Insurrection - Prologue
Insurrection
Prologue
Selach 10, 960 Imperial Standard Year Haroma System, Haroma III Darkmire Mountains, Frostfall Palace Nestled high in the Darkmire Mountains, Frostfall Palace serves as the home of the Imperial Family of the Empire. More specifically, it's the private residence of House Welhan. With only one land route in, and a closely monitored air route, the palace is considered by the internal security to be completely impenetrable. Currently a small contingent of the Imperial Guard is protecting the Palace, as part of the Emperor shifting all major guard forces in the Empire through the Palace to show equal recognition. The Imperial Guard just relieved the Remoran Royal Guard. All of those guard units, over time, acquired a knowledge of the palace's security coverage. It meant that units could fill in any weak spots appropriately and prepare for the unlikely situation of someone attacking the palace. Not since the First Federation War did Frostfall Palace come under attack in any form. With that came complacency from the guards assigned to the Palace. They were there in a ceremonial role since the Palace wasn't threatened with attack. Situated against an inland sea, the lower levels of Frostfall have a scenic view across the sea and of the mountain forests and plains of this part of the Darkmire Mountains. The upper levels were built into the mountains a few centuries earlier, and contain most of the housing for the Imperial family. Its high elevation is to prevent easy access save through one route at the landing pad. To the southwest, avoiding the sensors of Frostfall, a group of Remnoran Royal Guards moved toward the Palace. The five soldiers, most notably, were all canine. In the cover of the night, the group had an easier time advancing. Having just transferred out, they were also well aware of where all the sensors were, and of the small hole in the sensor coverage. The group silently moved into a straight line, one behind the other, and passed through the palace's external sensor net. "We're in." One of the wolves growled out in the native language of the South Remnorans, just loud enough for the headset to catch it lest anyone hear them. "Radio silence from here. They'll notice the transmissions." Quietly the five approached the upper level shuttle pad, stopping to use a few rocks as cover. Only one Imperial Guardsman stood watch over the pad, though there was a security drone hovering around. With five hundred feet between the pad and the rocks, the risky shot would be necessary. With a few hand signals, two of the squad members took aim at the guard and the drone. Through the helmet HUD, the squad leader started a countdown. As it hit zero, both fired at the same time. The drone's movement was unpredictable, but the modified tracking round adjusted its course in flight. The round hit the drone and pierced through the armor plating as if it were nothing but paper. The drone dropped onto the helipad with a small bang. At the same time, the stun bullet hit the guard in the chest, knocking them to the ground. That round was built around disabling sapient life. If the guard was killed, the central computer would send an alert through the station. Disabling them didn't set off alarms. Another oversight. No cameras existed on the upper level. With both defenses down, the squad moved from cover and made it across the field and to the shuttle pad quickly. Being lighter, despite the equipment weight, definitely had its benefits. At the top of the stairs that led down to a catwalk, the squad waited. One of the soldiers tossed a drone up, and used its controls to navigate along the catwalk and look for any further guards. The catwalk ran along the cliff and into the top floor of Frostfall, two levels above the Emperor's bedroom. With no guards, the squad leader gave the nod and the squad moved quickly and quietly over the old catwalk. At the end of the catwalk, a single door stood, with a keypad next to it. The squad leader walked over and tapped in the code, and the bolts in the door slid back. With a click, the door opened slightly and the squad entered the building. Once inside, the squad leader fired a micro EMP round at the camera. Now they had very limited time before anything would seem wrong, but that was expected at this point. "Move." The squad leader said, and the squad followed as they moved down the hall and made a quick right. One soldier glanced at the door on the left as the squad passed, and saw a solder approaching. A quick glance at the armor, and he knew it was an Orbital Shock Trooper, thus the secondary target of this raid. He let loose a burst of subsonic rounds on instinct, which caused the soldier to take several steps back, and then return fire with his own pistol. The far louder bursts immediately caused a flurry of activity in the palace. The trooper didn't give chase as the Guard squad began a rapid descent down a spiral staircase. Descending two floors felt as though it went far slower than it really did, as the adrenaline began to pump through the squad. Once the squad leader reached the floor with the bedrooms, he saw his main target. Being pulled from his bedroom, along with his wife, was the Emperor. There was a short silence and a break in the combat as the squad approached the Imperial Guardsmen and the Emperor. "Lieutenant Giese?" The Emperor asked in Imperial Common, directed at the squad leader. The curious look that the Emperor gave faded quickly into fear as the rifles were raised again. The Emperor's mouth moved to say something, but anything was quickly cut off by gunfire, from both the Remnorans and the Imperial Guard. In the haze of combat, the Emperor was hit multiple times, and limped away, leaving a trail of blood as he did so. More Imperial Guards were on the way, and so he fled to the elevator. The two that were preparing to escort the Emperor put up a fight considering the close quarters but inevitably fell, and three of the Remnorans were killed in the close range firefight. This is not the plan that the Guard had developed to make this happen. Lieutenant Giese continued down the hall, stepping over the corpses of the Imperial Guards and the bullet ridden Empress. For now, the hall was smoky, but quiet. Giese almost picked up the pace until he saw the Emperor slump against the wall, slowly succumbing to his wounds. Mission accomplished, almost. Giese put the rifle over his shoulder and walked over to the Emperor. "Why." Emperor Welhan said. Normally a question, this was a dying man wanting an answer. Giese kneeled down. He wasn't heartless, even if this was the way he wanted things to be. "Why? Retribution for your treatment of us." Giese growled out, mouth barely working well over Imperial Common. "Your treatment and that of your ancestors." That actually made the Emperor laugh, and then cough up a bit of blood. "Sins of the father, passed to the son. Typical dogs. And you wonder why you're treated like this." The growl that emanated from Giese turned quickly into a whimper, almost masked by the blast of a pistol from down the hall. Stumbling backward, the lieutenant fell to the ground. The second Remnoran turned to fire, but was put down by that same pistol. The Emperor gave another laugh, which again devolved into coughing. "Welcome to Haroma." The OST said as he walked down the hall, with a hand covering his abdomen. The bullets barely made it through the armor, but the one that did hurt. With all threats taken down, the trooper walked over to the Emperor and kneeled down. "Remnoran Royal Guard?" He asked. "Head back to Tarquin." The Emperor said. When the elevator opened with more Imperial Guards, he added, "I'll be fine." With a nod, the trooper stood up and started down the hall, back to the upper level once more. Selach 11, 960 Imperial Standard Year Haroma System, Haroma III Darkmire Mountains, High Command Situated deep below the Darkmire Mountains, Imperial High Command is the center of all military operations in the Empire. During peacetime protocols, only one of the main command centers are active, however war time opens all five in the facility to handle logistics and planning between branches and coordination of forces across the front line. The entire facility covered about 200 square miles under the mountains. General Tamarynn Trovato walked through the halls of High Command rather happily. It was a good day, even in the wake of the near assassination of the Emperor. Local commanders in the Haroma-Azizos Military Sector knew their protocol well, and the institution of martial law in the HAMS went over about as well as protocol dictates. It's a temporary measure anyway to make it look like the Army knew what they were doing in the wake of this incident. Since the intelligence services are handling this massive blunder, the Army has to be the public face of competence. After nearly a millennium as a member state of the Empire, it was uncommon for a Remnoran - much less a South Remnoran - to attain high rank within the Imperial Armed forces, let alone the government itself. General Trovato, being an arctic wolf, was one exception to that. He saw humanity's domination of the Empire, and didn't even mind it. His loyalty to the Emperor and the Empire was absolute. Loyalty took people to high places, and many of the nonhumans and particularly Remnorans - Northern and Southern both, especially the Northern cats - couldn't understand the idea of loyalty it seemed. Trovato made a turn and walked into his office. Being this far underground definitely had its drawbacks, such as the solid metal walls and not a sight of the sun. He'd be heading back home in the capital in the evening, and that was the best part of the day for the general, when he had the chance to get out of the underground metal coffin he worked in every day. Until then, there was little for him to do other than make sure that his subordinates were handling operations appropriately. All that required was conversation with a few Lieutenant Generals just below him. This lasted for several hours, doing the checks with all subordinates in the HAMS. The Imperial Army had a garrison of about five million soldiers in both systems, with concentrations on Haroma III, Haroma IV, and Azizos III. Smaller garrisons protected the space stations and other minor colonies in the systems. Unlike most other military sectors, the HAMS had a primarily human make up, owing to the fact that these worlds were also known as the 'Human Core Worlds'.
By the local time came around to evening, Trovato started to pack up for the day. As if knowing he was about to head home, first alert of the day came through. Without a complaint, however, the general left his office and proceeded down the hall to the HAMS operations center. While most military sectors had their own command areas in the sector, the Haroma-Azizos was built into High Command. The operations center was dominated by a hologram showing both systems and all military deployments in the system, updated roughly in real time. On the Haroma side of the map, Haroma III was flashing as Trovato entered the operations center. That was rare, but also unlikely to be anything major. Most alerts on Haroma were incidents of local disorder, primarily in more criminal areas such as the Gracaria public housing sectors. This alert originated out of Fort Tarquin. Trovato pulled up the emergency broadcast and looked over it. It barely made sense, and was obviously very rushed. PRIORITY ALERT - FORT TARQUIN - FIREFIGHTS HAVE OCCURRED ON BASE BETWEEN MULTIPLE UNITS. MILITARY POLICE OVERWHELMED. REINFORCEMENT REQUIRED. 'Well, that's to the point.' Trovato thought as he looked over the message. It was definitely not something he wanted to see now. From the command console near these holograms, the general keyed in an order to move reinforcements over to Fort Tarquin, pulling from a few Army patrols in nearby Lontus. Fort Tarquin facing this high a level of chaos was certainly unheard of, but still possible. Once the reinforcement order was sent, a few more alerts came up on the hologram. Gracaria-Nordavic had a priority alert, focused around the Capitol. Haroma IV sent an alert regarding mass disorder on the planet. Azizos III followed shortly after, with a priority alert referring to what they called "race riots". That wasn't uncommon on Azizos, but they never sent an alert for it before. Tapping his headset, Trovato opened up High Command's... well, command channel. The command channel was a channel only the generals had access to, for more private communication. "I am getting multiple alerts across Haroma and Azizos. How many other sectors are seeing this?" "General Mestrat here." Mestrat is the commander of the Remnora Military Sector. "My board has been lit up all day. Southern Remnora II is... well, there's a general retreat in all sectors. Something about racial riots and military defections." Along with the generals, admirals were also on the channel. Unlike the Army, the Navy maintained a Fleet Admiral, whether there was a war or not in order to provide a highest ran in the hierarchy. The Fleet Admiral was quick to respond after Mestrat. "Sensors are reporting several fleets along the Terminus and Rim Worlds are defecting and firing on each other. Remnora Novus has cut all contact with the Fleet." "General Boldomar here." General Boldomar, being the son of Emperor Boldomar, commanded the Remnora Novus Sector, which is one of the largest military sectors in the Empire. "Army units in the Novus sector are out of communication. I think our relays are down in the area." "Can we put this up on a combined hologram, so we can see what we're missing?" Trovato asked. A few moments later the Haroma and Azizos system were replaced with a hologram view of the entire Empire, and all the alerts across its thousands of systems. The operation center went quiet as they looked to the hologram, and it showed every system in the Empire with a priority alert or without a relay. Increasingly the lack of a relay was growing more common. "We need to inform the Emperor." Trovato said after a moment. "Prime Minister McCovery is on the way. The Emperor is still unfit for duty." The Fleet Admiral said. The lights flickered shortly, which made Trovato look up, and immediately after the room shook violently. High Command was built on springs and shock absorbers. Anything that managed to shake the base had to be coming from a capital ship launching a bombardment. And if a capital ship was firing on the surface of Haroma, it meant that the Empire's five centuries of peace was now shattered. With all the alerts, and the bombardment, the Empire was now at war. Fort Tarquin "They're moving around the side." Private Greymane said. The cheetah was quick to move to compensate for where a few other soldiers had fallen, and opened fire on a few approaching South Remnorans. He pulled back after he was targeted again, which was expected, but it wasn't an easy fight regardless. The air was thick with smoke and the smell of fire now. The fighting had been ongoing for about an hour now, and no one knew just what caused it. One moment there had been silence, and then there was sporadic gunfire. Within a few minutes, entire battalions had turned their guns on each other. Now there was a clear species divide which was noticed. Most of those that continued to fight were South Remnoran, while humans and North Remnorans along with other species were at least trying to repel them. Base buildings were proving to be the only asset on the defense, turning shop windows into cover, and using its walls to hide. What used to be a barbershop was now a building held by a group of four Orbital Shock Troopers and a pair of Imperial Army soldiers. Despite the specialized training of the troopers, all of them were green, with none having seen real combat in their lifetimes or even in the training. With the sergeant dead, command fell to Private First Class Isaiah Welhan, due mostly to his name. His cover was the door frame, as it was just wide enough to either side to use effectively, and the building is made of concrete anyway. "Greymane, keep your damned head down." Isaiah said as he watched the cheetah recoil from a few shots in his direction. He glanced down and saw the tail flick out into the doorway. "And watch the tail." Greymane's name always amused Isaiah. As a cheetah he was neither grey nor had a mane. Without a word, the two Imperial Army soldiers got up and ran from the cover at the front of the building, fleeing toward the back. They didn't get hit by the small group outside, but in the back of his mind, Isaiah wished that they were. It'd be proof of what happens to cowards. Of course, Isaiah also knew that he had been in cover more than the rest of the squad, as he spent more time making sure everyone else wasn't injured than taking a few shots across the street. Outside, catching Isaiah's attention, was something shouted in Southern Remnoran over a loudspeaker. Isaiah turned to the one South Remnoran on his squad. The vulpine's name escaped Isaiah actually, but that wouldn't matter. "What are they saying?" Isaiah shouted to the fox. There was a pause, but the fox was obviously listening now. "Remember the Intervention." He paused and listened. "Let humanity fear us." Again, another pause. "That's all that's worth noting there." The fox said. The Intervention, if Isaiah had to guess, referred to the Haromian Intervention on Remnora. About 950 years ago, the Empire had encountered the Remnorans for the first time, and the planet was at war. The tribal coalitions of South Remnora, the primarily canine regions of the planet, had been able to push the primarily feline monarchies in the north to the breaking point. The Empire ended the war in two weeks by bombarding Southern supply lines with nuclear weapons and deploying its own soldiers to push the South Remnorans back. In the wake of this, the Empire annexed the planet and repressed the South Remnorans, a fact that they have not forgotten apparently. If this was a common belief, it was going to be a major problem. Remnorans made up about 40 percent of the Empire, and South Remnorans specifically made up roughly 25 percent of the population of the Empire. For a short moment the gunfire outside had stopped, and Isaiah looked around the edge of his cover. The South Remnorans that were firing had decided to run in the opposite direction. That worked for Isaiah. They wanted to flee, so he'd make sure they bled for it. Leveling his rifle, Isaiah fired on the retreating soldiers. At least one was hit in the back, and Isaiah laughed as it hit and the Remnoran collapsed. "Alright, looks like they're running." Isaiah said over his squad radio. "Let's just settle in and wait for higher command to say what the hell is going on." With more time now, a few metal tables were moved from the back room of the shop and to the front. Side entrances were blocked off, and the rear door was blocked to prevent entry and keep an escape route if the building was surrounded. Raimo decided to post himself at the back door of the building. Private Heino Senft, the fox that answered Isaiah's question earlier and whose name he recalled after checking his squad roster, took cover behind one of the metal tables, and just watched across the street. Much of the fighting had ended so it wasn't really necessary. On the roof, and only visible on Isaiah's squad overlay, was Private Masako Tijerina. A panther and a damned good shot, she was watching for any incoming soldiers from all around. She'd occasionally change position to check all directions. So far, she was giving an all clear. In fact, she was saying it looked like this whole sector was entirely abandoned. Having her as the squad's marksman was useful. Rain came in shortly after the sunset. The heavy rain pattered off the roof of the building, and was the only sound in the shop. Nothing was said over communications regarding the status of the Fort. At worst, it would seem that the communications were down. Gunfire in the distance was gone, but it wouldn't have been audible over the rain anyway. Masako confirmed there was no shooting, as in the darkness there were no lights except further to the west. The command center for the Fort was well lit, but beyond that, Masako couldn't see anything. The night passed slowly as the squad took sleeping shifts in the shop. Isaiah and Raimo watched the shop for the first half of the night. Masako and Heino took care of the watch at the end of the night. Masako also refused to come in from the rain, which shared a quick joke between everyone inside about a cat liking water. Nonetheless, as morning came about, all four were hardly rested, having been overly used to a regular bed rather than hard floors and walls. As the sun rose in the east, the loudspeakers outside crackled loudly. "Fort Tarquin. This is General Trovato. We have sustained a large scale attack here, and across the Empire. We're still learning the extent of the damage, but we are the least affected area in the Empire. All units are to pull back to the command center immediately. The Prime Minister will be addressing the Empire within the hour, and deployments will be given." Isaiah awoke the rest of the squad that didn't hear the loudspeakers, and most were slow to rise. Masako was awake quickly, but the other two weren't as quick. By the time that Isaiah, Raimo, and Heino stepped out of the shop, Masako was almost bored of waiting it seemed. She didn't tend to say much, but she sometimes had a remark. "Good to see you three are done spooning each other. Can we get going please?" With a small laugh between the three, they started the slow walk back to the command center. Around the squad, Isaiah saw a few other squads that were pulling themselves out of the buildings they took shelter in overnight. Most were Imperial Army, but there were also other OSTs among them, and a handful of the Empire's Cavaliers. The Cavaliers are the Army's elite powered armor infantry. Gracaria-Nordavic, Capitol District Capitol Building, Senate Chamber This was almost what the Prime Minister lived for. The Senate Chamber was full of the Empire's thousands of Senators. In all, a little over 7000 had arrived, and it was unknown if any others would make it. Of the 9400 that made up the Senate, that was good enough. Among them were countless news agencies that were about to broadcast this live across the Empire, and likely beyond. The Prime Minister feared what would happen when other nations became aware of this weakness. Despite the conflicting thoughts, Prime Minister McCovery was keeping a very calm appearance, which was a lie of course. He had never been this worried, this afraid, this nervous. This was an unprecedented occurrence, and something he never wanted to see during his term as Prime Minister. In his ear, General Trovato was going over the strategic situation in the Empire, and feeding information that they were aware of. The Director of National Intelligence also had his own information to give. Neither were pleased with the news, but they knew it had to be reported. The Emperor was in stable condition, at least, and would return to duty within a few days. For now, the Prime Minister was the acting head of state of the Empire. It was something he was made aware of being possible, but he wasn't prepared for. Who could honestly be prepared to go from head of government to effectively the ruler of an interstellar empire? One of the Imperial Guards in front of the Prime Minister's podium gave a nod to him. That meant he was free to start. He took a deep breath and looked down at the microphones. He stood here often, but never for this. "As many are now aware," the Prime Minister started, "the Empire has been subjected to widespread attacks. Every world in the Empire has been affected by this fighting. National Intelligence has confirmed that elements of the Brotherhood of Remnora are to blame for this attack. For those unaware of the Brotherhood, they are an extremist organization that have fought for full South Remnoran rights. Their membership was unknown, but it is sizable enough that they have launched these attacks." The Prime Minister paused as he heard more information from General Trovato. There was a hesitation as he continued. "General Trovato has confirmed that large portions of the Imperial Army and Navy have defected to these rebels, aiding the South Remnorans in a fight for independence." The last part about independence was a lie, but the news media were going to have a field day with this anyway. "To put it very simply, the Empire is now in a state of war against an internal enemy." The Prime Minister used the word 'war' very carefully. War always invoked a negative sense among the population. "This internal enemy has struck out across the Empire. Fort Tarquin was attacked, the Emperor was nearly assassinated, Azizos is burning, Remnora has been lost, Fan-Kui is devastated in just hours. These are just a few examples. "But we, as a united Empire of many different species, have built a society which the rule of law and order reigns supreme. A society where the rights of its people are protected, where freedom of dissent is allowed. This is not dissent. This is a rebellion against lawful authority. There was never an attempt to bring concerns to the government. These rebels, these terrorists, must pay the price of failing to abide by the social contract. As parts of the military defect, those traitors will see their defeat within a matter of weeks. "As I speak, the Army is rallying its loyal forces for counter these terrorists across all our worlds. We will restore order. It will take time, but this setback will be short lived and contained. My words may mean little, but our military leaders will say the same thing, and the Emperor would as well. We have not been to war in centuries, but our military is ready and able to fight for the Empire to ensure our future. "The Senate will not make a declaration of war on these rebels. In not doing so, we avoid giving them legitimacy. We will fight, and we will win this war, and show that peace has not weakened us. That is all. May the Gods bless the Empire, and its loyal soldiers."