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- Apr 28, 2015
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Collaboration
Coruscant. There was a time, once, when this world was considered the jewel of the galaxy. The heart of the Core Worlds, and the bastion world of the Republic, rivaled only by the capital of Chandrilla. Glistening spires that towered into the farthest reaches of the stratosphere, a vast ecumenopolic city spanning the entire surface of the planet, and retaining cultures from a thousand species of a thousand worlds. But now, it was a shadow of its former self, throttled beneath the heel of a once-dead empire. But while the Sith's crimson banners flew high, leaving little doubt as to the identity of the new masters of the planet, its soul would always belong to the once great Republic that spanned the stars.
But before that growth could occur again, before a new Republic could rise from the ashes of the old, the poison that brought about its death had to be excised. To many, this might seem to be a declaration against the Sith Empire, but it ran deeper than that. It came closer, to those that had once claimed their very allegiance to the Republic and the Core Worlds. Traitors. Defectors Collaborators. That is where it would begin, and this is why Guardian was there.
A rented CMPT-01 shuttle hummed as it descended down into the bowels beneath the upper towers. There, it was as if the cities were in perpetual night, lit only by the unending neon lighting across countless venues of the infinite urbanscape. Within the interior of the shuttle, a single medium-sized holoprojector came to life as the image of a man suddenly manifested.
"Welcome to Coruscant. My operating field name is Caesar; under Guardian's contingency initiative 0191, I have been assigned as the auxiliary handler for the duration of this operation. Task force designation for this mission has been allocated to 'Renegade', he said looking about the room.
It was a fairly typical group, at least it appeared so initially. Two Humans, now on the homeworld of their species—as bloated and dense the vast populations of Coruscant were, Humans were almost, as in many places, the numerically dominant species. They were everywhere, but seldom drew the attention that some non-Humanoid species did.
"You've all been briefed on the mission parameters. To summarize, this will begin as a no-contact mission of a high-value target."
Instantly, the image of Caesar disappeared and was replaced with the image of a Human woman, appearing in her mid-thirties.
"This is Valera Karsonis, former Director of the Ministry of Republic Intelligence, and is believed to have been a major contributing factor to the tactical collapse of the Republic during Sith Empire's final strategic push into the Core Worlds. Months before her promotion to director, Karsonis was secretly investigated by both the Corellian Security Force and Republic Internal Affairs due to reports of suspicion communications activity, but was ultimately dismissed due to inconclusive findings and circumstantial evidence.
However, following the destruction of Tython and the fall of Coruscant, Karsonis disappeared from the galactic scene, emerging over a galactic standard year later when our spies managed to attain holo-footage of her in the company of Grand Moff Ulysses at a listening post in the Alderaanian Juran Mountains. Grand Moff Ulysses was long confirmed as an influential figure within at least two of several foreign intelligence agencies operating out of the Sith Empire, and Karsonis had since been spotted by deep-cover operatives throughout the Empire, reaching as far in the Galactic North as Vanqor. Stolen Imperial reports have also since confirmed Karsonis' direct involvement, operating under the alias 'Eidolon'."
At that moment, the image of Karsonis disappeared, and was instantly replaced again by the holographic image of Caesar.
"If our intelligence holds true to accuracy, Karsonis is currently on Coruscant at this moment. Since the Sith Empire's expansion, Karsonis has established a number of black sites throughout former Republic space, although the purpose of them has yet to be ascertained. Because of this, we have no clear idea of the resources at her disposal, including potential hostile forces. Hard-contact is to be avoided by whatever reasonable means possible, but if deemed inevitable, it must be made clear that Karsonis is, under no circumstances, to be dealt with via lethal force unless directed otherwise."
As the shuttle slowed to a crawl, touching down on the landing pad, the vessel jerked to a stop as the loading ramp slowly creaked down.
"Operatives near the Sith Empire's border with the Mandalorian Dominion were able to find what we believe is Karsonis' communications frequency, the code of which was significantly based off of Republic algorithms, as opposed to Mandalorian nor Imperial. The signal was heavily encrypted, but we were able to isolate the wavelength to detect its presence. That's why you're here; the communications signal was detected in this region recently, which also coincided with our intelligence report that Karsonis had just arrived. Once you're out, scan for the signal pattern and it should lead you to wherever Karsonis is hiding. I'll continue to provide you intelligence and directives as necessary as your mission develops and relay orders received from command. Good luck, Renegades."
At that moment, the image of Caesar vanished and the holo-communications console died down. For the time being, Caesar's part was over. Now, it was the task force's time to strike.
But before that growth could occur again, before a new Republic could rise from the ashes of the old, the poison that brought about its death had to be excised. To many, this might seem to be a declaration against the Sith Empire, but it ran deeper than that. It came closer, to those that had once claimed their very allegiance to the Republic and the Core Worlds. Traitors. Defectors Collaborators. That is where it would begin, and this is why Guardian was there.
A rented CMPT-01 shuttle hummed as it descended down into the bowels beneath the upper towers. There, it was as if the cities were in perpetual night, lit only by the unending neon lighting across countless venues of the infinite urbanscape. Within the interior of the shuttle, a single medium-sized holoprojector came to life as the image of a man suddenly manifested.
"Welcome to Coruscant. My operating field name is Caesar; under Guardian's contingency initiative 0191, I have been assigned as the auxiliary handler for the duration of this operation. Task force designation for this mission has been allocated to 'Renegade', he said looking about the room.
It was a fairly typical group, at least it appeared so initially. Two Humans, now on the homeworld of their species—as bloated and dense the vast populations of Coruscant were, Humans were almost, as in many places, the numerically dominant species. They were everywhere, but seldom drew the attention that some non-Humanoid species did.
"You've all been briefed on the mission parameters. To summarize, this will begin as a no-contact mission of a high-value target."
Instantly, the image of Caesar disappeared and was replaced with the image of a Human woman, appearing in her mid-thirties.
"This is Valera Karsonis, former Director of the Ministry of Republic Intelligence, and is believed to have been a major contributing factor to the tactical collapse of the Republic during Sith Empire's final strategic push into the Core Worlds. Months before her promotion to director, Karsonis was secretly investigated by both the Corellian Security Force and Republic Internal Affairs due to reports of suspicion communications activity, but was ultimately dismissed due to inconclusive findings and circumstantial evidence.
However, following the destruction of Tython and the fall of Coruscant, Karsonis disappeared from the galactic scene, emerging over a galactic standard year later when our spies managed to attain holo-footage of her in the company of Grand Moff Ulysses at a listening post in the Alderaanian Juran Mountains. Grand Moff Ulysses was long confirmed as an influential figure within at least two of several foreign intelligence agencies operating out of the Sith Empire, and Karsonis had since been spotted by deep-cover operatives throughout the Empire, reaching as far in the Galactic North as Vanqor. Stolen Imperial reports have also since confirmed Karsonis' direct involvement, operating under the alias 'Eidolon'."
At that moment, the image of Karsonis disappeared, and was instantly replaced again by the holographic image of Caesar.
"If our intelligence holds true to accuracy, Karsonis is currently on Coruscant at this moment. Since the Sith Empire's expansion, Karsonis has established a number of black sites throughout former Republic space, although the purpose of them has yet to be ascertained. Because of this, we have no clear idea of the resources at her disposal, including potential hostile forces. Hard-contact is to be avoided by whatever reasonable means possible, but if deemed inevitable, it must be made clear that Karsonis is, under no circumstances, to be dealt with via lethal force unless directed otherwise."
As the shuttle slowed to a crawl, touching down on the landing pad, the vessel jerked to a stop as the loading ramp slowly creaked down.
"Operatives near the Sith Empire's border with the Mandalorian Dominion were able to find what we believe is Karsonis' communications frequency, the code of which was significantly based off of Republic algorithms, as opposed to Mandalorian nor Imperial. The signal was heavily encrypted, but we were able to isolate the wavelength to detect its presence. That's why you're here; the communications signal was detected in this region recently, which also coincided with our intelligence report that Karsonis had just arrived. Once you're out, scan for the signal pattern and it should lead you to wherever Karsonis is hiding. I'll continue to provide you intelligence and directives as necessary as your mission develops and relay orders received from command. Good luck, Renegades."
At that moment, the image of Caesar vanished and the holo-communications console died down. For the time being, Caesar's part was over. Now, it was the task force's time to strike.
