The crack and fizzle of a wood match striking a rough surface and ignition, a rather distinct sound. The match, in the hands of an Irken, came to the end of a cigar. The end glowed as the man systematically puffed on it, rotating it within the flame for an even burn before shaking the dwindling match and discarding it. A long, intensive puff followed to savor the depth of the cigar before a slow exhale expelled the smoke. Things were…relatively quiet.
The Citadel within Tallum became the new HQ for much of planetary command. Vaukt himself remained on the outskirts of the city, seeing to the rest and relaxation of his men after such a long, hard fought campaign. He already had a plan in the works for a new task he was given while on Vort. High Command on Irk heard of the tale of survival of the Shadow Strikers. This unit was clearly a war winner as far as they were concerned, and they wanted more of them! Vaukt had a plan for just that.
As he puffed on his cigar, another Irken approached him, none other than Amka from that fateful night. Without a word, Vaukt gestured to the seat beside him as he puffed on the cigar before following it with a sip of Vortian coffee. Amka, by all counts, appeared nothing special with skin of the typical shade of green with red eyes. He was in the best shape a PAK'd Irken could be given their circumstances.
"So, you've looked over the details of the new assignment I sent you?" Vaukt broke the silence with a direct question.
"Yes, General. To build the team myself to the highest standards of SpecOps along the lines of one of the best teams I've ever witnessed in action. Full freedom to choose my recruits from the pool. I must say it's quite the honor and quite the tall order to fill."
"You're solid and you saw them, which is why you were my first pick for the job."
Amka nodded, "Hard to say no to."
"So that's a yes to accepting command?"
"Yes, General, but I have one request."
"What is it?"
"Sergeant Tuu, I want him."
"Really? Didn't stop to think why he got transferred out of that outfit you were fighting with?"
"I don't know what their reasons were, but I need someone with inside knowledge of what I'm getting into."
"...Very well, you have him."
"Thank you, General, I'll get right to work." Amka rose to his feet and took a few steps before a sharp whistle from Vaukt stopped him in his througtracks."
"You'll need these." Vaukt slid a box to the end of the table and watched Amka walk over and take it. He opened the box, inside the insignia of a Major. "The job comes with a promotion, Major."
"...Thank you, sir."
"Be ready with your best picks as quickly as possible. Command has plans for deployments."
Was Vaukt not kidding about quickly.
Armada Special Operations Group Mirage, a copy of the Shadow Strikers, though instead of answering to the Tallest, they answered directly to Vaukt. The gear even differed somewhat but many inspirations carried over. This was especially useful in the realm of having sealed armor where they were going…Vylat was an awful place to go in as a strike team. The species within one that the Empire sent Invader Nossa in first. Clearly the Empire was taking no chances after Vort.
ASOG-Mirage consisted of three teams: Black Team, Red Team, and Purple Team. Black Team with Major Amka as squad leader with Xora, Lor, Phla, and Zop from Vort, with the addition of Mhar, the team's field surgeon. Red team was headed by Captain Rha (a woman as Haxx so rightfully pointed out with the Shadow Striker's so named demolitions expert), with Mokan, Dak, Iros, Suum, and To rounding out the roster. Purple team was granted to the newly minted Lieutenant Tuu with Sergeant Major Krad acting as a mentor to him; his team included a sniper named Vinar, Gat in CQ and medical, Caz from Vort as a Tech specialist, and Uat in heavy weapons and demolitions.
After the success of the Shadow Strikers spearheading the final offensive to break the Siege of Tallum on Vort, requisitioning considerable sums of equipment, munitions, and gear was an afterthought. If it meant more of the same, that would mean more success, in the Tallests' stilted logic. The new-and-improved iteration of the field-tested Shadow Striker uniform was only the beginning. Their own stealth-capable vessel akin to the Ghost of Irk came with this new station. The General Krad as their stealth frigate was named would become their new home.
Once onboarding concluded and shakedowns completed, Mirage and its mobile base of operations, found itself in orbit over the infamous world of Vylat. Better known as "The Hive" and occasionally "The Awful Planet Full of Ugly Bug People". For many years, that alone kept the Armada at bay. The cost of conquest would sorely outweigh any value gained, strategic or otherwise, in subjugating the Vylatians.
That was until the discovery of their best-kept secret: Shatterstone.
Shatterstone, roughly translated from the Vylatian language, is a key element to many facets of life planetwide. A luminescent, crystalline mineral capable of storing incredible amounts of efficient energy within its structure. Power generation, portable batteries, light sources, all without the need of infrastructure or a supporting grid. Most commonly, however, it is its use in military applications by the planet's apex species. Shatterstone's one "drawback", depending on whose opinion is sought, is it is highly volatile and extremely sensitive to kinetic disturbance, making it ideal for use in projectiles and ordnance.
Recognizing the uses and possibilities of this mineral, Vylat suddenly appeared less unappealing to Impending Doom IIs grand strategy. A renewable source of explosive material? They couldn't get troops planetside fast enough. Thankfully, better judgment won out after the bloodbath that was Vort. "Inferior" as the Vylatians may be, there was one variable weighing heavily in their favor that the Irken always held elsewhere: Numbers. Estimations and projections compared any direct invasion akin to dumping entire vessels full of soldiers directly into a meat grinder. They would be killed faster than they could be replenished.
Direct intervention was off the table for now. The task fell to the shoulders of Vaukt and his Spec Ops units. Mirage's maiden voyage was to come up with an actionable solution to begin the invasion and secure footing planetside for the campaign to follow. The Shadow Strikers did so at Praxxus 7 flawlessly. They had a massive shadow to escape with nigh-impossible expectations. Doubly-so with one of its former members among its own ranks by request.
Within the objectives Invader Nossa was feeding them on the way in, there was one major one that stood out: Capture Ci'al'kai'ka, the Queen of Vylat, the source of control. Secure the Queen, force the bugs to stand down, make things easier on the Elite landing in the first wave. That objective became even more important with the introduction of Supreme Commander Grimm, fresh from glassing the planet of Blorch, as the commander of the Vylatian campaign.
"All right, settle down, settle down," Amka addressed the various team members talking among themselves as the Major entered the room and turned on the projector. He may not have been as strict on everyone coming to attention when he walked into the room but defy his orders and there would be hell to pay. The red eyed man glanced around the room as he bought up photos of the inhabitants of Vylat.
One, the typically addressed the bipedal, four armed, winged species on the planet when one said Vylatian. The others the name addressed could mean the variety with more than two legs: arachnid type insects, of which there was a great variety. With a common ancestor, the latter type with an average IQ of 30, would obey the queen of a planetary colony, who was typically of the bipedal variety. A fluke of evolutionary genius for one species that saw the others serve under them. Vylat has also been nigh unconquerable for a variety of reasons, as were colonies they established.
"Now, I figured you all realize by now we're off to Vylat." Amka began, "It's an ugly planet, a bug planet, but the Empire wants it because these bugs got their c'hurtas sitting on a renewable source of naturally occurring explosives. Thankfully, we got a bit of detail on these guys to go off of from an earlier operation."
"Wait, wait, wait…sorry Major, but did you say renewable source of explosives?" Xora, his own team's demolitions expert, piped up. "...as in they're growing bombs?"
"So glad you asked," Amka hit a button on a monitor near him, bringing up a photo of Vylatian weapons and explosives. "These were taken by Invader Skrem after liberating Kinkros within Imperial territory before the first Impending Doom. See those crystals? They serve multiple purposes: power cells, ammunition, explosives to name a few. A multipurpose resource, naturally occurring on Vylat."
"Before you ask, Det…" Mhar, Black Team's combat medic, used his own controller to advance the slide from Invader Skrem's recovered weapons.
The next slide shows extremely graphic, detailed imagery of what could best be described as implanting a miniature grenade beneath the skin and pulling the pin. Large, gaping, freely-bleeding wounds with missing sinew and muscle tissue often down to the bone.
"...this is what it does when you're shot with it. Shatterstone, a rough translation, isn't just for show. Essentially every round fired from these weapons is a miniature high-explosive shell. Survivable, but extremely painful and incapacitating to a high percentage. Non-fatal hits are putting you out of the fight, period."
"And based off Skrem's reports from Pizorst, a number of people he went in with ended up maimed. One even outright vaporized after he was hit with about twelve shards." Amka added in. "You'll be a shoo-in for cybernetics, if they don't deactivate you first. Mhar can fix a lot of things, he can't fix getting vaporized."
"How soon until I get to play with this stuff?" Xora queried, almost excited.
"Not anywhere near us." Mokan, Red Team's demolitions expert, interjected. "I've done a little reading up on this stuff. You so much as sneeze on it, it's liable to go off. Kinetically-sensitive. That volatility works against the Vylatians too. Too much of a force or impact, it's liable to go off in their hands or blow their weapons up. There's a reason why all their gear is so padded and bulky. It's to prevent that from happening."
"Sounds like I need to pack concussion grenades in bulk," Gaz, Purple Team's purple eyed CQ-Medic combo added. She chuckled, "Wonder how many I can get in a chain reaction with one grenade."
Amka pulled up another picture of the armor they wore: bulky, but non-metallic, entirely organic. These carapaces could withstand Shatterstone, acidic grenades, and even toxic slime as they encountered on some of their colonized worlds. Even photos from Kinkros and Pizorst showed they were able to withstand plasma blasts from Irken weapons. Not the kind of armor to be trifled with.
Along with that, he pulled up photos of the weapons used to distribute the toxic slime, acid spewing grenades, and a variety of mass driven rifles they were noticed wielding in the wide expanses of space at large, something that could easily apply to their armies at home. But clearly the mass drivers were not of their world.
"Major, may I?" Zop gestured, seeking permission to speak.
Amka responded with a simple nod and a hand gesture to continue.
"Sure everyone's gathered this much by now, but what these guys lack in tech, they make up for it in other ways. All of these weapons may not be instantly lethal, but they are agonizingly painful, slow ways to die if not fatal. PAKs can only due so much to numb that pain."
"All the more reason to avoid engaging them at all costs." Rha, Red Team's leader, inferred. "We're here to kick their c'hurtas, not fight them. This is not Vort and these are not Vortians."
"And this is just what the bipedal variety can do to you." Amka added to what Rha said.
"If the upright-walking cockroaches are so friggin' smart, why do their weapons suck at killing then?" Iros scoffed, folding his arms.
"Because they don't want to kill you." Rha answered, looking to him, noting his confusion. "Mhar, you want to take point on that one?"
"Not particularly," he sighed, rubbing his neck. "...the "apex" species reproduce via parasitic embryosis."
"What's that mean?" Iros sought.
"They lay eggs. Inside of you. Through your wounds."
Gat blinked. "Wait a second? Lay eggs in you? I read they shot their spore into space to colonize planets."
"That's the lesser species, Gat," Amka corrected her. "The apex species? Yeah they capture the wounded and use them as brooding pods for the next generation. The stronger the host, the stronger the resulting offspring."
"I'll spare you the details." Mhar continued. "Death is preferred. My recommendation if you are wounded and they are going to take you prisoner? Shoot yourself. This is not a joke."
"Gross." Phla blanched. "...is there a reason why we can't do a planetwide version of a can of bug spray and avoid all of this?"
"You could glass the planet like the Supreme Commander did on Blorch," Amka began, "won't mean a thing. They make their nests underground. Glass the planet? They'll wait it out and fight you on glass."
"Spark's got the right idea though," Uat added. "Find the entrances to their…whatever they call 'em, and gas'em. Works taking care of pests on the small scale, why wouldn't it here?"
"General Vaukt, per High Command, said they want the Vylatians vassalized. Can't rule over a dead world. That, and this Shatterstone stuff may as well be magic to us right now. We don't know a thing about it beyond how badly it can hurt you." Krad reasoned, checking his notes.
"Precisely why part of our mission includes capturing the Queen of the planet. If we have her in a compromising position, the first wave of the invasion will see minor resistance, if we have her soon enough." Amka switched to a photo of Skrem with Piz'hr'krit Cy'zen'den'ka, the Vylatian General and male consort to the Queen of Pizorst. "Capturing this guy led to the capture of the queen and their surrender."
"Question." Lor's hand raised, waiting for permission to be granted before continuing. "Has the Empire attempted to diplomatically coerce them into vassalizing? Why fight them at all if they can be an ally?"
"You know the saying don't shoot the messenger?" Amka asked.
"Yes, sir."
"They ate the messenger."
"Great, they'll hump and eat your body. Amazing." Iros huffed.
"Probably at the same time." Vinar added with a snicker.
Dak, the silent sniper until now, finally said something, "Yeah, and sounds like a horrible way to die."
"Yeah, these guys are disgusting, fearsome, and nasty." Amka answered. "We definitely want to be careful. It's a gruesome death or we get swarmed by the lesser species if we mess this up."
"What little we know about the apex species' culture is about what you would expect." Krad added to Amka's statement. "Aggressive, territorial, matriarchal society."
"Matriarchal? The women are in charge? Suppose that makes sense with the queen and hierarchy." Caz reasoned.
"How can you tell the males from the females?" Phla queried earnestly.
"Why, looking for a date?" Vinar teased her.
"Eww! No!"
Amka gestured to the General pictured with Skrem. "They're very rare, but you can tell by their more squared looking jawlines. If you spot a male, it's very likely there's a queen nearby. That's the only place they're known to be. Their sole use is spreading genetic diversity between the various planetary populations between their broods."
"Wherever there is a concentration of males, a queen is nearby." Rha summarized for their notes. "That will narrow down our places to search based on what Invader Nossa turns up. Only issue then becomes finding one important enough to make the rest of them listen. As Krad said, the constant state of war between hives for supremacy is ongoing and will likely continue even after Armada boots hit the ground. It's in their nature."
"Why not use that to our advantage?" Tuu, the resident "celebrity" of sorts being the transferred member of the Shadow Strikers now turned Purple Team's leader. "Let them fight among themselves. So long as they remain distracted and divided, expecting knives in their backs, they can't unify against us. Play the more powerful hives for fools."
"We do have the queen of the most powerful hive on our list of objectives…" Amka rubbed his chin in thought.
"Take it a step further. Manipulate them, feed them intel, use them against the other hives. Clearly they have no qualms about fighting or violence. Let them indulge in it. Direct it away from us and the Armada. They're opportunistic vermin worthy of the universe's biggest boot about to crush them. Let them think they have won until the final moment."
"So you're saying after we take this queen we stir the other hives into a planetary war?"
"Precisely. This queen's capture will create a power vacuum. Make it abundantly clear how vulnerable their rivals are to one another. They'll slaughter one another wholesale while we can shoot them in the back. Even if they manage to overcome their differences, it will be too late."
"I can see why you were selected in the first place." Amka nodded, "I'm sure I can get in contact with Invader Nossa, she can work some magic and spring the trap once we have our target. The bugs will walk right in and the Elites will have an easier time of it."
"Hey, if convincing them to murder each other is the plan, I'm all for it. Makes our jobs a heck of a lot easier." Iros acknowledged.
"Now I'm genuinely curious…can the Vylatians even speak a decipherable language or is it disgusting bug noises?" Rha asked, contemplating the inner mechanizations of this forming plan of approach. "Was it a breakdown in communications that led to the envoy being…eaten or was it because they are violent savages?"
"We are likely only going to hear screeching." Amka answered, "Though we do know the Vylatians are capable of communication with aliens with a language our translators will understand. Granted, that's just the bipedal variety and not the ones with more than two legs. As for the messenger…When you ask a queen to kneel to you…well, you get the idea."
"Something tells me that could've been handled better, but I digress." Phla sighed. "...so what will be the plan moving forward then?"
"At this point?" Rha opened in response. "Disseminate Invader Nossa's findings, narrow down our list of potential locations. It's at Major Amka's discretion, but it is safe to infer that reconnaissance would follow on those sites. Confirmation of an HVT, plan of action, tag and bag. Textbook."
"Rha said it best." Amka nodded, "We do that, Nossa starts the fireworks, Elites thank us later for the extremely light casualties they're bound to face compared to Vort. …We've all been there to one extent or another, we don't need to be involved in that on Vylat of all places."
"What's the plan until then, Major?" Tuu queried, jotting down his own short-hand notes for later. "Standby until Invader Nossa produces something actionable?"
"Basically. We also can't leave a shuttle behind. We'll be inserting through the new method." Amka looked at Iros, the man practically grinning.
"You mean the-"
"Yes, Iros, the new stealth drop pods. Insertion from low orbit."
"Everyone, get your gear ready, be ready to suit up and be ready in ten minutes once we get the word, stay alert until then. Dismissed."