SithLore

Low orbit, Mayvitch 7, Moon of Amador, Chalenor System, Immalia sector, Expansion Region.

The hanger of the Hydra was busy as flight crews prepared their fighters for takeoff. Men and women of the Hydra ran about as the cruiser dropped out of hyperspace over the planet Amador. In the midst of the chaos, a squad of sixteen men and women of Inferno gathered in preparation for an assignment.

Ryder stepped out of an armored hover van that sat in the middle of the hanger, he just finished a briefing with the Lieutenant General of Inferno Task Force. He looked at the sixteen soldiers lined up in front of the vessel. He himself wore a set of StormCommando armor but in place of the usual Imperial sigil was the Black Star logo. His grey eyes darted to the approaching figure of an Inquisitor, the last member of the infiltration team.

“Good afternoon Soldiers,” Ryder began, his voicing booming to be heard over the commotion of the hanger. “You’ve all been selected to take part in a hostage rescue operation. A group of extremists have taken control of a listening post on Mayvitch 7 and have a Moff as well as local personnel in their grasp. These extremists are reacting to the recent coronation of Empress Karn and are hoping to broadcast their message to the galaxy as they execute innocent Citizens of the Empire. We aren’t going to let that happen.”

A holographic display appeared showing the listening post. The main building itself was three stories, but it was in the center of a small complex surrounded by a wall. There was a local garrison barracks in one corner and a mess-hall across from it. The rest of the area was open field.

“We have learned there are eight of these extremists wearing modified Stormtrooper armor.” A holo graphic image of a black Stormtrooper with gold highlights appeared next to the map. “The extremists have coerced the local garrison to support them which means we will be shooting at some of our own, we are looking at roughly two squads of Stormtroopers and two squads of Imperial army soldiers,” Ryder could see some of the members of Inferno glancing at each other, it wasn’t every day you had to go up against men you could have once fought alongside of. “These soldiers have forfeit their rights as Imperial military men, they are to be treated as terrorists.”

The holographic map zoomed out and a red dot appeared about four klicks south of the listening post. “We’ll be landing here and making the rest of the way in on foot, if we are spotted the extremists are likely to start executing hostages and seeing as one is the sector Moff we can’t allow that. Our first priority is to infiltrate the base and secure the Moff, he is the primary objective. Once he’s secured retaking the listing post becomes the primary, all other hostages are secondary to the Moff, secure them if possible.” A droid walked up with a crate of weapons. “You’re all going to be armed with DC-19 Stealth Carbines so make your shots count, once the Moff is secure you can switch to your standard E-11 rifles.” Ryder let out a deep breath before turning to the Inquisitor. “Inquisitor Prazutis, glad you could join us for this operation, your abilities with the Force will help us secure victory this day, you will be in the front with me, hopefully you’ll be able to spot threats early so we can eliminate or avoid them as necessary.” In most cases Ryder could be able to fill that role but he was holding up his Force Mask because he wasn’t a registered Force user in the Empire as of yet. He turned slightly to address everyone. “Any questions?”

Prazutis let the ire within him boil up as he listened to the situation at hand. The promise he made when the empress was coronated... nobody who wished her harm would be left. And for someone formerly within the empire to have those intentions?
Unacceptable, Prazutis thought.

He took a moment as he listened to the plan. A stealth mission... however, as Prazutis learned with the sith, nobody can spot you if there’s nobody to spot you. But he would keep himself in line until the hostages were rescued...

“I wish to only make one thing clear. For the sake of public relations with the imperial military, I have been teaching myself to hold back with battles. But after these hostages are out of the way... I won’t be holding back at all.” Prazutis looked at Ryder directly.
“I will follow your orders until the hostages are safe... after that, I’m going to make sure this group is not a threat anymore.”
Prazutis’ yellow eyes looked at him for a moment, and while the force mask hid Ryder’s own force aptitude, Prazutis’ dark side energy practically radiated off of him.
“Once you get the targets, I think it would be better for your forces to pull out. Don’t want any collateral damage here...”
Prazutis looked forward once more.
“Ready when you are... commander.”

Mora listens intently to the commander addressing the group of selected Inferno Task Force soldiers including herself about the hostage rescue mission. When he mentions they will be fighting against turned Imperial soldiers, the ones around her exchange concerned looks but she just stares straight ahead unconcerned with fighting Imperial soldiers she's never met. At Prazutis' comment about after the hostages are secured, Mora shivers. She can practically feel the dark energy radiating off of him and it seems to drop the room temperature by twenty degrees.

Ryder’s grey eyes stayed on the Inquisitor for a long moment. It didn’t take a connection to the Force to see the dark sides effects on the Zabrak, this marked Prazutis as someone to watch. “As long as you don’t endanger the hostages or the squad you are free to act on your instincts.” Ryder replied. “You’re an Inquisitor I will rely on you to be able to control yourself and the situation.”

Ryder’s focus returned to the rest of the squad, their concerns of fighting potential brothers in arms had faded after the Inquisitor had spoken. “If no further question then helmets on and grab your carbines from the crate!” Ryder ordered, sliding his own helmet on. “We lift off in five!”

He promptly turned and reboarded the armored hover van. It was built to hold sixteen in the main hold and one pilot and one gunner, Praz would be taking the gunner seat but the weapon systems were currently locked down for the purpose of the stealth entry. Ryder would be standing awkwardly behind the pilot for the trip down.

“Everyone strap in and prepare for lift off,” the pilot yelled back.

Ryder glanced back to see the two rows of Storm Commandos just as the side door slid shut with a hiss and snap. The compartment went dark before the low lights powered on. Another breath and the interior pressurized before the vessel lifted off the hanger floor. Ryder’s robotic hand clenched onto a wall handhold as the vessel launched out of the hanger and into the atmosphere of the moon. The mission was underway, Ryder could only hope this team was up for the task.

Prazutis gave only a swift nod before walking towards the Small vessel, preparing himself for the upcoming battle. He gave a heavy breath and grabbed a handhold with his own cybernetic limb, closing his eyes.
As the vessel approached the base, Prazutis took a moment to examine the life signs of the base as it drew near.
“The hostages are most likely in the upper levels, below the lookout tower. I can feel a group there, whereas the rest of the base is scattered with minuet life signs, obviously guards. If we can take out the guards one by one, or sneak past them to the room that the hostages are in, I can most likely neutralize a single weapon trained on them, but there will only be a second window if there is more than one captor in the room. That far into the post seems... hazed. I can’t see clearly inside.”
He opened his eyes once more, thinking as he looked over he base.
“I’ll detect nearby enemies as we push forward, but I won’t be able to see the whole base at once. I have to concentrate just to see the group in the current holding area for he hostages.” He examined the base once more before sighing.
“Their main point of defense is the front gate, as the barracks are enough defense for the back. If we enter near the mess hall, we’ll need a way in, but it will draw the least attention. However, it is your choice how we infiltrate.”
He looked to commander Ryder, his briefing over. It was up to the commander on course of action now.

Ryder’s eyes watched the Inquisitor as he reached out in the Force. A moment late the man began giving Ryder a run down of life signs he could feel. Ryder was impressed that he could feel anything from this high up.

“You’ll have to give me another update once we’ve finished our several mile approach,” Ryder replied. As he’d shown during the briefing they’d be landing several Klicks south and marching in on foot. “I’m impressed by your abilities Inquisitor Prazutis, you’ll prove quite the asset for the Empire.”

A short time later the vessel came to a halt and dropped to the rocky surface. The troops filed out before Ryder and Praz exited. Scanning the horizon Ryder turned to the rest of the team. “Alright two lines, Inquisitor Prazutis, you’ll be in the front with me. Keep heads on a swivel and no bring a hero today.” Getting nods from the sixteen soldiers as they formed the two lines of eight Ryder took a deep breath. “Comm silence from here on out, let’s march.”

The group set off across the rocky terrain in the direction of the outpost, Ryder praying this operation would go off without any hiccups.

Prazutis barely acknowledged the praise from the commander. He didn’t care about impressing anyone. All he wanted to do was fulfill his goal, Whether his abilities were extremely powerful or negated completely. He would complete his mission either way.

As the troops filed out and Prazutis joined the front group, he deactivated his input for his comm soon after hearing the command. He could listen in, but didn’t give any noise into it. He thought to himself for a moment as he moved forward, keeping his saber on his belt loop. He wondered how many people had the same views as the people he had come to combat. How many people rejected the new empress? What positions, he wondered? In any case, he knew he would have to go through and find others. But that was a situation for another time, albeit a time approaching sooner than he would like. At the current moment, all he needed to do was focus on finding the moff, helping him safely escape... and then exterminating this group after.

After about an hour of hiking through the rough terrain the strike team arrived at the south side of the compound. The wall was about thirty feet high and a patrol of two could be seen slowly going around the perimeter. Ryder lifted his fist and motion for everyone to spread out and stay low. Quickly taking up position next to Praz he watched the patrol walk by without spotting them.

“Alright we’ll scale the wall and head for the area where you originally sensed the hostages.” Ryder whispered once he felt the patrol was far enough away. “I’ll ask you to go in first and make sure there’s no one at the top of the wall. Can you do that fancy force thing where you jump real high? Or do I need give you my grapple?”

The rest of the squad was slowly and quietly equipping their grappling attachments. As soon as Ryder or the Inquisitor gave the signal the squads would move forward and scale the walls.

Prazutis kept low as he approached the wall as he looked it over. He thought for a minute as he examined the height of the wall, nodding as he listened to the commander.
He remembered attempting the force jump, back on Lothal, utterly failing. He’d Rather not risk alerting the guards, and on top of that looking like an imbecile in front of his allies.
“I will need the grappler, unfortunately.” He sighed. The little things were what made him obsolete to many of the experienced force users. He could take out 2 Jedi, but he couldn’t jump more than 5 feet. Irony.
As he took the grappler and prepared to scale the wall, he looked at the others, namely the commander.
“On your word.” He spoke, before looking up the wall and awaiting the command. He played by the rules until the rules were no longer needed. And once the moff and whatever other hostages were safe, then the rules would no longer be in play... and he could deal with this group completely.