Many people were trapped on Karvis by the Imperial blockade, and now have no way off. Many of these people have good reasons to avoid Imperial entanglements - people like Jexian Koneth and Trax. These men did not know each other, but they both heard the rumours that some of the KDF survived, and that these survivors were forming a resistance movement. The rumours said to come to an abandoned farm far in the wilds of Karvis. Koneth and Trax both followed the call, and found the rebels.
There they met Major Haagen - bound to an antique wheelchair due to injuries received during the Imperial assault - and several other members of the tiny rebel cell. Both Koneth and Trax had no interest in getting involved in a war, but neither man had any love for the Empire either. They decided to throw their lot in with the rebels, at least for now.
The fledgling rebel movement on Karvis is in a bad way. All of them are known to the Imperials, who will be searching for them. That means they cannot enter a populated area or they risk being found and arrested. This means the rebels must hide out in the rural areas of the planet, far from Imperial troops.
The first mission, therefore, was a supply raid. Intel had learned of a small supply depot about a hundred klicks from the rebel staging area. The mission is a frontal assault against the lightly defended facility. A stolen repulsor truck would be used to steal a small portion of the supplies. Ammunition, manpower and morale in the rebels is very low, but without these supplies the rebellion will be over before it even starts. The plan is risky, but these are desperate times.
Complicating matters is the fact that reinforcements are close by. The Intel staff predict that once the attack starts, the rebels will only have 10 minutes to get out before reinforcements arrive.
There is a secondary mission over and above the supplies. Sergeant Sibhoan Rand will enter the facility with the rest of the troops, and try and make her way to the command centre. Once there, she will attempt to slice the computer and pull down a core dump. Given the Intel the rebels have now, any information they can get would be a great help. It is unlikely she will get much time to get the dump, but she wants to try.
After Action Report
At this point, Koneth and Trax propose another plan, in order to give Sgt. Rand more time in the command center. They suggest a two-pronged attack on the facility, with themselves and Sgt. Rand slipping in to the facility under the cover of the frontal assault. If they can get to the command centre quickly, they should be able to access the computer while the rest of the troops secure the building. The plan is accepted, and the group moves out.
The team arrives at the drop zone (DZ) via shuttle and deploy without a hitch. The troops approach their locations. There are several Imperial guards deployed around the perimeter of the facility (which is still under construction) and these must be taken out first. From 100 meters away, Sgt. Rand, Koneth and Trax draw a careful bead and all bring down their targets. A concussion missile explosion from the main rebel assault group signals the start of the main offensive in the same instant, and the battle is underway.
Sgt. Rand, Koneth and Trax take off at an all-out run, but soon realize that two of the three troopers were only wounded. They get up while the three are running and bring their weapons to bear. Trax and the Sergeant stop and prepare to fire their weapons, but Koneth continues to charge into the troopers, dropping his rifle in favour of his vibroblade.
Fortunately for Koneth, Trax and the Sergeant drop the two troopers, and Koneth arrives at the door without incident. Using his vibroblade to slice through the unarmored door, Koneth surprises a trooper guarding the entrance. It is all over in the flash of a vibroblade. The trooper falls to the floor before he can get a shot off, spilling his life onto the floor.
The three team members find a short hall leading to the main storage area, and a stairway leading up. There is a large armored door at the end (which they conclude correctly leads to the command center), and smaller doorways leading to rooms overlooking the warehouse floor. Sounds of blaster fire can be heard, and comlink traffic confirms that there are troopers on the other side of the two doors using the rooms to fire down on the rebels in the main doorway to the facility. Koneth sneaks down the hallway, and sees three troopers in the 1st room and 4 more in the second room. A sign-language conversation happens (sort-of) to inform Trax and Rand what he plans to do. Koneth activates his thermal detonator and steps into the room with four troopers.
One of the troopers sees Koneth from the corner of his eye, and without thinking turns to shoot. A grizzled Imperial sergeant recognizes what Koneth is up to and shoves his squad member aside, and the blaster bolt goes wide. The four troopers are facing Koneth in a stand off.
Koneth says, "Drop your weapons."
The sergeant narrows his eyes. "Or what? You'll take us all out, yourself included?"
Koneth doesn't even blink. "Yeah, that's right."
The sergeant pauses for a moment, his eyes locked with Koneth's. Then, he slowly takes aim with his blaster pistol.
"I don't think so."
Koneth pauses for an fraction of an instant considering his options. He can either take the action of a sane person - accept that the Imperials have called his bluff and disarm the detonator, or he can take the action of an insane sociopath and toss the detonator.
The detonator arcs through the air towards the Imperials..
Quick as a flash, Koneth turns and runs for all he is worth for the stairs, trying to escape the blast radius of the detonator. The younger Imperials all dive out the window onto the warehouse floor three stories below rather than face a detonator explosion. The sergeant takes a different approach, and races after Koneth.
Unfortunately for the Imperial sergeant, Trax was waiting at the top of the stairs. As Koneth sails over Trax's head, Trax fires a single shot at the sergeant, dropping him in his tracks. Knowing the detonator will go off any instant, Trax simply turns and leaps through the air back down the stairs.
The explosion is fantastic, and brings a tear to Koneth's eye as he lays sprawled on the floor getting his wits about him again. Beside him, Trax has not landed well, and sits there unconscious on the floor. Sgt. Rand breaks open a medpack and gets to work on Trax while Koneth surveys the damage.
The detonator has eliminated the Imperials on the second level. It has also eliminated most of the upper level structure, and most of the stairs leading to it. The only structure intact is the area behind the armored door protecting the Command Centre. And now, the doorway sits three stories in the air with no access.
Koneth gets up, dusts himself off and heads over the rubble of the upper level to the wall. There is a lot of rubble and sheared off beams, etc. sticking out of the wall, so Koneth starts to climb. It takes a minute or so, but Koneth reaches the doorway. Using his vibroblade once again, he slices open the lock. The door slides open with a groan of protest.
Koneth, vibroblade still in hand, swings up and onto the floor of the room.
An instant later, a veritable wall of blaster fire rains down all around him. He is hit several times, but only one of the bolts penetrates his blast vest before Koneth manages to crawl behind some cover. He takes a moment to catch his breath, and assess the situation. The blaster wound burns with pain, but he tries to ignore it. There are seven obviously skilled opponents in the room. He can take the action of a sane person and surrender, or he can take the action of a sociopath and charge into them, vibroblade swinging.
Never one to let fear or common sense get in his way, Koneth calls upon an inner well of strength (Force point) and leaps into the fray. The vibroblade flashes, and three of the Imperials are down before the rest can even get a shot off. Too close for a good shot, the remaining Imperials use their rifles as clubs and wade into the fray.
Meanwhile, Sgt. Rand has managed to restore Trax to consciousness. He is badly injured from his fall off the stairs, and not really seeing clearly from a heavy blow to the head. But Trax, too, laughs in the face of danger. Despite his injuries and queasiness, he starts to climb the wall to the command centre door.
Inside the command centre, Koneth proves to be more than a match for the Imperials at melee combat. Trax arrives in time to help Koneth bring down two of the 3 remaining Imperials. The last Imperial (the platoon sergeant major) decided to exercise discretion and steps onto a small lift leading to the lower part of the command centre.
Koneth and Trax and uneasy about going down into the dark room below. They advise Sgt. Rand to try and hack into the computer from a terminal while they decide what to do about the Sergeant Major. Rand gets to work, but advises that it will be hard going. Things would go much faster if she could get access to the computer core, which is likely in the room below.
Koneth volunteered to ride the lift down and scout out the lower chamber. The heavily injured Trax volunteered to bring the life back up to the command room if something happened. Their plan worked out, Koneth rode down the lift.
The lift went down, and before Koneth could get his bearings, two blaster shots streaked out of the darkness. Koneth managed to dodge the blasts, but could not pinpoint the location of his target. Calling for reinforcements, Koneth began to try and flank his opponent as Trax rode the lift down. The maneuver worked, and the Imperial was caught in the open by Trax. Trax focuses his mind and manages to steady his aim with supreme concentration (Force point), and nails the sergeant with a solid hit. The blaster bolt does not penetrate the Imperial's armor, but does distract the Imperial's attention away from Koneth. Koneth took the opportunity to rush him from the side, and neatly ran the Imperial through with his trusty vibroblade.
Debriefing
The remainder of the mission went like clockwork. It turns out that the barracks for the Imperial platoon had been under the upper level that had been destroyed by Koneth. When he set off the detonator, the collapse of the upper level pretty much wiped out the 20 or so Imperial Army regulars that had the rest of the rebel team pinned down at the doorway to the facility. Sgt. Rand spent three minutes getting her memory core dump, which should provide a great deal of data for the rebels, if they can decode it.
Epilogue
Imperial Command Centre
Plarn Garrison
Karvis III
Bruanii Sector
The Lieutenant walked smartly down the corridors of the newly constructed base. Construction droids were still busy checking the primary systems before the base was declared fully functional and the extra defence troops could be withdrawn. Then, the Army types would move in.
Intel, of course, was here first. They had a job to do, and it wouldn't wait for the final check outs. The Ubiqtorate didn't have the luxury of waiting. Especially when there was work to be done.
The Lieutenant moved down the corridor to the office he had been summoned to. He raised his hand to the call button when the door opened. He smiled inwardly, and entered the chamber.
A large man stood with his back to the door, looking out the armoured view screen at the cowering city of Plarn.
"I assume you have read the report, Lieutenant?"
Standing stiffly at attention, the Lieutenant spoke quietly.
"Yes, sir."
The Major turned slowly. "Your assessment?"
The Lieutenant took a quiet breath. "The attackers were likely former members of the KDF who escaped death or capture. Their attack was intended as a supply raid, indicating they are poorly equipped. Much of what they took was consumables and medical supplies, indicating they are living off the land. They had some good tactics, so we can expect a mid-level field officer to be among the group. More information would enable me to put together a more comprehensive profile once I can get access to the survivors of Omega platoon."
The Major moved slowly around the desk, looking at a datapad in his hand.
"Your threat assessment?"
The Lieutenant cleared his throat. "I believe this to be a minor insurrection. I estimate that the bulk of their forces were involved in this attack, putting the entire insurrection somewhere in the area of 50 or so personnel. Now that they have supplies, they will become more dangerous. As it stands right now, their threat is minimal. They lack the firepower and manpower to pose a serious threat. However, given the independent nature of the Karvan people, if this is not cleaned up quickly, we can expect a growth of strong support for the rebels among the populace."
The Major stopped and looked at the Lieutenant for the first time since the junior officer entered his office.
"I have read your staff reports from your time in Infiltration, Lieutenant. They are stellar. Your first few assignments in Renik have likewise gone well. Moff Karn and I are placing high expectations on you. As of now, you are in command of the Karvis/3 crisis team. Your will put this team together as quickly as possible" The Major paused. "You will report directly to me on this, Lieutenant. If I am unreachable for some reason, you are authorized to contact Moff Karn directly." The Major stepped several paces closer. "We have placed a high priority on this, Lieutenant. It is very important to the Moff that the ISB not become involved. That means we must shut down these rebels before the ISB gets set up in the system." He looked the Lieutenant in the eye. "Do you understand?"
The Lieutenant's gaze was as cold a ice. "I understand, Major. I shall have a crisis team proposal in your hands within the hour." The Lieutenant paused.
"You have something else to say, Lieutenant?"
"Sir. I was wondering if I might have access to central Ubiqtorate resources for this assignment."
The Major paused. "All such requests will go through myself or the Moff, Lieutenant."
There was a pause as the Lieutenant digested the information.
"Yes sir. Understood."
The Major walked back around his desk and looked out onto the city.
"Dismissed, Lieutenant."
The Lieutenant left the office without a word - with barely a sound at all. In contrast to his original approach to the office, now he was moving as a shadow through the corridors. Barely even a droid marked his passage as he moved through the base. Had anyone noticed him as he skulked through the shadows, they would have seen a strange glint in his eyes.
The glint of a hunter on the trail of his prey.
