NationStates Jolt Archive

I'm looking to give a puppet of mine a baptism of fire in RPing. (This nation, obviously.)

My current idea is a short FT war. All in one planetary system. Possibly a humanitarian intervention by <your nation> to save my people from their own government.

Any takers...

OOC: I'd be interested in this idea. My nation is a mercenary-orientated clan, and would be unlikely to get involved unless paid. Is there an anti-government faction with large amounts of money on your world?

OOC: Can certainly arrange a political faction to get in touch, though it may be a government faction rather than dissidents. Ideally I'd like a nation to invade though.

A few fact(oid)s.
Machiavegli population - 1.63 billion.
Standing navy personnel - 6 million. Standing army non-existent, subsumed within the navy.
Internal security personnel - 20 million, varying from Special Forces down to riot police and regular, paid informers.

Machiavegli is a dictatorship, where fear is rife and the population repressed. Atrocities the government will admit to include experimentation on non-consenting members of the public (convicts usually); the deliberate release of a biological warfare agent on the civilian population of a space station; asteroid bombardment of a (civilian) planetary settlement.

John Urbano was a high official in the Autarchy. Having served as an aide to the Autarch when that great personage was a mere Commander in the Internal Service (Internal Security), he had been elevated when the Autarch had...attained his position, to be head of "External Affairs", meaning the settlements on other planets in the system.

Of late, however...he sighed to himself. He had set his sights higher. Yet the Autarch was not going to move without a fight...
The military was carefully neutral. Knowing that a coup was a regular occurrence, they didn't get involved, in return for crushing revolts and retaining their budget. That meant he could ignore them...but couldn't use them in his attempt.
Internal would initially fight for the Autarch, and had some highly trained soldiers, including 5,000 around the Palace.
So he needed, quietly, to obtain, and get to the vicinity of the Palace, sufficient soldiers to overcome the Palace garrison, and swiflty take command at the heart of the Autarchy - at which point all would fall into place.
Calling for an aide, he instructed that discreet feelers be put out to all the known mercenary organisations.

Bump. Looking for a nation to invade.

The Red City, In The Heart Of The Crimson Vaal Protectorate

The retired Grand Field Master Sergei Vega sat at his desk. Though he didn't want to admit it, he was bored. He eyed the snow falling in the stunning plaza outside the capitol building, there would be nutcases trying to get him to stop the snow falling sometime this week probably. The door to his office opened.

"Sergei, I have a report from our 'foreign investigators'," the man said.

"Hm, let's hear it Polovnik Crasov."

The man, instead of speaking, opened his breifcase and exposed documents of a forgein nation in a secluded part of nowhere. He gave Vega the paper and the Kreich browsed through it and saw quite a difficult story. The Nation's government was surprizingly like his own but it seemed... different. He finished skimming the document and looked at Crasov.

"I think that we should enact article fifty seven on this case, sir."

"Agreed."

The article simply stated that countries in need of help were better served under a different government. The article also said that the Vaalite government should declare war to this end. It should look decent for his chair, but the Kreich would have to be careful not to arouse the other nations in his area of his activities.

"Send the eigth and tenth armies. Along with Harpov's newest batch of AKIMOs," Vega said in a cheerful tone, perhaps too cheerful.

The eigth and tenth armies were each eight hundred thousand strong. And together, with the new batch of AKIMO Supersoldiers, were sixteen hundred thousand -- and of course with the AKIMOs -- twenty strong.

Vega quickly filled out the necessary papers and handed them to Crasov, he would then set the gears in motion for transportation, command, and dispatch of the men going to war. Vega searched his memory for the Nation's name, he had already forgotten.

OOC: Sorry to take so long. I waited for a while without a reply and I thought you'd signed off for the night.

IC:

Fedor Ansu sat in his private quarters aboard the Dreadnaught-class cruiser, the Darasuum (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Dreadnaught-class_heavy_cruiser), a datapad in his hand. A private interest was scouring the length and breadth of the galaxy's major mercenary organisations, offering a considerable bounty for a medium-scale operation. They were obviously inexperienced, as he knew several groups of ill-repute had been included in the search. Fedor activated the wall-mount comm by his cot.

"<Helm, this is Fedor. Set a course for the 'Machiavegli' system>"

"<Aye, Captain,>" came the reply. "<ETA six hours.>"

OOC: Give me an idea of the architecture.

OOC: The architecture is fairly conventional baroque once you get into the building. Outside a free-fire clearing of c.200 yards, it's surrounded by forest to a depth of a couple of miles, with tracks through the forest. At the edge you have a wall around the forest, and outside that is a plain.
Your men will be brought in to a closed military spaceport a few miles away. Unforced landing, from that point in you'll be facing c.5,000 trained and committed soldiers, but not massively heavily equipped, as in no heavy vehicles, and nothing more than anti-tank rocket/light mortar. They won't know you're coming, but will spot you when you hit the outer perimeter beyond the forest.
Essentially once the Autarch is dead, it's paytime.

OOC: Crimson Vaal, sounds good, be prepared for a bit of fleet action as you come into the system.

IC: "Sir!"
"What is it now, Jeffries?" Urbano was fed up.
"We have word from a mercenary organisation. They'll take on the job, and they're only a few hours out."
"The name of this organisation?"
"Clan Ansu."
"Ah yes, I have heard of them. Very well, that will do. Send them directions to the spaceport; I will meet them there."
"Yes sir."

The Darasuum touched down on a Capital-grade landing pad inside a fenced compound. There were a number of prefab structures within the fence, and guard towers at regular intervals. Steam hissed from hydraulics as the front loading ramp opened, revealing a cargo area littered with huge tarp-covered shapes. Fedor Ansu, accompanied by two Mandalorians, strode down the ramp to meet his employer.

OOC: I use 60BBY Mandalorians (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Mando'ade), all Jango-lookalikes. The tarpaulin is covering a number of deactivated Balmorran Arms X-1 Viper (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/X-1_Viper) Battle Droids. Ph34r them.

Royal Vaalite Fleet Flagship, RCVF Io II

Grand Fleet Master Vlerov went over his instructions from the High Command. He was on what was considered a class seven humanitarian mission, simply invade and destroy the Government of the Nation in question with minimal collateral damage. The Nation was known -- according to intelligence sources -- as Machiavegli, and they had requested aid against their oppressive Government, also according to intelligence sources.

Vlerov peered out of the fortified window out of his office, the black tendrils of VL-Space, the drive system he had helped create, lanced outward and around his ship. A message passed across his vision, directed from the ship experimental AI-core.

Now nearing target system, identifying points of interest and post-jump locations.

The new AI, called by the scientists as "Illyana" was represented by a stunningly beautiful woman in the holo projector. He eyed the computer program carefully, women usually distracted people from doing their jobs, but he didn't have any say in this, so he followed orders and punched the green button.

"Take us out, preferably at a safe distance," he commanded through the Comm in his heavy accent.

"Exiting VL-Space, aye."

Vlerov felt a strange decelleration as his seventeen kilometer ship 'slowed' and went to normal space, leaving the gripping red depths of VL-Space behind them. The other ships in his task force exited within seconds as well, almost in perfect formation, alsmost.

The force consisted of his battleship, the Io II, the carrier Transcendence and the destroyers Krazny III and Dauntless. The carrier reaching fifteen kilometers and the destroyers measuring eight, the Vaalites had always had large egos. Vlerov walked onto the Command Room deck.

"Sir, preliminary sensor sweep indicates that this is the place."

"Good work, three quarters ahead, alert level yellow."

Flashing lights and alert klaxons answered his command, and the ship, and the rest of the fleet, prepared for whatever would come.

"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!"
"What!?!"
"Unidentified fleet just popped out of hyperspace. Four massive contacts, no others detected."
"Marshal the fleet. We'll give them a good pounding, make them go away...one way or another."
"Ayeaye sir!"
The orders were issued. The fleet had come out in the outer system; the response was marshalling from the inner system; they would probably meet at or near the populated, and somewhat defended, gas giant moon of Tanyth.
(Think Ganymede, orbiting Jupiter). The 100,000 people there were put on full alert, and the garrison of 5,000..well, they were terrified.
_____________________________________
On the surface of Maciavegli, Urbanus met the mercenaries.
"Gentlemen, I am John Urbanus, and this is the airfield. The target is 10km that way, my aides have full tactical details for you" a pair of flunkies came forward with maps, guard strengths, and the like "and the objective is solely to kill the Autarch. His picture, and biometrics, are also in the information. Any collateral damage is permissible, but not encouraged, as I should like to live in the Palace afterwards."

RCVF Io II, Crimson Vaalite Flagship

Vlerov walked back and forth across the Command Room, the sensors had not pick up anything as of yet, but that meant nothing at this range. He went towards the helm and pointed out a planet on the helmsman's screen.

"Take us into orbit around this gas giant, and don't let us hit one of those moons."

The man laughed, "aye, sir."

The task force turned away from their course and headed towards the gas giant, the frame of the Io gleamed in the sunlight and the red stripe down the hull glowed a dark red. Vlerov thought about the possibility of--

"Sir! We have detected incoming contacts!"

"Oh really? Power up our S-Yamato cannons and load missiles, now, and open a channel, all freqs please." Vlerov gathered his graying hair and stood to his full height, nearly two units, but not quite.

This is Grand Fleet Master Alexander Vlerov of the Flagship Io II from the Crimson Vaal Protectorate, you will stand down or we will be forced to oblitherate your vessels. We come to help you, please do not take our agressive posture the wrong way.

Vlerov keyed the kill button and sank into his chair. Politics was so tiresome..

"Its never easy..."

OOC: My people have a Russian-esq accent, just a tidbit for you. and a Unit is equal to one meter.

On the surface of Maciavegli, Urbanus met the mercenaries.
"Gentlemen, I am John Urbanus, and this is the airfield. The target is 10km that way, my aides have full tactical details for you" a pair of flunkies came forward with maps, guard strengths, and the like "and the objective is solely to kill the Autarch. His picture, and biometrics, are also in the information. Any collateral damage is permissible, but not encouraged, as I should like to live in the Palace afterwards."

Fedor and his officers studied the maps and lists, and relayed the Autarch's portrait onto the Darasuum's shipboard display screens. Fedor looked back to Urbanus,

"Give me four hours," he said in Galactic Basic,"and I'll have you sitting on that throne."

-----

For an hour the armoured figures of Mandalorian heavy infantry marched down the cargo ramp to form up in two five-deep lines over half a mile long. As the last men marched from the ship, Mandalorian engineers began to remove the tarpaulin from the covered shapes.
Eight point two metres high, and weighing over a hundred tons each, the forty X-1 Viper heavy battle droids lumbered down the ramp, their heavy blaster cannons squat, ugly, and vibrating with concentrated energies. Each step gave a metallic clang, and the attention of the Machiaveglian party was locked upon their fearsome forms. Fedor spoke to his battalion commanders,

"<Ready to march, weapons and ammunition only. Leave the packs by the loading ramp.>"

-----

Lieutenant-Colonel Sullic made his way through the foliage as his company neared the edge of the forest. The columns and decorative architecture of the palace could be seen between the alien trees, and he activated his commlink.

"<Sullic to battalion two, all halt, snipers to forward to the treeline.>"

Behind him, nearly nine hundred Mandalorians stopped in their tracks, while a small number snaked their way forward. In their arms they cradled long-barrelled energy rifles, with macroscopes, heat-sensors and nightsights mounted along the top. They whispered targets to each other over the squad-level radio, and their sergeant signalled to Sullic when his squad was ready. Sullic switched his comm to battalion-level orders.

"<Fedor, this is Sullic,>" he said. "<Snipers in position.>"

"<Begin the attack,>" crackled his headset.

Sullic motioned to the sniper-sergeant, who had been watching him, and moved his hand from right to left at waist level. The sergeant nodded, resumed his firing position, and pulled the trigger. Two hundred yards away, the twelve Machiaveglian royal guardsmen on watch died as their heads disintegrated into a red mist, punctuated with bone fragments.
Sullic stood on his feet, raised his arm, and motioned his men forwards. Nine hundred Mandalorian warriors got to their feet and began to jog forwards. Behind them, battalions 1 and 3 did the same, and close to three thousand heavy infantry and forty tank droids loped forwards in total silence. At the head of the column, Sullic motioned for his men to spread out, and the mass split into hundreds of individual squads. He sprinted the last fifty yards to a ground-floor window, and raised the butt of his DC-15S. The pane broke easily, and Sullic's corporal came forward, a frag grenade in his hand. He launched the detonator through the shattered window as fifty others did the same. The battalion crouched as though of one mind, and three seconds passed before every window on the west wing of the palace erupted in a thin cloud of dust, furniture fragments, and in some cases, blood.
Sullic put his hand on the window sill, a war cry in his throat, and threw himself bodily over the threshold. The inside of the palace was flooded with an impenetrable cloud smoke and dust, but the filters on his visor switched to infrared and Sullic saw the cooling bodies of two men on the ground in front of him. Ahead was a doorway, both doors blown from their hinges. A figure ran into the room, showing up as a conflagration of reds, greens and yellows through his visor. The man could clearly see nothing in the fug, and Sullic's blaster came up, spitting two burning bolts of blue energy into the figure's chest, sending him flying to the ground.

"<FOR MANDALORE AND THE CLAN!>" Screamed Sullic as he ran. "<HARD AND FAST!>"

EDIT: Just realised that you said there were sentries before we entered the forest. Damn. Assume them dead, I suppose.

This is Grand Fleet Master Alexander Vlerov of the Flagship Io II from the Crimson Vaal Protectorate, you will stand down or we will be forced to oblitherate your vessels. We come to help you, please do not take our agressive posture the wrong way.


"Well, that's confidence. They only have four vessels!" turning to the CommandNet
"You know the plan. Hit 'em hard boys."

There had only been gathered 20 capital ships thus far. None was of a size with the enemy vessels, but the battlewagons stretched a kilometre end to end; there were eight of them, and 12 cruisers, which were more like 750 metres.
In support they had smaller vessels, from destroyers one quarter their size down to corvettes of only 50m or so.
Their crews were already at battle stations; their weapons already armed. So to commence, a salvo of superlucic (FTL) missiles was fired. Four from each capital ship, and one from each of the 20 destroyers, so 100 missiles; each flickering between hyperspace and normal space, to evade weaponry in each; and all initially focussed on the closest enemy destroyer.

"<Fedor, this is Sullic,>" he said. "<Snipers in position.>"

"<Begin the attack,>" crackled his headset.

The watchmen were so incompetent as to risk execution after horrible torture, or they would have if the attackers hadn't managed that. Fortunately their deaths had alerted the automated alarm system.
"ShitshitshitshitSHIT!"
The Commander of the Guard was understandably annoyed.
"All units, slow em down."
To keep the Guard out of the way of the dignitaries, they were barracked in an underground facility, the entrances to which were at the back of the Palace.
3,000 of the Guard were currently there; the other 2,000 around the grounds, and by all appearances already bypassed and likely useless.
The thousand men ready to go poured out of the barracks; a company of a hundred rushed to the Autarch's Chambers, while the remainder prepared to fight a desperate rearguard action to cover his escape.
(OOC: That hundred is the lot you need to deal with, if they fail then you can ignore the rest, if they succeed you need to fight all the rest of them).

OOC: The attack isn't particularly subtle, and I'll likely have to deal with them all anyway. That's what I brought the X-1's for, really - to break any deadlock. And walls, and things.

IC:

Fedor Ansu led the second battalion, which veered left towards the main courtyard in front of the Palace. His men would pin down anyone trying to sally from the barracks on the other side of the open square, whilst Sullic and the main attack cleared their way through the halls to the Autarch's chambers.

"<T-21's forward!>" yelled Fedor, and two Mandalorians armed with thick-barrelled light repeaters set their weapons up at the corner of the west wing. Across the courtyard, a score of black-uniformed guardsmen burst from the main barrack doors. The repeaters opened up, spitting scarlet death and cutting down half of them in seconds. The remaining men retreated back through the doors, firing wildly in the direction of the gunners.
A great coloured-glass window decorated the end of the building, and it near-exploded inward when Fedor fired. He ordered his troopers inside,

"<Firing positions at the windows facing the barracks!>" he yelled. "<Pin them down!>"

From the other side of the plaza, the guardsmen had managed to fortify their barracks and were firing a barrage of solid-slug rounds at the two gunners, one of who had taken a shrapnel wound in the left lower arm and was bracing his weapon on the other's shoulder.
As Mandalorians poured into the building, the barracks was bombarded with a volley of aimed blaster bolts, several of which tore into the faces and upper bodies of those guardsmen at the windows. They fell back, several dead and more screaming their pain, but were immediately replaced by fresh troops. Near a thousand guardsmen were in the barracks, but they couldn't reinforce the Autarch and that meant Fedor's objective was complete.

-----

<Proceed, coordinate 1151,8395, authorisation Fe1138a>
<Unit 33 proceeding to designated coordinate>
<Initiate Protocol - Combat>
.
<Protocol compl/Hostile units present/ete, charging weapons>
.
.
.
<Weapons char/Registering hull impacts/ged>
<Target sighted>
<Target locked>
<Firing>

-----

The twin incandescent bolts of energy lanced into the right side of the guard barracks, burning through concrete, steel and flesh with equal impunity. Five X-1 Vipers rounded the west wing lumbered into a firing line facing the building, their weapons spitting. The X-1 fielded a pair of energy weapons so powerful that they were normally fitted to capital-class vessels and qualified as turbolasers, and the repeated blasts of energy made the stone boil. The great war machines broke into a loping gait as they pushed forwards across the square, and small-arms fire broke uselessly over their armoured hides. From behind them, Fedor Ansu led his troopers toward the crumbling barracks, their blasters blazing. The few royal guardsmen who had escaped the turbolasers were ripped apart by the ionised rounds as they attempted to flee into the grounds or main structure.
Fedor turned to his men, and ordered the sergeants to turn them towards the main gates. The Mandalorians sprinted up to the entrance to the Palace, forming into breaching teams for the doors and windows. It was unknown how far Lieutenant-Colonel Sullic's troops had progressed through the building, so orders were given to use flash grenades only. A couple of seconds passed, and the dull thump of detonations was heard. Fedor Ansu led the attack through the gates, and after a second of blindness, his eyes adjusted to the darkness within the building and he saw a huddled group of guardsmen hiding behind a marble-topped table. From the corridor to his left, blaster rounds tore their way through the air and blew chunks of stone from the walls, and Fedor knew that he had flanked his enemy and that he could now link up with Sullic and the main attack. He flipped his blaster onto full automatic, and emptied a spread of bolts into the cowering guardsmen.

"<GLORY! (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Kote_Darasuum)>" he yelled, "<GLORY ETERNAL!>"

From the left corridor Fedor heard the sound of Mandalorian voices in reply, "<THE STARS PALE BESIDE OUR MIGHT!>" and armoured figures broke cover from their barricade to stand beside him.

"<With me!>" called Fedor. "<Sons and daughters of Mandalore! Follow me to victory!>"

His warriors numbered greatly, the enemy was discouraged by their losses, and Fedor Ansu led the charge deeper into the Palace of the Autarch.

OOC: Some response from the guard, if you please.

On Board the RCVF Io II

"Sir, I don't beleive it."

"What is it?"

"There is a fleet orbiting the gas giant, and they have fired missiles, big ones."

"Activate--"

"It won't work sir, the warheads are constantly slipping in and out of normal space, rendering them impossbile to hit," the man stated matter-of-factly, his interruption annoyed Vlerov.

"All right, could we use our fuel packs to try to dodge them?"

"Actually, sir, the missiles have already impacted the Dauntless, their engines and weapons have been nullified, no further damaged systems other than that, they are requesting aid."

"Damn it. Feed targeting data to the Krazny, we are going to give them a hot plasma bath."

The weapons tech looked shocked, "Are you sure, sir? A salvo of that magnitude will make further use of that weapon impossible for several hours, possibly days."

"I'm sure, target and fire!"

In the inky black of space, the front end of the Io II and the Krazny III glowed a bright red in pinpointed locations, six on the Io, four on the Krazny. Each represented enough firepower to turn a small moon into a miniature asteroid field. The angry red blasts shot out, rocking the ship backwards, and spreading apart for maximum damage. Vlerov wondered if the ships had thought out their plan completely. In the Royal Fleet's short history, no battles had been necessarily lost, but one had ended in a violent Nova explosion, ending further relations with the habitants of the system. Vlerov keyed the Comm.

"This is Vlerov to the Transcendence, prep ground forces for surface attack and launch on my order," the blue light winked on, signaling that the Carrier had recieved and understood.

Vlerov watched the viewscreen as the bloodred wave from the S-Yamato cannons washed over the enemy fleet. He smiled.

OOC: Ansu, well played, but you've RPed a lot of results against my troops. I don't mind particularly, because this is a fight I'm aiming to lose, but some would see Near a thousand guardsmen were in the barracks, but they couldn't reinforce the Autarch and that meant Fedor's objective was complete., certainly, as God-mod. Well, I'll leave you to it. Ask if you want any details, but you seem to have things under control. Now, the fleet...

IC: Exultation over the effects of the missiles was the last emotion for most of the fleet. Seven of the eight battleships were lost outright; the eighth fled, nursing damage. The cruisers had been a little more spread out, so two survived relatively intact, but the other ten were lost. And of the destroyers; well, their shielding was less effective, so all twenty were no longer functioning.
The fleet would return to action in the asteroid belt; they would learn from this defeat; but for now the broken remnants of the force that had stood fled, leaving Tanyth unprotected, with only a few hundred hardened soldiers to protect it from the wrath of the invaders. The fixed defences were all to be found in-system.

OOC: Ansu, well played, but...
OOC: You said yourself they were there, and they can hardly charge through blaster fire, can they? Any bugger who stepped outside that door would have been dead within three seconds.

I'm having some trouble with my keyboard tonight, so I may not be able to get another reply up until it's fixed. [press 'p', get '6', that kind of thing.]

RCVF Io II

Fleet Master Vlerov peered at the holographic display of the newly formed debris field. His gambit had indeed worked, and the enemy defense fleet lay in shambles, with only a few ships still able to limp away. Vlerov saw the defenses by the gas giant now, and his ships would probably have taken unecessary damage had the defense fleet waited in ambush. He ordered a mini-jump, a simple fast VL jump that took a whole two seconds, one to get on the outside 'right' of the system, and the other to get to the 'back' of the system, to avoid the defenses orbiting the gas giant. Vlerov waited uneasily, though thought to be 100% safe, doing a jump so short made the ship rumble and toss, upsetting most stomachs.

Fifteen minutes later, a glowing red portal opened and the three ships of the task force, negative eight fighter squadrons, went through, emerging seconds later on the side of the system, and disappearing to the opposite side.

The most habitable planet looked about right, with oceans stretching across the surface. Vlerov spotted the capital, even from twenty thousand kilometers away it was pronounced and obvious, but sloppy and easily glassed from orbit. Vlerov's orders were different, however, and required capturing or eliminating the Leader of his target.

The plan was almost set, the troop shuttles would land on the outskirts of the city, and either blow the wall, or attempt to cross it some other way. After that, the forest would be traversed, but hindering the movement of walkers and slowing the advance. Vlerov ended his line of thought.

"Go."

The Mandalorians spread through the Palace, gunning down the retreating guardsmen with merciless efficiency. The guards were well-trained and armed by the standards of their world, but proved no match for the technology and fanatical drive of their attackers. One by one they were hunted through the halls, sporadic bursts of blaster fire signalling the demise of another of the Autarch's men.
Lieutenant-Colonel Sullic was leading the assault on the Autarch's chambers, where around a hundred guardsmen had barricaded themselves. A number of wounded Mandalorians and a handful of scattered bodies marked the presence of a heavy repeater, and Sullic ordered his troops to stay out of the main corridor. Across the way he could see another small group of Mandalorians advancing, evidently intending to join the attack on the Autarch. He turned to the troopers behind him,

"<You three,>" he ordered, "<give me all your grenades.>"

They obediently handed him a cluster of grenades, and Sullic risked a glance around the corner. He saw the gun, emplaced behind a furniture barricade, and drew back quickly. The repeater suddenly burst into life, it's solid-slugs ripping into the corner in a dozen places and sending shards of stone flying. Sullic waved to the Mandalorians opposite him,

"<Grenades!>" he yelled, brandishing the frag he held in his hand, "<Throw your grenades!>"

Their sergeant stuck up his thumb before collecting the explosives from his troopers. When he had gathered a few, he set them down by his feet and readied to throw.

"<Now!>" yelled Sullic, twisting the cap on an impact-grenade. He threw the explosive down the corridor towards the repeater position, then readied another grenade. This one was a six-second timer, and the first grenade had already exploded when he pulled the pin. The sergeant at the corner opposite was also on his second grenade, a sonic detonator designed to incapacitate the enemy by a massive high-frequency blast. He armed it and threw it, motioning his squad to get ready. Sullic quickly threw his frag, then signalled his men to prepare for the attack.
The sonic grenade screamed, and it's electronic audio blast was joined by the voices of the surviving guardsmen manning the position, who held their heads in their hands at the centre of the blast. A moment passed and Sullic's fragmentation grenade landed in their midst, lying with silent malice on the polished floor before detonating.
The Mandalorians charged over the barricade, their steel-shod feet crushing the charred corpses behind it as they assaulted the Autarch's chamber itself. Sullic led the group, their blasters flaying the shocked guardsmen within to so much overdressed meat. Huddled behind a knot of soldiers he glimpsed the old man himself, and charged. Slug rounds bit deep into Sullic's armour and into his body, but he hit home. He fired his DC-15S from the hip, punching through the fibre armour of a guardsman, before lunging forward with an elbow at the face of another. The man staggered backwards, and another swung his rifle by the barrel at Sullic's head. He ducked the swing and kicked the man in the back of the knee to make him fall, and shooting him in the back. The second man came back, a combat knife in his hand, and stabbed down. Sullic grimaced as the weapon bit into his left shoulder, and smacked his blaster over the man's face. He dropped his weapon, following the blow with an armoured right fist in the guardsman's gut. As the man went down, Sullic's knee came up and caught the man a resounding crack in the face, breaking his nose and knocking him unconcious. The Autarch cowered as the Mandalorians shredded his bodyguards, watching his world collapsing around him in bloody-minded carnage. Sullic gripped the handle of the knife in his shoulder, slowly drawing it out. The wound was clean, and would heal easily. He held the blade high over the Autarch as the last guards were butchered, and reached forward with his left hand. The movement hurt him, but Sullic did not care as his fist tightened around the old man's throat. He plunged down with the knife, ramming it down with his full strength into the crown of the Autarch's head. The body spasmed, and Sullic let it drop to the floor to drip it's scarlet lifeblood over the floor.
Sullic stared at the dead man for a long minute, before looking up at the expressionless masks of his warriors. Their armour suits were covered with dust and pock-marked with the impacts from Machiaveglian slug weapons. He activated his comm, and spoke with dry lips,

"<Fedor,>" he said, "<the Autarch is dead>"

The voice of his lord was impassive. "<Good. Let's collect our payment...>"

-----

The first Mandalorians emerged from the forest, carrying their dead and wounded. They trudged across the barrens, gradually walking back to the landing pad from which they had come. Fedor Ansu was first through the gates and headed straight for the mess hall, leaving his troops to return to the Darasuum. The sun had come out on the way back to the ship and the prefab building was auto-cooled to a chill. Fedor flipped the seals on his mask, pulling it away from his face and feeling the cold air. Illuminated by the glow-strips on the ceiling, John Urbanus and his aides sat at one of the steel benches and Fedor approached the small group who sat in silence, waiting for him to speak.

"The Autarch is dead," he declared. "Long live the Autarch."

"The Autarch is dead," he declared. "Long live the Autarch."

"That was most commendably swift. I know not what currency you use, but I was thinking ten billion machiavegli in a hard galactic currency would suffice."
He was holding a banker's draft on one of the banks known throughout the galaxy, promising to pay the bearer. There would be no double-cross on payment.
"And then, if you would excuse me, I will need to get down to business as the Autarch."

The enemy ships made a jump in-system. They bypassed the asteroid belt defences, and most of the outward facing defences on the moon of Machiavegli.
There were, however, inward facing defences. Institutional paranoia, in addition to a final guarantor against revolution, had mounted both missile launch stations and heavy-duty energy weapons facing Machiavegli.
These were now hurriedly activated. Though known to be possible, an in-system jump had not been anticipated from an invasion fleet, as it left them with defences in all directions.
In a few minutes the missiles would be ready to fire, and the pulse weapons active.
Meanwhile atmospheric fighters scrambled to assault any landing attempt, and the army, with the politics finally out of the way, deployed in force to the Autarch's Palace to protect the new administration.