[Imperial Knights Mission] Sins of the Father

[Aleksandr]

​

When Dimitros Zaarin ended up in the Imperial Knights after defecting to the Rebellion, the former Imperial starfighter ace did not know quite what to expect. But what he really did not expect was that he would go back to Imperial space. Mygeeto is a remote, barren, ice-covered world in the northern quadrant of the Outer Rim that's known for not much other than its cold temperature and large deposits of various kinds of valuable crystals. The planet remains locked in an ice age and showed no signs of that changing soon, from what he'd heard. Dimitros was also told that the planet is surrounded by an asteroid field. Mygeeto is not exactly the ideal vacation destination, but it is, perhaps, one whose rugged conditions could offer some natural defense from outsiders.

And that was probably why Emerra Stahl, the daughter of the recently-defected Imperial Admiral Armin Stahl, was located on such a planet. It was decided, naturally, that a pair of Imperial Knights would be sent to retrieve her before the Sith could capture the admiral's daughter in retaliation. Knight-Errant Dimitros Zaarin happened to be one of the two that was assigned to this operation.

Dimitros' partner appeared to be a younger man named Aldric Caalgen, if he remembered correctly. Both of them are former soldiers of the Imperial Armed Forces that defected not too long ago, which is perhaps why they were selected for this mission. In any case, they were both wearing their old Imperial uniforms, disguised as regular soldiers of the Empire as they made their way through enemy territory towards Mygeeto. The pair is flying a stolen Birikad-class Imperial Shuttle to use as a transport through Imperial space. No one should have any suspicions about an ordinary shuttle making a routine supply run, they figured. So far this had proven to be correct.

As the white orb that is the planet Mygeeto grew in size in distance through the shuttle's viewport, Dimitros asked his colleague, "So, any ideas on how to locate her once we get down there?"

 

[Beta12]

Mygeeto hung in the shuttle's view screen like a dirty snowball pressed against black construction paper. The tiny white orb, now growing before them, was supposedly one of the richest planets in the entire galaxy. Below the snow and the ice sat vast deposits of gems and other precious metals. These items were so abundant in the planets crust that even after thousands of years of mining it was still considered to be filled with both. It was a great asset to the Imperium and an even greater asset to those who were allowed to prospect its surface. To Aldric, upon first glance, the world seemed vastly unimpressive. The great snowstorms covering the planet offered nothing but potential frostbite and an overall headache.

The young ex-Imperial soldier, now a Knight Errant, sat within the cockpit of a Birikad-class Imperial Shuttle. How the Imperial Knights managed to gain a limited production prototype was beyond him, but he couldn't deny that it offered excellent cover. Few people had bothered them during their journey due to the fact that all of their identification codes were about as brand spankin' new as the bucket of bolts that he rode in. It was like hiding in plain sight, a sort of cover that beat out the best sorts of camouflage.

Beside him sat an older Imperial Knight, someone who had far more experience in the armed forces than him but just about the same experience when it came to their current station. When he had first been introduced to the man, Aldric had to fight the urge to salute him. "We ask." His response was rather simple, but then again he had never been one to make the order. He sat there for a little bit after that, twiddling his thumbs and pursing his lips as if something was missing. When the man across from him did not respond, Aldric chose to go ahead and elaborate. "She's an admiral's daughter. Not something any soldier would chase, but something every man down there would be thinking about. Doubt any of the schuttas keeping guard down there have been briefed on the defection of an Admiral, somethin' the brass would keep to themselves." His eyes left the view screen and shot down toward his hands. "So, we just find the nearest bar and open our traps, something is sure to fall out of theirs."

His pale skin stood out against the black uniform he wore, but that wasn't what he was focused on. His uniform had always been baggy around the thighs before tightening back around the knees, more of a military dress thing than ill fitting pants. It was the perfect place to hide things that other people shouldn't see. During his time in the corps, he had hidden away snacks using the exact same method that he now hid away his laser rifle. The strap for the rifle was secured to the inside of his waistline, and the weapon itself was strapped securely to his thigh. Though the bulging angles were rather obvious when he sat, the rifle itself remained relatively hidden while he stood and walked.

 

[Aleksandr]

The pilot nodded in response, figuring that his method was probably the best way of going about this. "Very well."

Dimitros wore his regular black and grey Imperial pilot's uniform, except for the bulky helmet, using the inside pockets of which he was able to effectively conceal a blaster pistol. Despite being a pilot, Dimitros was only a decent shot, but no marksman by any stretch of the word. Although he could shoot straight and hold his ground in a fight, the old soldier recognized the fact that his younger partner no doubt had more experience in this sort of thing than he did. "I served in the Fleet as a pilot, these kinds of missions are not my area of expertise," he told him after some silence. "My apologies if my experience in this area leaves a lot to be desired."

As a testament to his first statement, he brought the shuttle down towards the ice world smoothly and evaded the asteroids in the planet's orbit with precision, taking the ship down towards the central spaceport of the planet's largest settlement: Jygat. He lied to the local controller about their intent, telling the bored man that their shuttle was just carrying medical supplies. The uninterested controller cleared their landing at a hangar near the Jygat central spaceport. "Take everything that you need," he told his colleague as their craft touched down in the small docking bay. Dimitros was not planning on taking anything other than his blaster pistol and a false ID, just in case the local garrison got curious.

 

[Beta12]

Aldric had to admit that he was impressed, as he watched the Knight beside him easily navigate through the dense asteroid field surrounding the planet. The soldier himself had never picked up any skill in piloting, relying on transports to take him to the places that he needed to go. The fact that he was blind for the majority of his life was the major reason, but laziness had contributed to his lacking skill as well. The first time he had even gotten behind the pilots seat was when he had first defected. An over sized training droid wired into the control panel had saved him from a short and messy escape, and had guided him through the rough patches until he had managed to make contact with the Rebellion. He could relax, at least as long as they were in the air, knowing that at least one of them had the skill set to get out of the planet in case things got hot.

"I was never ordered to pick up some Admiral's daughter from her home and whisk her away back in the armed forces." A wry smile crept upon his lips, and for a moment, it looked like he was about to break out into a fit of laughter. However, the young man reigned himself in and put the same passive expression back into play as he continued to speak. "I wouldn't say I have much experience in it either. But yeah, if the shooting starts, don't feel bad about pushin' some of the load onto me." He had spent two years in the armed forces, but had spent plenty of time in a military academy before that.

A soft thud sent the shuttle shuttering as the craft touched down at its assigned docking slip. Interestingly enough, his partner and pilot had decided to go with a cover story surrounding medical supplies. Aldric raised an eyebrow at it, but chose not to question it as the pilot stood from his seat and made his way to exit the shuttle. Having everything he needed already tucked away in hit trousers, the soldier quickly followed the pilot out of the bay door and onto the metal walkway of the docking slip.

The first thing he noticed upon exciting the ship was just how damn cold it actually was. The storms he had seen in the atmosphere blew at full force on the surface. It was strong enough to send his blonde hair twisting in every direction and was thick enough to leave a light dusting of snow and frost on his entire body. "They sure were right about that whole ice age thing." His teeth chattered. Alpheridies, at least in the region he had grown up in, had been relatively mild. The same could be said for his adopted home world, the capital of the current Sith Imperium. It wouldn't be long until the cold creeped its way into his uniform. "Let's get movin'."

Like many small time military installations, and small time towns, everything was generally close together. The docking port itself was under strict control of the Imperium, with the general leeway commonly granted to the mining corporations still allowed to strip Mygeeto for its precious metals. Farther into the city, Imperium Barracks had been erected, and not too far off from that were likely the bars or cantina's that they needed to populate. "Remember to keep your head down. Some of these guys can be a bit more rowdy than what you might be use too, with the whole zoom zoom bang bang ship thing. Be vague, but don't ignore anyone. Don't get too caught up in the story, we're here to relax as much as they are, as far as they know." It was an odd thing, going over what needed to be done with someone that could well have been his superior if he had chosen a different path.

Without much else to say, Aldric began to briskly make his way toward the barracks. It was more so about escaping the cold than anything else. Though he didn't plan to go inside the actual building, he assumed that the closer they got, the easier it would be to tell where most of the men stationed here were heading for their free time. If someone managed to stop them, he was confident that he would be able to come up with a more relatable story than going on about a shipment of medical supplies. After all, if they kept going on about that they would likely have to answer the question of who exactly the supplies were for. Not a lot happened on Mygeeto, and most of the mining was likely automatic, considering the frigid temperatures.

 

[Aleksandr]

Upon seeing his partner raising his eyebrow, he told him, "On a planet this cold, it would be quite easy to catch frostbite. Never know when you may need anti-inflammatory meds or surgical equipment to remove affected tissue."

Dimitros had received some minor first aid training at the naval academy, but more importantly, one of his parents back on his homeworld of Trantor had been a doctor. He was no expert, but he did knew a thing or two about medicine. As they walked through the streets of Jygat, Dimitros felt quite cold but he had a higher tolerance for it, and tried to ignore it as best he could. The man had spent most of his life aboard starfighters and they were not exactly warm. But Dimitros nonetheless felt very cold, though not to the point that his teeth were chattering. He listened to his colleague's advice while they walked as he explained to him what to do when they got to the barracks and the cantina. Dimitros listened to it and nodded in response.

He felt a bit strange getting instructions from a young man who seemed like he was barely out of the academy, but he recognized has lack of experience in operations on the ground, so he was quite willing to listen to the advice. His partner is the former stormtrooper, after all. In fact, Dimitros thought, it's best to just follow his lead as he does the talking.