Ask Sullust Prying Eyes and Ears

[Aeron Wulfheart]

Aeron found himself on top of a small overlook, his helmet nestled on the ground beside him as he used a pair of binocs. The smog and ash made it difficult to see anything but enough of a picture was painted for him. The Imperial Knight was currently peering down at a previously Imperial listening post, abandoned when the Mandalorians had lost control of the planet. Droids patrolled the outside, the perfect sentries for the volatile surface Sullust wielded as the thick air did little to bother them.

Even though the station had been abandoned, the protocols had not been properly enacted. The automated system had sent out an alert to the ISB when there had been attempts to hack into it, the contents incredibly valuable. Not only could the hackers get Imperial codes but they would get a sizable chunk of data about the local systems. While the severity of the potential consequences were high in their own merit, there were also reports of Force-activity involved, possibly of the one who led whatever group to the listening post.

When Aeron was finished inspecting the outpost, he slipped his binocs back onto his belt and reached for his helmet to put it on. He was only able to withstand the heat and ash from the planet for so long before he needed cover, thankful his suit did just that. Backing up from the overlook, he slid down the incline and to a small little staging area where a fellow Imperial was.

"A lot of patrols. I can't see well enough to guess what is inside." The droids weren't Aeron's main concern at all. In fact, they were just a nuisance to him compared to what really wanted. The validity of these reports about a force-user was his main concern, especially one that knew the location of the outpost. It seemed whenever he hunted one down, another Sith he assumed, just sprouted in their place to wreak more havoc. They were weeds, ones that knew how to slip into every crack and crevice they could find to survive. No matter how deep they went however, Aeron would always be right there and ripping them out as fast as he could.

@Eccles

 

[Levik Karn]

THEME​

Levik's mind drifted away from the thick ashy air of Sullust and to his home on Taris. More specifically towards the secret compartment in his bathroom where he had stashed thousands of credits, a couple of kyber crystals and the weird shard he had taken from the former Empress' personal chambers on Korriban. The life he was envisioning for himself was that of comfortable luxury. A wife, couple of kids, living in an apartment on the upper levels never having to travel offworld to risk his life for..

..his eyes focused on the Imperial Knights uniform sprawled out on the overlook as Knight Wulfheart did his recon of their target building. Levik, as a lieutenant in the Imperial Peacekeepers, had access to the former Sith's entire personnel file. It seemed they shared a homeworld. Eriadu. Not too far from Sullust, actually, and one of the few planets on this side of the galaxy still under Imperial control. For how long? Levik didn't know, but he guessed that the intel hidden in their target building could give command a better estimate.

It was too bad the ISB hadn't decided to locate their listening post right smack in the middle of one of Sullust's sprawling underground cities. Ofcourse they had to choose some remote place with its own satellite uplink. So while Knight Wulfheart did his recon, Levik's peacekeepers, he brought a dozen, were scattered around the target building wearing ash-colored camo. "This is leader, positions report."

Levik watched as the knight returned the binoculars to his belt, oblivious to the fact the lieutenant was making a rollcall. "Position One, ready," Levik heard in his ears, followed by the exact same message from positions two, three and four. Three armored and armed peacekeepers per position. ISB's intelligence division had given them nothing on possible resistance and defensive measures inside the listening post.

"Great," Levik forced a smile, badly noticeable due to the ash covering the bottom half of his transparant visor, "we're going in blind. Here," he transferred the frequency code to the peacekeeper's comm channel, patching him in to their communications. "This is leader. The knight is with me. We're advancing on three. Blasters to kill. No witnesses, recover data and potentially present sith artefacts." he nodded towards the knight, and confirmed for himself that the power pack on his rifle was set properly.

"Three."


@Orbit

 

[Aeron Wulfheart]

The Lieutenant checked in with the rest of the men to get everyone on the same page. Aeron would silently stare at him until he was finally given the frequency code, plugging it in to his comm-piece. His usual interactions with the Army involved suspicious looks, comments, or even blatant mistrust. The Knight's quite nature was an indicate that the feelings were beginning to be reciprocated generally until otherwise.

Aeron was itching just like the rest, his goal most likely more personal compared to the Imps with him but nonetheless in support of what they were here for. When Levik spoke the signal into the comm, he immediately stood up and turned past the rocks they were using as cover, approaching the outpost at a brisk pace. The soot and ash provided excellent cover for them to approach and they really had no need to sneak from rock to rock.

From the overlook, he had already seen the patrol having passed and he approached where he last remembered the door was. There would be two droid guards standing on each side of the entrance, their yellow eyes visible even through the black air. Aeron wouldn't slow his pace, instead he summoned the force to command and sent its tendrils around one of the droids. They would be pulled right toward him, his white blade snapping to life as he thrust it right through the sentry's chest. The second droid lifted his rifle but couldn't identify anything through the ashy haze. Right as it was about to comm the control center, its body would be seized and lifted into the air, Aeron stepping forward after and cutting it down with a simple slash.

The Knight would take one side of the door, his blade extinguished but the hilt remaining in his hand. His visor snapped over to Levrik as he jutted his chin toward him, "Can you get the door open?" This is where Levrik and the Imp's expertise came in.

 

[Levik Karn]

From all directions the dark camouflaged peacekeepers rose up and advanced with their rifles pointing forward. Lieutenant Karn trailed behind the Imperial Knight and got to witness first hand the amazing combat prowess of someone that was attuned to the Force. The droids that guarded their target location were dealt with in quick succession and that allowed the peacekeepers to reach the door unburdened by alarms or hostile fire.

Levik couldn't help but be impressed, though he didn't seem to be very appreciative. The Sith Order was a blight on the control and order of the Empire and so far, the Imperials Knights were mere tools of destruction and not shining beacons defending the light of Imperial values. Maybe that would change one day, but now Levik gritted his teeth and reminded himself that while showing truly awesome power, Aeron Wulfheart was still a former Sith.

"Sanders, the door-" Levik ordered their squad's slicer to go to work and watched for a second how the peacekeeper plugged in a code cylinder and a datapad. "Four, cover perimeter. You hold the door when we go in. Comms protocol Delta-Fiver."

Three peacekeepers nodded and turned to raise their rifles in the direction of the horizon. They would make sure to keep their exit secure and notify Levik of potential hostiles approaching their location. The had barely repositioned when the doors slid open and Sanders looked up to his lieutenant with a proud grin, "Peace of cake, lieutenant."

"Positions one to three, on me-" he stepped through the door, his rifle raised and alert for potential danger, but not seeing any as of yet. All there was.. was an elevator and a thick durasteel shaft that no doubt housed the cables that went between the satellite receiver and the databanks down below. One of the peacekeepers pressed the elevator button. Guess all they had to do now was wait a moment, "-Knight Wulfheart takes point. Keep to his six."

The men nodded as they suddenly got a bit more nervous. It was about to go down.. literally.

@Orbit

 

[Aeron Wulfheart]

Ironically, Aeron's own thoughts aligned with Levik's when it came to the Sith. They were a blight, a constantly evolving disease that constantly plagued them. His feelings were multiplied tenfold by the fact he was considered one of their kind. The Knight accepted and thrived being a tool of destruction against the Sith wholeheartedly. Unknown to Levik however, he was not a former Sith but truly only a Knight, a second generation. He did believe in the Empire and held the Imperial's values just as tightly the Lieutenant did. Aeron had been the victim of the Sith as well and suffered, not only him but his people too. That pain became his primary reason to become an Imperial Knight as he swore to protect the Empire's citizens.

Funnily enough, both of them shared history when it came to the military. The Knight being enlisted and practicing his force powers there before joining the Order. But what he was and could do had created an invisible wall of their making that even he couldn't pierce through sometimes.

Once the Imperials had gotten the door opened and cleared the hallway, Aeron would enter. Even though the suspicion and cold shoulder was a commonality, so was the Imperial's effectiveness. Likewise, he would be impressed how quickly they secured both their entrance and their exit. The Lieutenant ran a tight-fit squad and the Knight could always respect efficiency whenever he saw it displayed.

Levik offering him point, Aeron took the front of the group. Akin to his name, his movements were like that of a wolf's, a hunter, as he stepped past the soldiers silently in his blood crimson armor. A light would turn on before the elevator doors opened, allowing them all to step inside. He stood right in front of the door, the grip around his lightsaber tightening in preparation. Their descent down would be about a minute or so, the tension and adrenaline in the elevator spiking with each passing second. Before they chaos began, Aeron repeated Levik's orders for the men, "Stay behind me."

The group would finally arrive on the only lower level there was as the doors opened to reveal another hallway. This time it was occupied though as four droids immediately turned around to face them. Each were a Commando droid, high quality and identifying them as intruders without hesitation. As their rifles began to raise, Aeron dashed out of the elevator as his lightsaber came to life and he lashed out at the wall. Instantly, he used the force to rip off a large sheet of metal like a band-aid, levitating it in the air to act as a shield for the squad. They were in a kill corridor and the only way out was forward.

Aeron would use his lightsaber in the defense, deflecting bolts with it in his right hand to act as cover for the squad to shoot them. The droids began to adapt and one flipped over their cover, ending in a prone position in front of them as it was about to shoot their feet.

 

[Levik Karn]

Before Levik had time to react and bark orders, Knight Wulfheart spurred into action and used the Force to rip off a place of durasteel walling to shield him and the peacekeepers from assured death. The Force-user had just saved their lives, but there was no time to stand idly by and contemplate one's convictions and the lieutenant and his men immediately aimed their rifles and began to fire back a continuous barrage of bolts. "Cover the knight!" Levik heard himself say as he focused his own fire on the droid that was aiming for Aeron, giving his fellow Eriadian an opening to do what an enforcer of the Empire's will did best: destroy.

In the meantime two of the four commando droids went down under the barrage of bolts coming from eight automatic rifles. All of whom hit their target due to the defensive actions of the former Sith acolyte. "Advance!" Lieutenant Karn barked as he stepped forward with the intent to turn the death corridor against the now severely outnumbered droids. His men followed just in time for Levik to realize that he had already depleted his first power pack, so he duck down and let another peacekeeper overtake him as he tossed out the old and slammed in a new one.

It only took two seconds, but in combat they seemed to last an eternity.

@Orbit

 

[Aeron Wulfheart]

The barrage fired upon them was persistent but slowly it became thinned out from the return fire of the Imperials. The droid that had been prone aimed for Aeron's feet but with Levik's own fire, its attention fixated on him. Flicking his gaze to the left, noticing the opportunity and the fire upon lessened, he rotated the metal plate until the base faced them instead of the flank. His hand flung forward, the plate would respond and shoot out like a missile toward the commando on the ground, cleaving the droid in two about halfway with a metallic clang.

That left one last droid, allowing Aeron to deflect the remaining source of bolts only with his lightsaber. Even alone, the droid dodged whatever bolt he could, flipping and diving in-between cover in order to hold them off. When the Knight deflected a bolt that struck the droid in the chest, causing it to momentarily paused, he lashed out with the force immediately. The machine would be lifted and slammed into the ceiling before the move repeated with the ground. Even after that, the droid would lift its one arm, attempting to fire wildly. Aeron stepped forward quickly, first slicing the blaster in half before then twirling his blade to sink it through the commando's head.

The droid fluttered for a moment before shutting off, the Knight yanking his snow white blade out afterward. Aeron would first glance down the hallway to check they were clear before turning his visor to Levik. Even in the heat of battle, he hadn't failed to miss the Lieutenant being the one that prevented him from possibly being shot. A nod of gratitude would be offered to the man, his doubts from earlier beginning to slip away. He had his respect for not letting what he was affect the Lieutenant. Aeron would make sure Levik and his men made it out of this alive and got home.

Aeron would then look amongst the destroyed droids, finding the most intact one before lifting it with the force. It would be brought over to Sanders, the invisible energy keeping the commando stood up and supported like a mannequin in a shop. "Anything you can gather from it?" He asked with his gaze pointed down the hallway as he kept on guard, his lightsaber once again deactivated and resting in his hand. They had no idea they were facing and with the welcoming party they received, he imagined it would be helpful.

 

[Levik Karn]

Once again the terrifying power of the Force made short work of the droids. The knight nodded his appreciation to Levik, but the latter while seemingly appreciative as well, was slowly letting awe and fear mix. He considered the thing he had, the power he wielded in the Empire, the ranks he aspired to achieve still.. then how easily a Force user could take it all away from him. It seemed unnatural to view the Imperial Knight as anything but his superior, through fear, and he was reminded by the cold fact that even the warmaster -while openly imperial- was in fact a Force user, too. What was the difference between a knight and a Sith, really? The color of their saber was all 'simple folk' like Levik could discern them with.

Unfortunately for the party, when Officer Sanders tried to plug into the droid's brain he found a nearby dent and shook his head. "No use, sir-" he replied to the knight before suddenly twisting his head towards Levik. He had forgotten, too, that in the new hierarchy the knight was below the ordinary peacekeeper. "Keep your rifle up, officer Sanders. No delays, advance." It was all he could do to reestablish chain of command over their mission, even if it was just for show at the moment. At least on Taris, with the Freem Gotra, people obeyed them instead of their enforcers because the bills were paid by the Exchange, not the man with the gun. For the Empire.. loyalty was a particularly abstract thing.

The Empire wasn't even a decade old. Its rulers had always been Force users. It's military campaigns had been lead by Sith Lords. Its worlds defended under the command of Sith Councillors. All that separated Altaïr Din from Andraste was a philosophy. A religion. For the ordinary imperial, for Levik and the men under his command, following Wulfheart was natural. The only thing that could prevent them from doing so was the newly indoctrinated hatred for the Sith and the constant reminder to themselves that the Imperial Knights were lesser citizens.

The listening post wasn't an especially large facility. Advancing through the rubble of destroyed droids, Lieutenant Karn turned a corner to see the server farm in all its glory.

Servers on both sides of the hallway. They were active and Levik could signaled for the peacekeepers to lead on to the control room as he himself leveled with the knight, "The intel on the Sith that I have-" he began, knowing that Wulfheart didn't have the access levels to research the files of other Force users, "-is scarce. She's a champion who isn't particularly strong in the Force, hence her placement here. Good at hiding her presence, though, and apparently-"

He was interrupted by shouts and then blasterfire.

@Orbit

 

[Aeron Wulfheart]

Aeron's gaze had been fixated ahead and missed the interaction between Sanders and Levik. The tension that the Lieutenant filled was not reciprocated by the Knight. His only concern was completing the mission at hand and ensuring the soldiers made it out of the station alive. While he was lower in his rank, the Knight would act and speak out when he thought it necessary. He had always acted on his instinct and he would continue to do so.

When it was determined the droid was useless, he simply tossed it out of the way before fully facing forward. The squad turned the corner to find their primary objective, the server farm and hub of local Imperial data. It was reassuring that the servers still hummed, the information safe and intact. The Sith had not managed to corrupt everything they touched just yet.

Aeron was about to step after the squad but stopped when he noticed the Lieutenant waiting for him. He turned instead of following, his black visor offering nothing as it bore down on the Imperial while he listened. While he wasn't pleased the information was being shared then, it was better then not at all. The Knight would have been ready to cleave any Sith that stood in his way but it was always better to be prepared.

Before Levik could finish, the sound of combat interrupted him and not long after, the power would shut off to the listening outpost. The lights would snap off, darkness immediately infected their vision fully as the chaotic blaster fire continued. After a handful of seconds, the emergency power would flood on, scores of red lights turning on in succession and flooding the base in a red hue. Aeron would glance up toward the lights and then to the door that led to the control room, his legs automatically walking him after the sound of combat and toward what his real goal was. Before he got into the thick of it, he called back to Levik, a new tone to his voice, one steely and that of a predators, "I'll hold her off. Get the data."

The Knight rushed into the control room, his lightsaber summoned to his hand with the force as he activated it, the snow white blade providing an aura of clean light. A few men were killed already, a couple men either split in half or their limbs detached cleanly. The others were behind some cover, firing wildly in the darkness as they tried to hit wherever this Sith was. Right as Aeron entered, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and whipped his hand out for the force to latch onto each Imperial left standing. They were all pulled back in unison as a humanoid shape jumped on top of the console used cover, one of her lightsabers activated and slashed toward Sander's head but only missing by an inch.

Within the light of Aeron's lightsaber, all of them would be able to clearly lay eyes on their attacker. She was a Shistavanen, her amber eyes glowing in the dark as she held a lightsaber in a clawed hand, the other on her belt. She snarled at all of them but directly at the Knight too for his interference, her fangs bloodied. Before any of them could react, her lightsaber snapped off as she leaped back into the darkness quickly, disappearing in the large dark room.

Aeron snapped his visor down to the men, saying his piece quickly, "Help Levik." Without pause, he instantly rushed forward, jumping onto the console before leaping off of it and into the center of the room to chase after the Sith.

 

[Levik Karn]

Chaos. First contact with the enemy was a test that no kind of training could ever prepare you for. Screams filled Levik's comms as the lights died, flickered and then seemed to return more bright. More chaotic. The Lieutenant had no time to think, nothing stable to focus on and then.. The Imperial Knight offered it. A steady factor, something to focus and rally around. Levik was more grateful to the presence of the knight than he could ever have expected beforehand. "You heard him!" he shouted into his comms, "Get out of the control room now!" and he hadn't even ordered it fully when the first few peacekeepers flew backwards into the hallway. The knight had used the Force to push them away from danger. Heroism.

Others followed, then Sanders as well who closed the door behind him. "Knight Wulfheart said that-" he began, but Levik quickly pointed to another door further down the halway, "-he'll deal with the Sith. We head to that door. To the mainframe."

Retrieve the data. Burn the servers. Leave nothing behind. According to the official standing orders an Imperial Knight worth less than the data. If Lieutenant Karn was forced to choose between retrieving the data or saving the knight.. well, then only the latter choice was a career-ender. Something he was very comfortable with before this trip to Sullust, but now...

No. The Empire above all.


@Orbit