supply.  Satisfied that his long hair was secured up and out of the way for when it was time to don the helmet that would complete the ensemble, he reached down and patted the blaster pistol holstered against his right thigh with something akin to nostalgia.  It had been years since he'd used the weapon anywhere but on the range, and his unremarkable skill with it by comparison to his close in work made it a true option of last resort.  Still, the simple and ubiquitous tool had gotten him out of many a jam when even the Force had been hard-pressed, and he felt better to have it along with him now.

The elite and heavily armed special forces unit filling the bay of this troop transport were also a comforting presence, of course.  It was a rather snug fit, each soldier taking up a bit more space than usual on account of their heavy duty jetpacks rated for high altitude drops, but such was their well-trained comfort with the equipment that none of them looked the least bit awkward or ill at ease in the tight confines.  Taking hold of a hand rail to steady himself against the acceleration as their craft cleared the ship's hangar, he calmly turned to that crowd now.

"None of you were assigned to this mission because you needed your hands held or your objectives explained more than once, so I'll keep this brief.  Each of you has your assigned drop coordinates, pre-loaded into your heads up displays.  We will secure the highest ground available adjacent, so as to minimize the chances of ambush, and from there make our way to the rendezvous site provided.  Agent Phantom and I will drop first.  Take no offense when I say we'll attract the least attention on the way down.  Give us 30 seconds, then follow.  That should give us enough time to warn you of any surprises you may encounter.  Above all, watch your altimeters, and engage thrust only at the last designated moment to minimize any contact on their sensors.  With any luck, our decoy craft flying ahead will have drawn most of their attention, but despite the additional armor plating installed for that purpose, the pilots are taking a grave chance for our benefit.  I mean to make the most of it."

With that, he turned and nodded to his appointed companion for the drop ahead before donning his helmet and securing it with the comforting click of atmospheric seals engaging.

"If you've anything to add, Agent, now's your moment."

[Ash]

Phantom suppressed a smile before one could touch his lips, his face never showing the amusement that he found in Jaiden essentially being demoted from what Jedi used to be ranked back in the war. It was Horst's call after all, so maybe there was something behind it. All Phantom knew as that it didn't affect him at all.

The quick briefing, which he mused over the fact that it should have been done earlier, came and gone as Horst finished speaking to them over the net. After that, the Jedi took over talking, quickly saying how they will drop and give them their coordinators. Everything sounded fair and dandy until the white haired man said that he and Phantom will be dropping first. Unspoken undertones: they will be working together for this mission. Much closer than he would like to.

Once again, emotion failed to show on Phantom's face as he killed every trace of it. Each soldier volunteered and they didn't need to see their senior leadership showing displeasure or anything else. The shuttle lurched as she took off, and he steadied himself on a hand rail. Eyes looked around at everyone one last time, each person being closed to being dressed the same with their combat fatigues. His dark eyes moved to Jaidan when he spoke to him.

"Don't be a hero. Stick together, and call in for help if you need to. If anyone dies because they were being stupid, I'll go to hell myself and drag your soul back to your rotting corps so I can kick your ass."

There was some chuckling at his words. Phantom's deep voice didn't have any menace to it, and it was all really just a tension breaker, even if the first part were orders. After he spoke, he grabbed his mask from his hip and slipped it on the face; white, offset by a blue V running from cheekbone to chin and then to the other cheekbone. It contrasted with his black gear, and gave him a different look. Almost immediately, his hearing picked up mutters and low tones about him. Now he let out a smile as these kids realized that Agent Phantom wasn't just a simple codename, but one adopted from Phantom's own past as a well known Assassin from years past.

He turned his face to Jaidan, black eyeholes gazing through the Jedi, and have him a small nod.

[Fromikeable]

The beginning of a deployment like this was always the toughest part. The worst place an army could be was inside a ferry of ships. Ships could explode. Ships could be shot down. Ships could break. It didn't matter what sort of fighting force they contained, what sort of might they were bringing to bear.

If the army didn't get to land, it was dead to begin with.

As carriers began to empty, Horst turned around, inspecting the beginning space battle. The Iron Will was leading the charge into the fray, all small guns firing as the larger ones lined up their shots. Flanked on the sides by a set of cruisers, the ship line drew most of the paltry enemy fire, shields and armor shrugging off every hit. That wasn't the fight though; Horst had no doubt that they could kill a few guns and fewer corvettes.

The fight was making sure that not even a single shot hit the invasion force.

"Charge us in close, Captain. Really get in their face." With an affirmative and a set of new orders, the Iron Will's engines shuddered louder as the battleship began to pick up momentum, diving head-first into the defensive line. The enemy corvettes scrambled to get around it, their guns firing in desperate patterns at their giant opponent.

"Yocto-8, watch out for that cannon!"

"Shots coming in at Alpha-26, moving to enga-"

"-sty hit to their starboard engine, but they're keeping pace. Alpha-90, fuckin' punch i-"

The fighters were doing their work, and the flanking cruisers were doing theirs.

Turning back to the command screen, Horst levied a finger at one of the intelligence officers. "Is Sky-Eye done with their scans yet?"

"Yes sir." Punching a few commands into the console, it zoomed down on Yag'Dhul, resetting with a brand new set of information and active scans. Watching in real time as the ships set down handful by handful and deployed their units, Horst was kept by smiling by the knowledge that they were just getting started. Punching the radio again, he watched as the armored division formed up, taking the lead.

"Friendlies coming in, Alpha." Sure enough, the next few waves of ships came bearing down, dropping the mechanized infantry, then the mobile artillery, and so on. As they all got organized, Horst switched his view away from the armored column to due east, setting his eyes on a scanned recreation of Parabolis.

"Recommend hitting the walls with anti-armor. Rebels beefed them up once they took over. Ammo dumps near most of the gates though, might give you a good way in. That or just keep them busy while the big guns set up in the back and go to work." He'd included the artillery in this deployment specifically to defend the city after it was taken, but the massive shells might prove useful for hitting targets behind the wall to get it open as well.

"Meantime, Bravo, what's your status?" Zooming in on their rendezvous point, Horst grunted as he read a small sitrep. "Intelligence says the rebels just started martial law, are tryin' to force everybody out of the streets. Your contacts are holed up in a bar three blocks from city hall, says to watch your fire."

[Zarkan]

Eli crinkled her eyes as the slightly distorted voice of general Horst crackled across the operational frequency before quickly turning and glancing at the edge of the titan's sensor display. It took several heartbeats before Raven-4 announced the detection of Republic IFF signatures on it's boosted sensors. "Affirmative Centcom we've just spotted them on sensors." The young lieutenant's mind whirled as she scanned through the recon report now streaming into her tank's onboard memory. She knew that setting up the artillery would be the safest path provided reinforcements didn't get to the force, but she also knew that time wasn't on their side and the rest of the twenty-fourth wasn't likely to capture all the Op-for attention for long. She caught the left side of her lip lightly between her teeth as the mulled what the best step would be as the reinforcing elements unloaded from their carriers."Raven-1 this is Chimera do you copy?"

The smooth baritone voice snapped her out of her consideration. Deciding that a wait-and-see approach was probably going to be best she hastily keyed to the convoy band and replied. "Chimera, This is Raven-1 what is your status?" The reply came almost immediately from Chimera's commander. "Chimera is clear and intact other than some lost breakfasts, Sky-Sheild, and Hammer is still getting the last of the paladins and heavy artillery out of the transports." Eli gave a short reply before keying to a new channel. "Gryphon, Umbra what is your status?" Gryphon platoon reported that they were almost at their rally point Umbra, however, had the unfortunate news that Umbra-3 had lost three of its four tracks on landing. Eli cursed lightly under her breath not even half an hour in and they were potentially down a vehicle they really didn't have time for this. "Gryphon one of Umbra's tanks is immobilized move to their coordinates and render assistance."

"Elienna," Natalia's voice sparkled in her left ear across the tanks internal network. "Chimera says all units are formed up and ready." Eli thanked the young corporal before squeezing her eyes shut and quickly making a decision. "Umbra, Gryphon is moving to your position. If you can't get Umbra-3 moving by the time they arrived I want the crew to dismount and leave the vehicle." She opened a general channel to the combined force of Chimera, Raven, Hammer, and Sky-shield before issuing her next orders. "All units we are moving out keep a loose formation I want Sky-shield to spread out throughout the convoy. I and Raven-2 will lead the convoy Ravens three and four will guard the rear." She waited a moment before telling Jerhico to move the vehicle out at the fastest speed the much heavier artillery could move, before switching channels and sending a message to bravo. "Bravo Prime, this is Alpha. We are beginning our approach to the city arrival time is approximately forty minutes."

[DreadPirateMike]

The intelligence operative's general ill feelings toward him were hard to miss, at least for a Jedi. Jaidan had, after all, noted it once already, back at the general briefing. Whether these feelings were for him in particular, or just some knee jerk reaction to what the robes represented - Or even the hair. A bigoted human taking offense at the notion of an alien in command wasn't exactly unheard of, even if most such people in the Republic were at least smart enough to keep their mouths shut about it in public. - was something he could not know without either digging deeper than a passive notice of surface thoughts or a pointed conversation on the subject. Both prospects, for differing reasons, very much failed to appeal to him. Luckily, such investigations seemed unnecessary to him. Underlying the hostility lay an unwavering professionalism, a cold and surgical focus on achieving his goal.

Phantom would do his job. Right now, that meant following his directives. And for the moment, that was all he really cared for. Still, the admittedly rather aggressive sense of humor was somewhat unexpected, and a welcome revelation.

"Well said," was all he had time for before the briefing was interrupted by a notification from the cockpit, amplified over speakers to ensure it could be heard clearly over the sound of engines and atmospheric turbulence.

"We're coming up over our drop zone, Colonel! Escort squadrons are pulling ahead to cover our decoys. They will enter the interdiction zone in...45 seconds."

"Very good, Sergeant. Begin circling over the drop coordinates."

And with that, Jaidan personally punched the wall control, resulting in the customary warning lights and klaxons as the rear hatch began to come open. Activating his heads up display, with its all important navigational feature and programmed target, he turned one last time to his troops before allowing himself to fall backward into the abyss.

"Thirty seconds. May the Force be with us."

It was there, in his rapid descent, body held rigid to minimize drag while he called upon the Force to make the minute course adjustments required, that his comm began coming to life with status updates and requests for the same.

"General, Alpha, Bravo Prime here. Update acknowledged. And my status is enviable."

Indeed, if there was any beauty to be found amidst this tragedy, then it would seem he had found it. In the darkness of pre-dawn, the city lights sprawling out before his gaze were a sight to behold. Up here, in the serenity of the high altitude chosen for this stealth drop, he could almost pretend this planet was not a war zone, that the intermittent flashes were not anti-aircraft fire being directed with the intent of turning the fleet into smoldering airborne coffins. But with luck, they'd soon be putting a stop to all that. His HUD indicated he was dead center over his target rooftop, and so now it was time to begin slowing his descent.

"Touchdown is imminent. Further report to follow."

[Ash]

Phantom's expressionless mask looked out across everyone, gauging their reactions and thought on what the felt about the mission. Most seemed sure of themselves now, and that was good. He felt eyes on him, and turned towards the Jedi. The white haired man had his attention for a moment before focusing back on whatever his tasks were. Phantom gave a small nod before rechecking his gear. His dual pistols were secured on his thighs, and his modular rifle was strapped to his back across his jetpack.

He was ready for this mission to start, and he would perform it to the best of his abilities, which were considerable.

30 seconds.

He did a quick check on his gear again. He had to make sure everything would survive the drop all of the way down without loosing anything. He had learned his lessons about losing gear that way before. Now he knew better.

He jumped out right after Jaidan did, aiming down towards his target. Light hud showed his drop zone, and he homed it on it like a bullet. When he was a few hundred feet from it, he flipped his body, feet facing the ground and he engaged his boosters, slowing him considerably.

He still hit harder than most people would have liked, his body absorbing the impact with practice, and rolling to absorb what his cybernetic joints couldn't. He came up on one knee, rifle suddenly seeming to appear in his hands, at the ready, and he was looking for any opponent he needed to quickly take down.

[Fromikeable]

"Copy, Bravo. Floor it." Watching as the armored column formed up and began beelining for Parabolis, Horst took a second to assess the city itself. Even with scans only happening every dozen seconds, the insurrectionist activity was apparent. The wall was bustling with them, but not as one would hope. Rather than man the guns embanked there, the rebels could be seen moving munitions, locking gates, and even recovering hardware, grabbing as much as they could to bring deeper into the city. A cursory glance at broadcasts ringing through the area made a certain message readily apparent.

"Parabolis HQ. Invasion imminent. Reinforcements requested."

"What's the word on them getting help, Lieutenant?" Looking to one of the intelligence officers opposite him, Horst leaned forward on the command console.

"We're tracking at least two groups responding, sir. One's about forty clicks east. The other is twenty clicks north." Zooming the overview out, the officer noted their locations on the planetary surface, projected courses popping up along the major roads that lead into Parabolis. "Given current speed and organization, we're predicting an ETA of sixty minutes. Maybe longer if the atmosphere cooperates."

"Yell if that changes." Horst punched the microphone, zooming his view back into the city. "Right, here's the deal Alpha. Thanks to these geniuses locking everybody in their homes, basically every structure in the damn city's flush with noncoms. You bust those gates open, but you don't shoot at nothin' else unless you confirm it's cleared."

"Meanwhile, Bravo, you heard the woman. Ya' got forty minutes to get your shit done. Patchin' in your contact now." Nodding at the same lieutenant, Horst watched as encryption codes were traded and entered into the command system, a new signal becoming steady and apparent. As it was decrpyted, a voice cleared its way into existence over the radio.

"... seven seven nine eight one three three five eight one. This is Derivative, do you copy?"

"This's command, Derivative. We're inbound, report."

"Glad to hear from you sir. We're currently held up in Obtuse Opinions, a cafe on Gaussian Boulevard two blocks from City Hall. We're in possession of critical tactical information we stole this morning. M.O.C. has been hunting us all day. We think we lost them when martial law was declared, but word through our network has been that they're sending squads door-to-door to find us before the fighting starts."

"How long've you got then?"

"They just got done searching the next block over. I'd say we've got ten minutes before we're forced to move, tops."

"Make that ten minutes, Bravo. Derivative, you guys dig in and get ready to hold out."

"Copy."

Standing up straight and glancing out the windows at the naval battle outside the battleship, Horst chewed his tongue for a second, mulling their options. If Derivative was taken out, then securing the city before reinforcements showed up was going to be next to impossible. The intelligence team had been sent ahead to fill in the gaps on troop placement, organization, and security. Bravo could take city hall quickly, to be sure, but quickly enough?

It wasn't a risk worth taking. "Alpha, let us know when the artillery's in range and yer' movin' up. Bravo, you'd better fuckin' hustle."