Special Operations HQ[Temporaily closed]

[projectsunfire]

The observation tower was flooded with a comfortable light. Its offwhite walls complimented by the softly tinted windows that covered every wall. In the center of the room was a large holo table. It was not emitting any images yet, but it had been turned on in anticipation. A small theatre of seats surrounded it, though they would not be filled today.



At the window Solus'ad stood in quiet thought. An inexplicable serene look on his face. He contemplated the days to come, as he watched over the training of troops and the building of ships. He wondered if he would see the Mandalorians through to the end of the war to come. Perhaps the Republic would just roll over, but that was unlikely. Besides Solus'ad was looking forward to a fight. The soft gong of one of the elevators announced the entrance a visitor.

[Jace]

Anxious, why was he so anxious? He had just entered the elevator that would take him up to the observation room. This was a man who had faced countless battles, coming out alive each time. He had looked death in the face, and smiled at it every time he did. He had just walked into the heart of the Republic and come out victorious against ridiculous odds. Yet he was going to a simple meeting, and he was starting to feel anxious.

He willed himself to calm down as the elevator passed floor after floor. Bane could not show any form of weakness, not in front of the man he was about to meet. Bane was driven by honor, pride, a little bit of bloodlust, but mostly by loyalty. He was extremely loyal to the Mandalorians as a whole, and their leader. He had only met the man a handful of times, each time he felt the same. Each time he had been bestowed with a great honor, so they held meaning to them. Bane wasn't a sentimental man, but there were some things that even he could not treat indifferently.

The elevator stopped with a gong, and Bane checked himself one last time. He was focused now, the anxiousness he had felt dissipated as the doors opened. He refused to show any sort of weakness in front of Mandalore. He walked out of the elevator and saw the man standing there. He quickly quickly clenched his right hand into a fist, and pounded it against his chest in salute.

"Colonel Bane Haseful, reporting as ordered, sir!"

[projectsunfire]

Solus'ad turned away from the window and saluted Colonel Haseful, with a pound to his chest. He looked at the Colonel with a scrutinizeing eye. Though he looked fit to bludgeon a gundark to death with his bare hands, his medical report dictated otherwise. "At ease Colonel. It's good to see you alive and in one piece." He descended the stageing theatre stairs slowly his hands resting behind his back, near the hilt of his Beskad. "I havn't been able to see the Basilisk in person yet, but I'm very pleased with your success." His voice as usual was a cold baritone.

Solus'ad halted at the holo table and motioned for Bane to join him, with a casual wave of his hand. "You've done quite a bit of difficult work for the our people Colonel." He said a strange softness to his voice the smallest hint of a smile on his lips. "We grow closer to reviveing our heritage with every completed mission. I would even go so far to say that you have brought our people hope." Solus'ad brought his left arm up and manipulated his control bracer. Which beeped softly. A Hologram of the Basilisk War Droid fizzled into life over the table. It would occasionally lift a limb, or shake its massive head, as Mandalorian scientists milled around it like insects.

"The Scientists are reverse engineering the Basilisk as we speak and its proven to be quite a rare find indeed." Solus'ad tapped a button on his bracer and the image changed to a scrolling report. "Some of the historical records indicate that most if not all Basilisks from the Mandalorian War only had a rudimentary AI. While the one you recovered from the museum has an advanced AI, some of the scientists have even begun to speculate that it developed a personality, not unlike a T4 that needs a wipe." Solus'ad manipulated his bracer again and the image shifted to that of the Cyborg known as Ark. "Now for a bit of unpleasantness. As per your report, Ark was badly damaged during the operation. Fortunately your team recovered his brain case."

Solus'ad walked slowly around the holo table till Bane was within arms reach. "Our scientists have suggested that if we have no other alternative, they could attempt to put Ark into one of the new prototype Basilisks." Solus'ad turned his attention back to the holo table and sighed a sort of gravelly growl. "Sometimes I wonder if it was worth it." Solus'ad shook his head, shruging off his doubts and smiled at Bane. "We can ask Ark what he wants once they have a rudimentary body for him. We have other business to attend to." Solus'ad pressed a button on his bracer and the image fizzled out and changed to a large hologram of the planet shogun. "What can you tell me about Shogun System."

[Jace]

Relaxing his posture slightly Bane placed his hands behind his back as Mandalore addressed him. Great pride swelled up in him as he was congratulated for his efforts. Mandalore even stated that he was providing hope to all the Mandalorians. Inside Bane wanted to refuse such merit but it was not his place to deny praise from Mandalore. He merely listened carefully to everything his great leader had to say.

He tried picturing Ark as a basilisk, and was somewhat nonplussed. That damned Ark was making all his special operations missions a logistical nightmare. He was like an older brother, maybe even like a father to Bane though...and the cyborg could fight. Bane was suddenly caught off guard as Mandalore commented on it 'being worth it'. Bane never gave thought to such things, even when his troops lost their lives. He was ordered to do something for the greatness of Mandalore, and he did it, no matter what the cost. It wasn't that he didn't care about his troops, he did greatly, but Mandalore as a whole came first, even above his own life.

He was then asked about the Shogun system, which would undoubtedly be the next step in their plans. They had gathered the ships, and taken the basilisks to engineer, all that was left was to take back their planets.

"Latest reports state that Shogun while not heavily fortified, has a large mass of Republic troops. It seems that after retaking Concord Dawn, they have smartened up and began reinforcing their positions in expectation. This is not to say that they would be able to resist us...If I may.."

He motioned towards the large holograph in the center, and moved towards it.

"The Republics two major strongholds are here and here" He stated pointed to two places on the holograph relatively close to each other."I believe if we can drop two recon at these positions we will gain the necessary recon for a full scale assault. These recon teams can also cause major damage and chaos and act as forward strike teams for our assault. It is my understanding that the Republic Navy is stretched quite thin in this area, so getting a small recon team in shouldn't be too difficult..."

He finished his battleplan outline, and stepped back, waiting to see what Mandalore had in mind.

[projectsunfire]

Solus'ad listened intently to Colonel Haseful. His plan was elegent. Solus'ad had something similar in mind, though Bane knew his team. His implimentation of their skills would likely make or break this mission to Liberate Shogun. Moral within the military was high and the new recruits were hungry for their chance for honor.

"Your plan is sound Colonel. I have a meeting shortly with Italia, to discuss the ship you'll be utilizeing for this mission. It will be more than ready for the task I believe. However, I'm afraid you wont be joining your men this time." Solus'ad cast an appraising eye on Bane. "At least not directly. I'm not the type to keep one in suspense, or from their Honor. So..." Solus'ad stuck his hand into his pocket and removed a small black box. "I am promoteing you to Brigadier General, Bane." Mandalore openned the small container and presented Bane with the small golden star.

"I can't have you caught, and used as a bargening chip in this game of Pazaak. Your far too valuable to your people, and there's too much at stake at this point." Mandalore paused, the soft hum of the holo table filling the room with white noise. "I'm afraid this position involves an amount of paper work. The first of which is that I want you to promote two members of your team, as Squad Leaders for this mission." Solus'ad brought his hands back and fixed Bane with his cold stare. His scar felt apparent on his face, but Mandalore had grown used to it being there. "You have earend this honor son."

[Jace]

Bane let out an inner sigh of relief as Mandalore seemed to agree with his plan for Shogun. Then Bane's throat suddenly became dry as Mandalore told him that he was not be joining his men. Before he had time to think on that, Mandalore pulled out a gold star and presented it to him. Bane was being promoted to brigadier general, it was an incredible honor to be trusted to such a great degree.

Something was wrong though...why was he feeling this sudden depression? He had just been given the greatest honor of his life, and he wasn't happy. Bane was extremely honored but there was something off with this whole scenario. Bane would not be on the ground, leading his men as he always had. This troubled him greatly, for his whole life had been fighting for the glory of Mandalore. Since he was a young teen, he had battled for this very ground on which he stood. He would now have to sit back behind some desk while his people were on the ground without him. Of course, he should have known it was inevitable but he hadn't expected it to happen so soon. Bane surprised himself with what he did next.

"This is a great honor you have given me, Mandalore. But with all due respect sir, my place is on the ground, shoulder to shoulder with my men."He paused for a moment, collecting his will as he pushed on."Sir, I have no problem with paperwork, and I do not wish to disobey your wishes." He raised his hands up in front of him "I have attempted to bring glory for Mandalore with these very hands, its the only way I know how. We are finally taking back what is ours from those Republic cowards, I should be at the front line with our troops,sir"

He felt as if he had almost spit in the face of Mandalore himself, and he was disgusted with himself. Yet he was not ashamed of what he had said, for he felt it so strongly. He lived and breathed battle, he didn't know what else there was. He hoped that Mandalore could understand the way he felt.

[projectsunfire]

Mandalore understood how the man felt. It had been three years after he had taken up the mantle of Mandalore, and he hated the responsibility. And resisting the alure of power was like saying no to a Nerf Steak dinner after eating MRE's for 3 months straight. Solus'ad heaved a heavy sigh and responded. "Bane, You've more than earned the honor of doing as you wish. I will not deny you that honor." Mandalore left the Generals star in Banes hand. "This changes a few things, though your promotion isnt one of them." Mandalore took a deep breath and exhaled slowly out of his nose. "In this case, I'll be going with you to Shogun. We'll leave the rest up to the Admiral of the fleet, The Field Marshal and Their subordinates. We'll just tell them where to jump."

Solus'ad crossed his arms and bowed his head. "We'll meet again to work out the details of the mission later." He gave Bane a reassureing pound on his shoulder strap to let him know he wasn't upset with him. Solus'ad looked at his Chrono. "For now Lets go get some chow. I got some reliable intel that their serveing some sort of Red Gourd Soup with that nine grain stuff the locals make." He shut down the holotable and ejected the holodisk. He slipped it into a pocket on his Bandolier and strapped it shut. Solus'ad walked out of the Observation tower with Brigadier General Haseful at his side.

[Jace]

His shoulders could almost be seen relaxing as he let out a huge inner sigh. Afraid that Mandalore might not understand his views, that he would be looked down upon by his leader. Bane was not only going into the field, but he would be doing so with his Generals star. Mandalore then said something that truly threw Bane off, but it in the best possible way. Mandalore would be joining him on the battlefield, or at least be on Shogun with him for the invasion. It would be the greatest honor of his life to fight beside his leader. He had felt fatigued when first entered the chambers, but now there was new vigor flowing through him.

"It will be an honor to be by your side, Mandalore"

Another great honor was given to Bane when Mandalore laid a reassuring pound on his shoulder strap. The leader of the most glorious people ever had just conveyed a very personal feeling of trust. Bane was not sure if he could take any more honor before his legs gave way. Luckily he was saved from that alternative as Mandalore proposed they go eat. Mandalore's 'intel' proved to sound quite scrumptious and truth be told, Bane was quite hungry. He gave a quick salute to Mandalore, and then followed him out of the observation tower.


[alright, lets move this back to the regular Spec Ops HQ, that way we can interact with others]