The Men In Red

[Cedric Dorn]

“Put him with the others.” Kir gave the order to another one of the Royal Guardsmen standing outside of the small village hut. The man in red armor gave a small nod to the Lieutenant and then pointed his blaster rifle into the back of the village elders head. The man gave a shake slightly, clearly trying to nudge the Red Guard away from him. Seconds later however he landed on his face with a heavy thud, his legs kicked out form under him by the Royal Guard.

Kir gave a sigh, and then jerked his head over towards the side of the building.

The same Red Guard that had thrown the man onto the ground picked him up and tossed him into a line up of twenty or so men. Each one of them was dressed in camouflage, greens and browns that were clearly meant to allow the men to blend into the surrounding forest, a stark contrast from the bold red armor that the Royal Guard wore.

Yet it hardly seemed to matter, along with the tied up men more than two dozen corpses wearing the same clothes lay about the village. In stark contrast, only a single red armored man lay respectfully posed on a small pyre nearby.

A big part of this were the four AT-HK's that sat in the back of the village, each crewed by some of the Royal Guardsmen. Of course part of their task here had been completed, route out the dissidents cropping up in the area and retrieve the data they had stolen. The dissidents had been thoroughly routed out, either killed or captured, now all they had to do was retrieve the data.

This meant interrogations.

Kir didn't fancy doing such things. It wasn't that his stomach was weak or that he couldn't handle the blood, but the more...harsh interrogation techniques had always turned his stomach, he himself much preferred the threat of swift executions, sometimes following through on the promise.

Still, it had to be done, he only hoped nobody interrupted them.

[member="Alen Na'Varro"]

 

[Aran Finn]

He had received intelligence regarding the presence of the Royal Guard on this backwater, puissant little world far from civilization, so he had come personally. Na'Varro was firmly of the opinion that some things were best done yourself. Leave things in the hands of subordinates, and they would generally mess up. So far though, the Sith Lord had no trouble of that regard in the Empire of the Hand. Old habits die hard, however.

[member="Jared Ovmar"] stood beside him, watching the unfolding battle. Tactically camouflaged insurgents held the line against the ostentatiously red-armoured attackers, maintaining a standard defensive position, until a simple right flank using the dead ground to the rear combined with heavy armour broke their lines. The Royal Guard were professional and disciplined, the bearded man noted.

"They aren't bad," he said to the Grand Moff. "Their TTPs aren't exactly our doctrine, but they're definitely good enough."

It was over quickly. Na'Varro had seen all he needed to say. He waited for mop up operations to begin in earnest, then analyzed the unit's harbour position, looking for chinks. Noting an exposed pit with a rather wide left and right of arc, Na'Varro, with Ovmar in tow, ghosted through the defensive perimeter without too much trickery. Now the time for sneaking was over ... instead, he thought he'd make a show of it.

Clad in his white High General's uniform, the Sith Lord paced towards the middle of the courtyard before coming to a halt. Their reaction, he mused, would be priceless.

[member="Lieutenant Kir"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Alen Na'Varro"] [member="Lieutenant Kir"]

I wasn’t entirely sure if it was a smart idea to just waltz through their defenses and show their incompetence, that was the number one way to have all of them decide to attack us at once, last thing I wanted was to get dogpilled by a bunch of power armored hooligans. But Na’Varro was already speeding through their parameters, and I ain’t just gonna let him run alone… that would have reflected badly on my reputation; the last thing I wanted was to be known as another Tyrin Ardik.

My mind briefly touched Ne’varro’s and I spoke strictly through the Force.

‘You are buying drinks after this is over.’

Then I too waited for the reaction of the Royal Guard, this was going to be interesting.

 

[Cedric Dorn]

[member="Alen Na'Varro"] [member="Jared Ovmar"]

Some lesser men would have panicked. Imperial Army would have scattered, Stormtroopers would have jumped, but not the Imperial Guard.

They were surprised to be sure. Two men randomly appearing amidst their ranks out of the blue? It was enough to catch anyone off guard. Yet the Red Guards did not act on the surprise. Instead they fell back on what had been drilled into each of their skulls for decades.

Each and every single one of them raised their weapons as soon as the two figured appeared on their HUDS. The men around Kir drew their S-11 rifles and pointed them at the two men, Kir himself drew a force staff from the magnetic grip on his back. In the back, the Royal Guard who had been facing away from Kir turned on their heels, weapons coming about to turn towards the two men. The only soldiers that did not move, were the ones with weapons pointed at the prisoners. Their black visors remained firmly on those kneeling before them.

The Royal Guards reacted instantly, and with deadly silence.

“Identify yourselves.” Kir said looking over the two men. He saw no personal cloaking device on either of their clothing, and no armor that would support such a system. His immediate guess was that they were Jedi, though judging from the front man's crisp white uniform he was an officer of some sort, though he couldn’t see the insignia's on the shoulder.

Every Red Guard in the village held their fingers on their trigger, ready to fire if the two men moved.

 

[Aran Finn]

"High General Alen Na'Varro of the Empire of the Hand." Na'Varro relaxed his shoulders, standing easy. He indicated to his accomplice. "This is Grand Moff [member="Jared Ovmar"]."

He eyed the Guard who spoke, noting the lack of rank insignia with approval. Not even lance jacks wore their hook out field, it was basic discipline but there was a tendency for elite guard units like the Royal Guards to get a little showy. Not these guys, though. Very professional.

"You're in charge here?" he asked, recognising that almost every single Guard was pointing his weapon inwards, at he and Ovmar. "You might want to still maintain some all round defence. You're still at risk of a counter-attack."

The bearded man shrugged, then placed his hands in his pockets.

"What was your name and rank?"

[member="Lieutenant Kir"]