Castles in the Sand - Kentt's old guild's story arc

[Tuskano]

Star Destroyer Exactor

The room was a scant 14 by 10 space, a bed, a small table, and a foot locker were the only forms of furniture breaking the otherwise empty space. It was an enlisted NCO's quarters, and Theodorik had gotten to know every inch of its floor plan over tha last hour or so.

Theodorik had been sequestered in room since arriving on the Destroyer. His mind raced as to what was indeed going on. His team had gone completely silent, as well as his HQ. Something massive had happened, but he couldn't begin to draw any conclusions as to what.

Theodorik whirled around as the door whooshed open. It was his brother Aliksander, wearing a particularly impish grin.

"Aliks, explain to me what is going on here," he demanded, his left hand and index finger extended in his brother's direction, his right hand perched on his hip.

The stance amused Aliksander, it was one his father and uncles had often taken. He had witnessed many an arguement involving one or more Sturmwolke. Theodorik hadn't, he had been born years after his mother took him from Ordo and the Mandalorian lifestyle.

"Lieutenant Outlaw ... "Aliksander paused.

"Theo,"he continued, taking a less formal tone.

"There have been major developements with Operation Sand Castle"

Theodorik crossed his arms, squaring his shoulders to the Major.

"What I'm about to tell you Theo cannot leave this room, I am violating protocol just giving you the information I am giving you."

Theo sniffed loudly at that statement. Military beuracracy at its finest, he thought.

"As you know by now, this incident goes beyond a small band of thugs intent on causing a little trouble for the Empire. It was discovered by my special projects team quite early that there were Rebel connections to Flyingrider's group. Thats why I was brought in. My superior felt this was a good opportunity to kill two kreetle's with one stone, and I was told to bring a suspected Rebel spy onto our team to try and expose them."

Theodorik's expression instantly changed.

"You did what?"shouted Theo.

"Take it easy brother, I took excellent precautions. Anyway, our suspicions were correct, Antia Oatam was in fact a Rebel spy. We intercepted several communications between her and an Operative calling himself The Dragon. He came to Eclipse to take out Krienz and the twi'lek. I set him up, giving him the codes he needed to get in, but cutting off his escape. The communiques he thought were from Oatam were actually from me"

"You did all of this Aliks?" Theo stammered in disbelief.

"Ha, it gets better. The weapon we planted for him was a relatively weak striker pistol, and had ordered all the guards to wear flak vests on duty the day before until further notice. He knocked the wind out of a guard, and hit Krienz's projectile proof window twice, but the only casualty was the twi'lek. I couldn't figure a way to protect her during all of this."

"You let her be killed Aliksander?"

"Collateral damages my boy, her death will prove to be very small in the grand scheme of things. In case you're wondering, I took The Dragon out myself, it felt good to throw some knuckles again."

"So why the complete commo silence, what about everyone else?"

"Well, Ghost and Hellion were part of a little Op to catch that Tenaro character. They are resting comfortably on another part of the ship. Unfortunately, he was killed trying to escape by Captain Belle. But their radio silence was imperative to that Operation. Rockhead was sent to deal with Oatam, who has been eliminated. Unfortunately, Talon has gone missing during the ordeal. Rock is the only one that knows about the spy other than you and I. He is going to remain in Mos Entha until we can figure out what happened to Talon."

Outlaw stood in shock, the news was rather disarming, all of it. His own brother had placed lives in peril, and some had paid the price for it. Words failed him at the moment, he could only stare at the Ice Man, mouth open wide.

"The official word will be that Oatam and Talynsun are MIA, and the explosion in Entha was tied directly to the terrorist cell we've tracked to Tatooine. You team will be told very minimal information regarding the actual events. Captain Belle and Major Kassel will have full knowledge, as will you. Rockhead has some knowledge of the events, but not all. Honestly, I think I wrapped everything up rather neatly. All but one thing that is ..."

Theodorik sighed heavily.

"Whats that Aliks?"

"Flyingrider himself, I'm hoping you found out something on your trip to Jabba's, while I was doing the rest of the work."

Theodorik was too flustered to be offended by the remark.

"I have good information that Oroxido is back in Mos Carova. Which indicates he is comfortable. We were all over that area not long ago."

"He is comfortable because we let him think that all of his people suceeded, which they did not. I have a very special agent to send to Carova to deal with him then."

Theodorik pondered for a moment.

"Who is this special agent, brother?"

[Tuskano]

Mos Carova

Oroxido scurried about Mos Carova, getting his things together and trying to secure a ride out of town. The shuttle that normally flew in from Bestine hadn't arrived and the locals were slightly perplexed over it. He was sure his next move was putting some distance between himself and this place, which had served as his hide-out off and on during this entire caper. The local criminal element had provided him an opportunity to blend in, he thought.

Oroxido threw his satchel of belongings over his shoulder. He grinned a little, knowing that he now had enough credits to buy anything he wanted. He chuckled, allowing himself to relax slightly. He did it, he was getting away. He had bought an over priced land speeder and was preparing to head West, possibly to Mos Entha, where he would get passage off world. He turned to look at his temporary home one last time and sighed. Satisfied with himself, he threw his satchel into the passengers seat of the speeder. He was nearly ready to depart when he felt an unusually cool breeze on his neck.

Oroxido had no intentions of turning around to investigate the breeze, in his mind, he was already gone, and the local weather was no longer his concern. What did get his attention was the snap-hiss of that ancient weapon. He had never heard it before in person, but the stories were well told.

He got a sick feeling in his stomach as he whirled around. A woman stood before him, with a long mane of fiery red hair blowing out behind her. She was bathed in a blue-green light, her eyes glowing the same sinister hue. The air was still around them, yet her stark black robes flapped about her as if in a windstorm. The athletically built woman held her two hands above her head, clutching a lightsaber the color of the golden sands between them. She looked at Oroxido with a wide baneful smile.

Oroxido's next thought was his last.

"Oh please no ..." he muttered.

Agent Jade did as she was instructed, and with one violent slash the Sith Lord struck down Oroxido Flyingrider right there in the dusty streets of Mos Carova.

[Tuskano]

Star Destroyer Exactor

"A Sith Lord! Aliksander have you lost your fracking mind?!?!" Theodorik exclaimed.

Aliksander looked back at his brother, expression unchanging.

"It was for the good of the mission, all of it was,"Aliksander supplied matter of factly.

Theodrik's face drooped and he dipped his eyes toward the floor. He was sure he could have figured the entire mess out without resorting to these tactics, or would he? Having a spy within the unit was disturbing, as was the attempts on the lives of his platoon. Aliksander's plan had lured them all right into the rancor's den. He didn't want to admit it, but there was real genius behind the plan. It was the collateral damage involved that was tough to get over.

"So what now Aliks? What about Karana?"

"Her injuries are going to require us to keep her in hiding for awhile."he answered.

Theodorik leaned back into the table. He was glad that he was alive. He was especially glad the mission was completed, despite the reservations he had for the methodology his brother exhibited.

"I've told you all that I know right now Theo,"he concluded.

For now, Theo thought, it would have to be enough.



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Mos Entha

Rockhead snapped his datapad closed and pocketed it. He brought his hand to his chin and rubbed it as he digested what he had read. The information was unexpected, but not completely shocking. Agent Talon was the kind of woman that men dreamed about: strong, intelligent, beautiful. Her time off duty had been her own business, but now, this development.

"Pregnant," he said aloud.

The woman was anything but promiscuous. In the time he had known her, she did have a lover or two. Rock wondered if the father was anyone from the unit, or stationed in Mos Eclipse for that matter. Not that he was judgemental on the subject. Warriors had their own code of conduct. One of the things he knew was that you loved who you could and when you could.

His orders were clear, get Karana "Talon" Talynson to the safe house on Tatooine and keep her there until the child was born. This was not terribly unusual. It was obvious a pregnant female was of very limited use to the team. But the unsettling part of the story was the "why?", and why she had to be kept secluded.

It seems Major Sturmwolke has discovered a connection between Talon and one of the rebel's major players in the Outer Rim. Ice Man was reluctant to provide further details, and Rockhead knew not to pursue it. He had evolved into the team's, and by default Aliksander's, secret assasin. The Zabrakian relished the duty, it offered him the perfect balance. He enjoyed the thrill of the chase, the investigation, the intelligence gathering. But the final step, the coup de grace, the actual carrying out of Imperial Justice, now that thrilled him. He didn't risk jeopardizing his role with the team by asking for information he didn't really need.

Rockhead crossed the small apartment into the room where Karana slept. He would be moving her tonight under the cover of darkness, to a location being prepared by members of the team's extensive network of spies and loyalists. He was instructed not to give anyone else from the team any information on his current mission. Aliksander would explain the disapearance of all parties involved, and that was good enough for him.

Rockhead settled into a comfortable chair near Karana's bed and closed his eyes. He needed his rest, tonight he had to be sharp for his mission.

[Tuskano]

Mos Eclipse
Bldg 3242
Two Days Later

Theodorik stood alone in the elevator as it brought him underground. Major Sturmwolke, Aliksander, his brother, had called for a debriefing of their last mission, Operation Sandcastle. He had allowed extra time for the Operatives to rendezvous back at their Platoon base. Aliksander reasoned they could use the time to travel, and to recover mentally and physically. Theo scoffed aloud; he knew the mental recovery would take more than 48 hours.

He exited the elevator on sub-level 1. The walls were adorned with several pieces of Imperial themed artwork. He turned and smiled at the sign above the elevator, "Recon Commando School: Learn or Die".

Theodorik turned left and entered the Squad Room, the first portion of which was laid out like a lounge. On the walls surrounding him were mannequins adorned in Stormtrooper armor of various origins. Most was worn by specialized Stormtrooper units throughout the Civil War and the various peacekeeping efforts by the Corps. Three sets of Phase II Clone trooper armor were in one corner of the room. Amongst them was the black and gold Mark VI armor worn by Captain Nicholae Sturmwolke of the Republic’s Shadow Trooper Regiment.

The meeting room portion was laid out as expected, with rows of chairs all facing a large blue screen hung on one wall. Aliksander was standing to the right of the screen, engaged in small talk with Sgt Aerynn "Prowler" Sun, who was seated in the first row. She was undoubtedly more comfortable down here where it was kept cool, as her subspecies of human was intolerant of the heat. It was obvious Aliksander had taken a liking to her since his arrival, as she was not only a capable soldier but fiercely loyal to the Empire. She had that "mission first" attitude that Aliskander tried to breed in all his troops.

Occupying seats in the second row were Hellion and Ghost, who sat in apparent silence. Ghost had his right arm slung over his compatriot’s chair. Hellion was leaned forward, elbows on her knees, hair pulled back and messy, clearly exhausted. Ghost turned his head slightly and offered a small wave of his right hand to Theodorik. There was much tension in their body language.

CWO Nephrite aka Agent Jade sat in the end seat of the first row. Theodorik purposely avoided eye contact with her, now knowing that she was a Sith Lord. His visage dropped into a slight scowl at the thought. He shivered as he pictured her chopping down Oroxido like a lumberjack having at a tree.

Outlaw recognized several other Operatives having small parts in the mission sitting in the next few rows, Hawkbat, Razor, Onyx, Spider, Torch, and Fixer. By himself in the back row, was Rockhead. He sat relaxed with both arms lounged over the chairs flanking his. He wore a satisfied grin, and appeared to be completely at ease. Noticeably absent from the room were Talon and Delta.

Aliksander noticed his brother standing in the doorway and spoke.

“Outlaw, welcome home brother. Please, sit so we can get started.”

Theo slid into a seat at the end of the second row and exhaled sharply.

“Troops, as you all know, we are here for the debriefing from Operation Sandcastle.”

Everyone in the room turned their eyes on the Major. There was palpable apprehension in the room; the team was no doubt wondering where some of their teammates were, and why they weren’t in attendance.

“First, it is my unfortunate duty to inform you all that two of our Operatives, Sergeant Isala “Delta” Strider and Sergeant First Class Karana “Talon” Talynsun, have been killed in action.”

There was a collective gasp in the room. Death was a part of the military life, but it was still difficult to hear a friend of yours had been killed. You just did your best not to dwell on it. Outlaw knew the truth however, and glared at his brother with disdain. Aliksander’s expression was of genuine concern, expertly concealing his false information. The fact Strider was a spy had to be a guarded secret, but Theo was failing to see the logic in faking Talon’s death.

“We will be conducting a space burial for both women in two days time. Their names will be ceremoniously inscribed on the Imperial Special Forces Wall of Honor on Naboo the following day.”

Major “Ice Man” Sturmwolke was going to eject an empty casket into space to further his agenda.

“With the unfortunate part of the briefing behind us, I can officially declare Operation Sandcastle successfully concluded. All parties directly involved in the murder of our colleagues have met their end.”

He paused to let the room process the information.

“As you all know, Tatooine is very important to us in the search for the terrorists Kenobi and Skywalker, as they recently called that planet home.”

An image of Tatooine appeared on the screen behind the Major as he spoke. He scanned the room and continued.

“Our number of troops on Tatooine has of course been increasing to that end, this teams intentions was to attack our infrastructure there in hopes of stalling our investigation. We discovered a Rebel agent known as Xiss, real name Amarxiss Indeskies, posing as a gun runner in Anchorhead. Xiss was part of a team sent to Tatooine to disrupt the Imperial supply lines of this planet. It is becoming apparent that Xiss goaded a small time criminal into taking the shots at the Lambda Shuttles.”

“It seems Xiss supplied two members of his team, both Rebel Spec Ops troopers, to ensure the mission came to a successful end. The two troopers were intent on laying the entire blame on one Oroxido Flyingrider and his gang. We’ve discovered some manipulation of the Mos Eisley Police databanks to indicate that the two troopers were well established locals with extensive criminal ties to Flyingrider. The Rebels had hoped to sever any connection they had to the events, possibly to make them appear less like murderers.”

The group was taking in the information, most of it uncovered by Theodorik’s team. This was the first time he was hearing it bundled together into a neat package, however.

“After the shuttles were downed, the 220th responded swiftly to the area, and the plans for further attacks were abandoned.”

Aliksander produced a datapad and held it out at arm’s length.

“This was recovered on Xiss after Rockhead was forced to take him out. Here is what it contained.”

The screen behind Aliksander changed to a blown up view of Xiss’s datapad. Aliksander pocketed the original.

“Here you can see several messages to encrypted recipients calling off further attacks and organizing an escape for the team. It seems the intention of the Rebel group was to send Flyingrider's group to a resort on Dantooine where they were planning on disposing of them at a later time. We of course intercepted this information and killed one of the crew, a bothan named Satim.”

Both Aliksander and Theodorik noticed the satisfied grunts coming from the team whenever the name of a deceased terrorist was mentioned.

“Right about that time, the terrorist cell scattered and went into hiding. Operative Ghost tracked Flyingrider to a criminally active city name Mos Carova. We monitored his activity while we flushed his gang out into the open. Unfortunately this is when the 220th itself became a target, and this is when I was assigned to the team.”

“Olann Martell was able to make it to Talus, but our Signals Intelligence people were able to pin his signal down to Fort Keen. After he took a few hostages, we were forced to kill him lest we put innocent lives at risk. He held information on his person that led to the two Rebel Spec Ops troopers, Tenaro Kirett and Davig Dustwaver.”

That was completely false Theodorik knew. Aliksander had picked up the information on the Rebels from monitoring Strider’s communiqués.

“Through some of our less than desirable connections, we provided false information on some 220th Operatives to these two men, hoping to lure them into the open for capture. The timing on one of our plans was a little rushed, and Hellion and Ghost were placed in harm’s way. I apologize for that, but we discovered the plans for that shuttle entirely too late.”

Hellion and Ghost both shuddered as they thought back to how close they were to being blasted into a million pieces.

“A Captain from the 268th was able to spot Kirett shortly after the explosion and attempted to apprehend him, but was again forced to kill him as he tried to escape. Almost simultaneously Dustwaver, whom Imperial Intelligence had come to call the 'Dragon', brazenly attempted to assassinate Colonel Sturmwolke.”

Aliksander allowed some pride to seep into his voice.

“Of course, I personally dealt with the 'Dragon'. It was at this point we no longer needed Flyingrider alive, and so we sent in a team to take him out. In an ironic twist of fate however, our team discovered Flyingrider had been a robbery victim that morning, and lay stabbed in the streets of Mos Carova. His body was positively identified after it was ‘recovered’ by our local assets.”

Theodorik frowned. His brother had a lot of information to hide. The younger Sturmwolke still hadn’t decided what he was going to do with in depth knowledge of the mission. He had considered sharing it with Hellion and Ghost, but wanted to see exactly what the official version was first.

“Currently, Imperial Inquisition has opened several investigations based on our findings, but for our purposes, Operation Sandcastle is officially ended.”

He took a step forward and paused as the screen slowly faded into a rotating Imperial Crest.

“I have several new assignments and some travel orders for most of you. I will allow all of you one days time to rest and recover before I give them to you. Dismissed.”

The group began to talk amongst themselves and rise from their seats.

Aliksander quickly added, “and great job everyone.”

[Tuskano]

Epilogue:

3 Months Later

Aliksander was reading yet another communique from his brother, the newly promoted Brigadier General Krienz Sturmwolke. His twin brother was now in control of several specialized teams of Stormtroopers, and had been assigned to Imperial Center as a result. There had been doubts at one time about the validity of the 220th's existence. Their performance during Operation Sandcastle had earned them a massive funding boost, as well as an increase to 50 assigned Operatives. The teams were now engaged in several different operations at once.

Lieutenant Theodorik "Outlaw" Sturmwolke had volunteered for a mission in the Yavin System and had barely been heard from in the past 3 months. He was accompanied by two other members of the 220th that were assigned specifically for the mission.

Sergeant First Class Kentt "Ghost" Em'asep had virtually disappeared. He was tasked with a risky deep cover operation and had all of his records cleared off of the 220th's databases. He was last seen at the funeral for Strider and Talysun, it is assumed by the members of the team that he assumed another identity and may be gone for quite awhile, possibly forever.

Major Aliksander "Ice Man" Sturmwolke was named the CO of the 220th of course. He, unlike his twin brother Krienz, often went into the field and conducted operations with the Operatives. Sergeant Major Xenea "Hellion" Foxx became Aliksander's CSM, and continues to guide the Platoon and keep her new CO out of trouble.

Lieutenant Athena "Onyx" Kobol stepped up to take greater leadership in the unit, mostly filling the gap for the absent Outlaw.

The whereabouts of Sergeant First Class Karana "Talon" Talynsun has been a closely guarded secret. The majority of the unit, save Rockhead, Ice Man, and Outlaw, still believe she is dead. There had been rumors of her sighting on Corellia and other places, all dismissed by Aliksander of course.

Staff Sergeant Ruh "Rockhead" Shiod continues to carry out the bloodiest of the missions for the 220th. It is rumored that he will be receiving a promotion in the upcoming days.

The funerals for the fallen Operatives had been very moving. The entire platoon was in attendance, with the exception of Shiod, to which Foxx and Em'asep took great offense. It indicated to "Ghost" Em'asep that something was out of the ordinary with their demise.

Receiving Citations for Operation Sandcastle were:

COL Krienz Sturmwolke, Bronze Star
MAJ Aliksander Sturmwolke, Imperial Cross, Silver Star
MAJ Melyssa Kassel, Bronze Star
CPT Shellbee Belle, Imperial Cross, Silver Star
1LT Theodorik Sturmwolke, Imperial Cross, Silver Star
CWO Nephrite, Silver Star
CSM Xenea Foxx, Imperial Cross, Silver Star
SFC Karana Talynsun, Imperial Medal of Honor (posthumously)
SFC Kentt Em'asep, Imperial Cross, Silver Star (record sealed)
SSG Ruh Shiod, Imperial Cross, Silver Star
SGT Aerynn Sun, Silver Star
SGT Isala Strider, Imperial Medal of Honor (posthumously)
CPL Zehrmatt Gestaad, Bronze Star








The End

Hope you enjoyed the read if you managed to read through it all.