Outside, in the meantime, Sko walked towards T'daali with Kiz handcuffed with him, both Irken wearing their issued overcoats, not too out of place in the cooler weather. An apparent prisoner arrival, an IIA guard opened the front gate for the duo to enter and then another opened an inner gate for them to enter into an arrival area.
"Major General?" An IIA officer seemed surprised, "What have we got here?"
"I believe my Major's defective and wanted to drop her off here before proceeding to where I need to go."
"What makes you think she's defective?" The IIA guard asked, only for Kiz to snarl at him. "Okay I see your point. So what's she named?"
Behind the set of bars that separated the exterior door from the reception area, a group of IIA guards were playing a card game in their idle time, not expecting any arrivals.
"Name's Kiz," she flatly answered. "Though, my friends call me by my name. Bootlick like you will refer to me as Major or ma'am."
The guard smirked at her response, unlocking the bars, then the two Invaders sprang into action. Kiz broke free of her cuffs, withdrawing a suppressed antique Vortian SMG sporting a drum magazine from her overcoat and Sko produced an Irken plasma shotgun.
"Up, all of you, now, hands where I can see them!" Kiz ordered the guards playing cards at the distant table to their feet, aiming down the sights.
"Back, back, now!" Sko ordered the guard at the bars, "Back now or I'll blow you away!"
Sko pushed the bars open, he and Kiz moving in to restrain and disarm the IIA officers, relieve them of their radios, and shove them into nearby holding cells. Four prison transport vehicles followed, pulling into a vehicle port where Kiz opened the door to allow entry to Vaukt, his SpecOps team, and volunteers of the resistance cell who came along.
"Sko, go, now." Kiz ushered to him as she made her way back to the door they came in, opening it and allowing her superior to exit.
"Don't die on me."
"Hey, it's me." She grinned at him as he walked out the door and closed it behind him. Sko made his way down the road and out of sight before joining up with one of the Vortian fighters acting as a sniper to be his spotter and take out guards as needed.
"General?" His First Sergeant looked at him. "What's the play?"
"Dispose of those in holding so they don't make a lot of noise, secure the walls, then we'll move in and secure the blocks. Have our men on the Conventia ready to descend for extraction and have our Vortian friends bring our shuttles so we can load up Sko's frigate with the overflow, then it's off to Krata. We'll get clearance codes from Admiral 'Narr en route. Move out."
A pair of Vaukt's troops entered the holding cell, snapping the necks of the Internal Affairs officers within. The Vortians and other armored SpecOps troopers made their way up a spiral staircase to the roof of the gate house and the ramparts, aside from the First Sergeant.
"Kiz, layout, now, where's Zha and the rest."
Kiz pulled up a dataslate, she made her way into the network before their infiltration. A quick scan of the prisoner logs saw a rapid return to her search.
"D Block, boss."
"All right, First Sergeant, Kiz, and you two," Vaukt gestured to the two coming out of the holding cell after dispatching the occupants, "on me. We're going to D Block." Vaukt moved with his small impromptu team, Kiz using keycards to get them through various points of the facility.
"Bad news, boss," Sko called in over the radio. "Just saw Xilch get into a shuttle out the side of the building, she's gone."
"Damn, there goes one HVT…Cagir? Niz?"
"Negative, likely still inside."
"Good. Out." The first block they passed through was a block of Vortian prisoners, A block. Vaukt cleared the control booth with his combat knife as Kiz fired away with her suppressed weapon. The clatter of casings on the floor resonated as she hit her targets, aiming for the lesser armored portions of IIA armor, only way an old ballistic weapon like that would do any good.
"You ever see Irken shooting other Irken?" One of the Vortians asked.
"Nope, not like this." Another answered.
"What is this then?"
"Prison break." Kiz answered as she looked at the two conversing Vortians. "You guys want a shot at the guards? Break out with the local resistance cell and get to Krata?"
"No way, no way this is true."
"It is." Vaukt came out of the control booth, lowering his helmet.
"That's…" one of the Vortians, a VDF veteran went wide eyed, "That's Vaukt, head of Special Operations for the Empire"
"Former head of Special Operations, given they want me dead. We're working with the Commodore in a nearby resistance cell. Now's your shot if you want to get out or take your chances with Internal Affairs after this shitshow."
As Vaukt spoke, Kiz used her PAK to hack into the riot control lockers, breaking out a bunch of weapons and bringing them and the ammunition over. The Vortians looked at each other and nodded. Vaukt sent a signal, opening all the cell doors.
"We're securing the walls," Vaukt began, "go around, cause some trouble. Alarm's bound to be raised sooner or later."
"Arsenal's down the hall to the right, you want to use the red keycard on the dead ones in the control room to access it."
"Appreciated." The Vortians helped themselves to the pile of weapons as the squad made their way to the next block.
"Kiz, directions." Vaukt ordered, pausing behind cover as he and some others peered down the hall, the General's helmet extending over his head once more.
"B Block contains lesser offenders but likely defectives. Maybe worth a look. C Block is medium security, troublemakers likely not worth our time for the effort. D Block is of course Maximum and where we need to go. Only way to D is through B block."
"That's an odd arrangement."
"A Block was always meant to be a reception area before moving into general population apparently. Instead they just shoved all the Vortians there."
"All right, well let's go." As they made their move down the hall, Vortian air raid sirens sounded outside the building. The prison was now on high alert. It was either their troops taking over the ramparts or the newly released Vortians causing chaos. Either way, there'd be a lot more IIA crawling around now. The four Irken burst into B Block, Vaukt deciding to outright burn down the guards in the control room with his plasma rifle. Kiz and the other three made quick work of the guards outside.
The hail of weapons fire, screamed commands, and din of battle raged as quickly as it began. The Internal Affairs officers were taken by surprise wholesale, not expecting to be assailed by anyone so deeply within their walls. Especially not the likes of a well-disciplined, heavily-armed team specialized in such forms of warfare. Quick, clean, and surgically-precise. Textbook.
"Ground clear!" Kiz called out.
"Tier two clear!" The First Sergeant followed.
"Tier three south, clear!"
By then, nearly every prisoner had clambered to see, rushing to the precipice of their energized bars. Was it the Vortian resistance? Who was attacking? Much to their shock, they saw a lot of green and antenna. Irken? Attacking Internal Affairs? What was going on?
"Tier three north, clear!" The last two members responded as Vaukt made his way into the block, clearing his throat.
"All right, you low security troublemakers, listen up. This is a prison break, I'm a traitor to the Empire, and I fully intend on breaking off my foot in their ass and ending the current regime. This is your one chance; speak up, join me, and you get out of this shithole prison. Otherwise you can stay here and take your chances with Internal Affairs. Choice is yours."
"Hey, hey, hey, hey! You! Bossman!" A violet-eyed female called to Vaukt from the nearest cell, attempting to get his attention. "Me! Pick me!"
"They're traitors!" Her cellmate whispered sharply.
"Yeah, and? We're good as dead already. 'Least I can go out on my own terms this way." She fired right back, looking back to Vaukt. "Hey, Irken Elite, over here! I'll stomp their spooches out! Lemme at 'em!"
Vaukt's helmet retracted into his armor as he walked over to the woman calling his attention. She seemed quite eager to get out. "Yes, we are traitors, and I'm perhaps the highest ranking one currently. And you, bootlick, are going to be made into a corpse with that kind of attitude. You think IIA is going to be so kind if you stay?"
His attention then turned to the female. "So who am I speaking with who's so eager to get out and put boot to ass?"
"Dybbuk. Dyb for short. Look, I'll tell you my life story after we're outta here." She hurriedly spoke, the echoing bangs of Internal Affairs guards on the opposite side of the block attempting to breach the locked doors growing in crescendo. "Shoot now, talk later, yeah?"
"Damn straight," Vaukt hit the controls to open her cell, the others going across and doing much the same for others who were looking to get out and join their cause. IIA's mass drivers were handed out to the newly released for some additional firepower. One of Vaukt's men, on his way down, planted an anti-personnel mine and linked it to a remote detonator as he ran down the block to join Vaukt.
Finally released from her cell, Dybbuk quickly stepped through. Ever resourceful and aware of their surroundings, she immediately helped herself to the recently dispatched IIA guard nearby to liberate him of his equipment and gear. One of the armored-up jailbreakers following Vaukt tossed the purple-eyed inmate mass-driven shotgun. One she gleefully racked, ready for action.
"Dyb!" Her cold-footed cellmate continued, terrified to pass the invisible barrier where the cell door once resided. "They'll kill you!"
"Not if I kill 'em first." She countered. "You comin' or not? They'll air out everyone after these guys leave. I'm not staying."
A terrified swallow followed by an agitated growl followed before she finally sprang into action, leaving the supposed safety of the cell and partaking in treason.
"Smart choice. Go stack up with the rest of 'em on that door. Time for payback."
Kiz finished hacking her way through the door to D-Block, allowing Vaukt and the others to rush through and begin clearing it. Behind them, IIA blew the lock, riot control units pouring through. Three rapid clicks on the detonator saw the emplaced mine detonate, sending high velocity ball bearings towards the incoming men. Flesh and armor torn asunder.
The initial team shredded in macabre fashion didn't stop their support from pouring weapons fire through the breach. Klaxon alarms sounded, the element of surprise now gone. If the Vortian escapees hadn't caused it, they most definitely did by now. Despite their initial floundering, IIA were far from incompetent being selected from other branches of the Empire's military. Vaukt's men and prisoners alike were effectively suppressed, struggling to return a similar volume of fire and turn the tide of battle. The less fortunate, non-combatant troublemakers aiding in ther efforts were cut down in swaths either by mistakes of their own doing or purely being overwhelmed. Disciplined, focused, and aggressive, they were able to abstain the General's team from advancing into the next block where their target of interest resided.
"Penumbra to exterior teams!" Vaukt yelled over his radio. "I need support fire! Need the A-Block entrance nailed with heavy ordnance and I need sniper fire on any targets of opportunity in D-Block!"
"Confirmed, boss, weapons free." Sko replied over the radio. Moments after that, a slug tore through the exterior window of D-Block before finding its resting point within the head of one of the IIA guards who had been visible through the window. The other armored men responded, teaming up with the Vortians who bore portable recoilless rifles. Originally meant for anti-armor work but they would have to do for demolition work. The Vortians fired, the Irken reloading for them. The ceiling cracked and crumbled hit with successive rounds placed from the prison ramparts. Finally, it gave way entirely, collapsing, and blocking at least one avenue of fire to give Vaukt and his team some breathing room.
"Kiz, you got any gadgets in that thing?!" Vaukt yelled in a question to her.
The Invader withdrew a number of tear gas grenades and flashbangs from her PAK stores.
"Let's hope we won't need the gas, huh?!" Two pins pulled as the Invader lobbed both grenades into the block in rapid succession.
"Polarize!" Vaukt ordered his few armored troops as the grenades flew forward.
The sudden dynamic shift in opening up the exterior wall and exposing the IIA defenders' flank and Kiz's grenades detonating into clouds of asphyxiating, lingering smoke, blinding flashes, and deafening concussive blasts left them disoriented, confused, and impaired. Prisoners and guards alike hacked, wheezed, and coughed within. The break in suppression gave Vaukt and his men the window of opportunity they needed to push into the room to secure it.
Dyb, amidst reloading her mass driver, quickly intervened as her fellow inmates attempted to follow, dropping the weapon on its sling to grab collars and force them back from the ruined doors.
"No, stay back! No gear against the gas, you'll be miserable! Stay!" She barked, her height and disposition clearly some non-commisisoned officer in the Irken Elite prior to her unwanted stay at T'daali Correctional Facility. "Post up, cover from here! Watch our six!"
Vaukt and his three armored men, unlike the others, were unaffected by the gas. The quartet pushed in, dispatching IIA guards as they moved through the block, using the aid of some thermal vision to see through the thick plumes and mark their targets. One by one the guards fell, either by those within or aided by the snipers in the distance.
"Give me status!" Vaukt yelled as he reached the end of the block.
"Tier two clear!"
"Tier three clear!"
"Ground clear!"
Kiz made her way into the control booth, opening all the cells and turning the ventilation up to high to vent the smoke from the block as she quickly looked to find an alternative path out.
Vaukt's search for his woman had him stumbling first upon the cells for Red and Purple of all people, the two leaders of the Empire forced to walk once again thanks to Niz's actions prior. Purple spent much of his time sitting on one of the beds to keep the weight off. Red finished washing his face in the sink to try and alleviate the recent pain of being gassed.
"I thought I was done with tear gas ages ago." He let out a sigh of annoyance. "Never get used to it no matter how much training you got with it."
"You know how I always said in the Elites that I ha-"
"Yes, I know you hated long marches and parades and anything like that."
"...This is worse."
Red simply facepalmed, only to turn and see a cloaked man in black armor at their cell door as the bars automatically opened from the control booth. The sight and commotion alone gave him a startle as he spun about, palms flat to the wall at his back.
"Who are you?" Red pointedly asked, only for Vaukt to lower his helmet once more after the gas had finally dissipated, only for Red to gasp. "It's you! The traitor!"
"Traitooooor!" Purple joined in.
"Both of you, shut up. You're lucky I'm here and this is a one time offer. You both come with me, as my hostages, and you leave here alive. Otherwise I'm taking my woman and her command staff out of here and I leave you two with a few good men of IIA who, knowing Grimm, is probably going to order your execution by firing squad after this prison break. Choose."
"Hostages?"
"That sounds like prisoner with extra steps!"
"Whose hostages? Yours?" Red pursued, equal parts concerns as he was confused without Purple's outbursts. "What does the Supreme Commander hav-"
'Yes, hello, excuse," Dyb joined in, interrupting quickly. "Uh…General, was it? Can we wrap this up and get the heck outta here? Whole planet full of hardware to throw at us once word gets out. I got this…"
She turned to her confused, incarcerated leaders.
"Stay and die or go and live?"
"Are tho-"
"Yes. Only choices."
"...Go and live." Red sighed, Purple nodding.
"There. Problem solved. I got these two, keep movin', Sir."
"Thanks Dyb." Vaukt moved through his search, nodding to Saro helping himself to armor off a fallen IIA officer as he moved to the next cell, and there she was. Uniform jacket filthy and cast aside from what had transpired before with Kuru. Zha, his woman, the object of his affection and one of the few he desired to be around in a non-official capacity. The black eyed man smiled.
"My dear Zha, I'm sorry it took so long for me to get to you." He walked towards her, more than happy to see her in one piece, physically at least.
Lime green eyes irritated between the graphic events earlier and the tear gas thrown into the block by her apparent liberators, welled with tears once again. These were not born of pain but sheer relief of the torment and pain coming to an end. Vaukt, standing before her, their sadistic captors fallen at his feet. The setting sun at his back through the lingering smoke as a craft slowly descended, its ramp lowering. Words escaped her as her limbs trembled, reaching out for him, barely able to summon the strength.
Vaukt let his weapon rest from a sling as he strode over and swept her into his arms. A detonation outside in the block soon saw the General's helmet extend once more. "Status, now."
"Just blew us an escape path, boss. Shuttles are coming in for us now."
"General Cagir just boarded a shuttle. He's on the move." Sko added.
"Take him down. Niz?"
"Sniper nailed her, last saw her headed back behind C-Block. She's wounded though."
"Sorry, Sir. Pulled my shot at the worst place and worst time getting greedy for a two-for-one."
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure we'll run into her. Get one shuttle for me and a few of the others. Begin exfil, I want all our men back at the CP and getting all our prisoners aboard, Irken and Vortian. I want Cagir, damn it, I have a promise to keep."
"Copy that, boss," Sko replied.
Vaukt started towards one of the shuttles with Zha, armored face looking at her. "Look at what you made me do. I'm at war with the whole Empire now to save you, my sweet." He spoke softly, not harshly, words of reassurance, affection, not a chastisement but to show her how much he cared for her. One man against the Empire, for her, if it came down to it.
Niz, scrambling, ran, grasping her waist as she tried to cross the yard. By impressive mental fortitude alone, she kept on the move after such a debilitating, high-caliber hit. Blood saturated her singed uniform, flowing through her fingers and down her body with each haphazard, dragging step. The shuttles provided adequate blocking from the snipers and those on the wall who began their retreat.
She hit a wall near the exterior door of D-Block, yet unopened, thinking she would have a way in. Throwing herself against the exterior wall adjacent to remain upright, back to it in agonizing pain, her bloodstained hands fumbled about for her access card. Weakened, she fell to her side, falling into the arms of someone in IIA armor. One of her own…she was safe. Her twisted, clammy features relaxed somewhat with a sigh of relief.
"Oh, thank Irk, Captain…I am…in dire need of…medical attention."
The Captain, silent and unreacting, lifted his visor and she noticed the tell-tale cybernetic eye of the Elite Captain himself staring her right in the face. Saro's menacing glare stared through Niz as she recoiled in horror. His left hand immediately snapped forward, snatching a handful of the Colonel's ruined uniform to hold her aloft. Try as she might to tear away from his iron grip, her wounded, fatigued body lacked the strength and focus.
Saro's silence left her to panic until he punctuated an unspoken statement with the vibroblade drawn in his right hand thrust into the Colonel's abdomen. Buried to the hilt and travel no further, a strangled gasp came from Niz at the sudden onset of new pain before her trembling grip clutched at Saro's unyielding wrist.
"...my only regret is I lack the luxury of time to repay you in kind for all you've done…" He darkly glowered, never breaking eye contact with the terrified eyes of Niz. A veteran of battle and infamously feared by the Vortian people for his sadism and cruelty, she had a front-row seat to the experience in her fleeting moments. "...this will suffice."
As the words left his lips, his right hand sharply jerked laterally, bringing the embedded blade with it. Razor-honed alloy at a resonating frequency cleaved through fabric, skin, tissue, and bone alike with little resistance. Niz's cry of agony quickly filled with the gurgle of blood bubbling from her ruptured spooch as Saro shoved her back against the wall. Falling to the ground, she could only look in horror as her entrails hung from the massive gash in her body and a river of blood flowed down the front of her legs into the grass before her. The immediate loss of coordination and blood saw her feebly attempt to gather up her spilled guts to shove them back inside of her before finally falling over and succumbing to her wounds.
Calmly as he did the deed, Saro slung Niz's blood off of the vibroblade before sheathing it and casually turning about to join the others boarding the shuttles. One of the last few to board, he stepped aboard to approach Vaukt as he made to secure Zha in the nearest seat.
"Niz has been permanently relieved of duty, General. I made sure of it."
"Good work, Major General." Vaukt put a reassuring hand on Zha's shoulder before turning to face the shorter man. "...And from the look of my dearest I think it's safe to say you know the truth of things involving me, don't you?"
Looking to his commanding officer, suffering alongside them throughout this endeavor, all of them bearing the brunt of IIA's cruelty, he processed it all. Xilch's investigation and Niz's torture…they were justified in the sense that Zha was in fact in sedition and aiding Vaukt's traitorous activities, indirectly or otherwise. The men and women that died to IIA proclaiming Zha's innocence and unwillingness to remotely consider throwing their commanding officer under the space bus for their own well-being.
"...if I'm to die, it will be in battle. Not a prison cell. Factions and sides irrelevant." He finally spoke before leaning in closer with direct eye-contact to Vaukt. That same blazing, crimson menacing gaze Niz saw in her final seconds. "...don't make me regret calling you ally, Sir."
"Not a chance." Vaukt put a hand on Saro's shoulder in reassurance. "Sko, status, where's Cagir?"
"Our friends got him, boss."
"Really?"
"Guy was trying to make for the outpost. Some of the Commodore's men who stayed behind nailed him with an AA missile. From the sound of it, they quickly descended on it and took the General and the surviving copilot prisoner."
"Well hot damn…I'll see you shortly." Vaukt's attention turned back to Saro. "Can you stay on the shuttle and keep Zha company? I need to go speak with the Commodore here and extract what's left of his men and bring the civilians up as well." He paused, "You may want to keep the visor down. I know your reputation among the locals."
"Wait, we're not leaving Vort yet?" Red pointedly asked.
"Oh Irk we're gonna die!" Purple exclaimed. Prompting Vaukt to promptly backhand him. "OW! What did you do that for?!"
"Shut. Up." Vaukt glared at him through the optics of his helmet. "Otherwise I'm going to greatly enjoy shoving a rag in your mouth and taping it shut, you idiot."
Red looked to the other Irken present in disbelief as he gestured to Vaukt.
"What? Are all of you just gonna let him do that?"
"He just saved all of us from certain death." Saro spoke pointedly. "I'm in no position to complain and neither are you."
Dyb felt inspired to step forward and give Red a lick of her own, slapping him unkindly.
"That's for your stupid rules and regulations! Wanna know what I was locked up for?! Uniform violations! Vort, Orenk, Jakri, an' I end up HERE!"
Saro pulled the irate fellow Elite back as Red nursed his stinging cheek begrudgingly.
"That's a slap a piece now. Next time it'll be closed fists. Can talk all you want when we get…wherever it is we're all going to end up. Until then, shut up."
The shuttle set down, Vaukt and his First Sergeant walking down the ramp, the two immediately met with the sight of a growing crowd of Vortians and two Irken being dragged forward. General Cagir, his uniform now soiled with soot, tears, and rough handling by the Vortians, alongside another in a flight suit with an apparent broken arm. The two proceeded, meeting up with the Commodore emerging from the mine shaft.
"We rescued the prisoners we came here for and freed the Vortians there on top of that. They're all headed up to one of our frigates and the shuttles will come back down for us." Vaukt reported the success of the prison break as quickly as he could. "Colonel Niz is dead, Xilch unfortunately got away, and your men seem to have gotten Cagir before he got too far." He paused, smiling behind the helmet, "How about that ride to Krata I offered you before?"
The jubilation around the gathering of haggard resistance fighters and their apparent leader at the sight of none other than the architect of their misery being brought before them was palpable. Months upon months of enduring hardship, unending cruelty, and nonstop warfare had culminated in this moment. The aid of outsiders and with the stroke of a proverbial pen, enemies made ally by circumstance. Ironically enough, those who issued that stroke now reside on the same side of the fence for different reasons.
The staunch, withered old man of a naval officer still wearing an amalgamation of VDF and Empire equipment stood tall as Cagir and the pilot were brought before him and forced to their knees. One of his men responsible for detaining the two approached the Commodore with a salute before presenting two items of interest. The General's saber and sidearm. Two pieces of the man's once-opulent uniform and of great cultural significance to the Vortian people in declaring victory over their foes to relieve them of their arms, forcefully or otherwise.
"...you work quickly, General." He finally spoke, bronze eyes admiring the craftsmanship of the items handed to him. "I almost feel guilty doubting your capability, let alone integrity in aiding us."
"Get your filthy, grubby alien hands off of-" Cagir snarled, struggling to rise before the Commodore's foot rose and kicked the Irken squarely in the face into the dust. His handlers, retaining control, forced the man's bruised ego and bloodied mouth upright once more.
"The pompous uniform and gilded equipment tell me who this is beyond a shadow of a doubt." The Vortian leader mused as he held the sheathed saber tucked under one arm to unholster and admire the General's sidearm more closely. "Who is the other one with the broken arm?"
"T-Talam, Sublieutenant, Armada…p-pilot." The man responded, clearly afraid, looking at the two Irken standing nearby. "Help! Please! Get us out of here!"
Cagir glared at the two armored Irken as he pushed himself back to his knees. "So you're the one with the shoot to kill order out on him, aren't you?"
"You're not as dumb as you seem. From a division commander during the first attempt on Praxxus to military governor of Vort after the fact." Vort summarized his recent career, "Yet now, here you are, done in by Vortians and Special Operations working together."
"Vaukt, you disgusting traitor…you're no better than these filthy aliens."
"Sublieutenant Talam…" The Commodore observed, garnering the wounded man's attention before turning his gaze to Vaukt. "General…my bias clouds judgment considering what the Empire has done to my home…does he share the General's fate?"
"He could, but I also propose this. Set Cagir's head atop a pike somewhere as you wished to do, have the Lieutenant here bring his headless corpse up the road to that Trooper outpost. He'll tell his tale of what happened here, word will spread throughout the ranks of Vort. They'll come to fear the other resistance cells still active here that they may very well share the same fate, and that they may not even be able to trust other Irken."
"W-what? No! T-they'll kill me!" He hurriedly protested in fear of his life. "I-I-I was only following orders! I fly shuttles! There's no guns on it! Please!"
"You spineless worm, have some dignity in your final moments!" Cagir sneered, spitting blood into the dirt before looking up at the resistance leader with contempt. "Well? Get on with it. Make your pathetic mark in the final moments of Vort's history before the Armada GLASSES THIS ENTIRE WORLD!"
The Commodore, collected and resolute, approached the wounded pilot. Tensing up in fear as he struggled in vain to back up into the legs and bodies of his handlers. He handed Cagir's sidearm off to Vaukt while retaining the saber, gesturing for the pilot to be hauled up to his feet.
"Sublieutenant Talam, your uninjured arm…is that your flight stick hand?"
"Y-yes, Sir."
"I tell them to let go of you, you will stand still or be shot. Am I understood?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Turn him loose."
Being commanded, cautiously hesitant and confused, but they abided the highest-ranking officer's wishes. No less than three rifles from different angles remained trained on him as warned. Talam stood there, bewildered and apprehensive, face tight in discomfort at his broken arm.
"Sublieutenant…I'm a fair man. It recent days, it has been made aware to me that you Irken are not all mindless, murderous slaves to your beloved Control Brains. The fact the man and his allies behind you in my presence stand testament to that…I gave the General an opportunity to earn my trust. I, too, will give you one."
As he spoke, he manipulated the saber before unsheathing the polished blade in the setting sun, glinting off of its honed edge. His calloused palm grasped Talam's uninjured wrist and thrust the grip of the saber into it much to his surprise.
"...you separate this vile cretin's ugly head from his pompous shoulders and you may take your leave with the General. If I must do it, you will take his body back to the garrison to the north and your fate is of no consequence of my own. General Cagir's fate is sealed. Either share it with him or make your own destiny. Choose."
Talam blinked, the red eyed Irken shocked by the turn of events as he looked Vaukt in the face, the man's helmet retracted. Those infamous black eyes that were recently seen on a shoot to kill order blasted across the entire Empire. The man who dared to defy the Tallest, the Control Brains, everything they knew for something unknown. His grip tightened on the saber, the man thinking it over.
"See? You can't turn a loyal drone. Glory to the Empire. Glory to the Tallest." Cagir smirked. "You Vortians think too hi-"
Before he could even finish his sentence, Talam struck, the blade cleaving straight through the General's neck. The man's head rolled to the ground, right to the Commodore's feet as arterial spray geysered from his neck as the body slumped forward.
Stunned at his own actions and willingness to commit when faced with such adversity, the Vortian resistance leader relieved him of the saber before carefully cleaning the lingering blood from it's blade to sheath it once more.
"I…I don't want to die…General…please, help me."
Vaukt simply gestured for the pilot to come over and put a hand on his shoulder. "If you're willing to commit to the cause we have, I'm willing to help."
"What cause?" Talam asked, "Making you Tallest?"
Vaukt shook his head, "Ending the Empire, liberating Vort, ending the needless bloodshed. Ending the rule of the Control Brains and our PAK system, make us masters of our own destiny once more."
Talam wiped away a tear from his eyes. "That…does sound nice, sir."
"You, you, dispose of that." The Commodore pointed to two of his men and then Cagir's headless body. "Make a statement with it. Get creative."
"What about the head, Sir?"
"Parcel delivery to his office at the citadel in Tallum. Let them know what his replacement's fate will be. We have been shown no quarter, we will give none in return."
"Yes, Sir." The men hopped to, quickly securing Cagir's remains to do as instructed.
Business attended to, the rogue Irken elements began returning to their ships, leaving him a moment to address Vaukt.
"My people have been ready to leave at a moment's notice without warning for so long…I never believed it would be to salvation with the aid of a former adversary."
"I never thought years ago I'd be fighting the Empire to end it…that I was entirely doomed to work with incompetents and that the best thing for me to escape it would be to die in battle." Vaukt shook his head. "This is a far more pleasant turn of events."
"Indeed. A blessing compared to what has been endured thus far." He sighed, relieved as he was forlorn. "It feels wrong to leave, but it is necessary. We will be more effective elsewhere. I only hope to return home beneath Federation colors once again, alive or placed upon my tomb."
He turned towards Vaukt, offering a hand to shake.
"...I don't believe I've properly introduced myself beyond rank. Bilan. Bilan'Kodoros. Federation Navy."
Vaukt shook his hand. "Well, you heard my name from Cagir. Former head of Special Operations. What I am now…I have to talk over with my cohorts. Pleasure to be fully introduced, Commodore 'Kodoros. We'll drop you and yours off at Krata and then I need to link up with them." Vaukt smirked. "With any luck, we'll be hearing in a few weeks about the Planet Jackers stealing an Irken colony world."