The entry into the system was smooth, a commendable effort from his navigation team. Before the ninth fleet, stood the jungle planet of Maynar.
It was a large, mineral rich planet, colonised by humans near the founding of the old republic, the planet had a rich and unique culture. It was placed within the muunilist sector, and had received considerable investment from the banking clans.
Despite their massive surrounding influence, the Muuns had mostly left the planet, aside from the resource mines within the crust of the planet.
As a result of eons of mining action, the clearings of thick forest were run through by canyons, which had been turned into cities that climbed up the cliffs.
The planetary capital, Porsa, had been built upon one of the first open mining operations, and as a result, spread out from the centre and climbed up the edges, spilling out past the crater.
The reason for their deployment was to combat a rapidly growing insurgent movement, one that had been deemed insignificant until they assassinated the imperial governor stationed there. As a result of the chaos that ensued, the garrison stationed on the planet had nearly collapsed. The ninth fleet had arrived at dusk, and darkness was beginning to spread across the green planet.
"Move the fleet beyond the planetary rings and establish a blockade. Move the Sunray directly over the main spaceport and have it locked down. Deploy all garrison prefabs around the the administrative quarter, we will operate from there. Have the light cruisers on standby by for interception, deploy all troopers to the surface. Have roving patrols throughout the city, impose a curfew. Inspect any and all incoming ships, take over the cargo port and hold all ships from departure."
Being tasked with replacing the governor of the system and pacifying the system was not the first deployment mission Jackson expected, but who was he to question high command's orders.
The night sky above the bustling city of Porsa burst into life as the imperial ninth fleet entered the system. Despite the centuries of mining the planet had been subjected to, the unique vegetation on the planet used the production chemicals in their life processes, leaving the planet near pollution less and as a result, being able to see into space from the planet, meaning all the populace could see the arrival of the fleet.
The spotlights of the stormtrooper transports swept over the city as they flew towards the large open plaza in front of the planetary administrative building. The prefabs for an imperial garrison base were unloaded as the troopers swept over the city district. Squads went house to house, clearing out inhabitants of neighboring buildings for their new operations.
Gozanti cruisers flew low and dropped AT ST walkers at the pebbled crossroads, whilst other units set up roadblocks and checkpoints around them. Within hours, the city was a bustle of imperial activity, and had a strong hold on the city.
Previous reports indicated that the insurgents would target the material convoys that would leave the mines, before they could make it the city proper and thus the cargo docks. They acted out of the thick jungle that surrounded the routes between the ports and massive quarries, making it naturally challenging for the empire to root them out.
Jackson watched as the ships flew out of the hangers of the massive star destroyers, heading towards the planet's surface.
"Admiral!" A deckhand called, "Insurgent attack on the city, they appear to have an anti aircraft gun set up along the cliffside!"
"Show me." He ordered.
A hologram zoomed in on the northern quarter of the city, where a single separatist J-1 proton cannon was in use. It was posted up on the top of a tall civilian building, and civilian activity was visible. However, the clear skies and non polluted atmosphere allowed near perfect vision towards the planet surface. It gave Jackson an idea.
"Gunnery command, fire at these coordinates. Single high powered shot." He called.
"Yes sir, firing." Came the response.
The echoing fire report of an imperial Kuat drive yards turbo laser filled the ears of those on the bridge, and those on the planet below could only watch as the night sky glowed green as the supercharged laser impacted the building seating the J-1 cannon, triggering a huge detonation of the stowed ammunition for the cannon. The explosion grew over one hundred feet tall and was visible from orbit.
"Direct a platoon of soldiers to the impact site. Have martial law declared in the city. I want any rebel survivors arrested and imprisoned, use one of the buildings in the admin quarter."
The bridge of the ship erupted into activity as his orders were delegated. His focus didn't waiver from the scar that was left on the surface of Polsa. The fire continued to rage on the surface of the planet, the northern section being a rough, shanty-town. He turned to the holotable on the bridge, which held the security footage of the site. Civilians ran around with water buckets trying to put out the fire, whilst stormtrooper squads pinned and arrested those they deemed suspicious.
As he watched, the doors to the bridge opened as ISB agent Nightshade entered.
Jackson nodded a greeting to her, before briefing her. "Insurgent activity has flared up as a response to our arrival, we've just destroyed an old separatist J-1 cannon they were using to harass us."
"What damage did it do?" She asked, making notes on her datapad.
"We lost two TIE fighters and one troop transport, luckily it was only full of prefabs." He explained.
"How did you dispatch it?"
"It was set up in the northern district, ontop of a four story building on the cliffside. We fired an turbolaser shot from this ship." Jackson told her.
Her face scrunched in both though and disapproval. "The northern districts have been historically against the local administration, this wont help our standing with the populous."
"My concern is not the populace, my concern is removing these insurgents and resuming the uninterrupted flow of raw materials leaving this planet. Those were my orders." He spoke down to her.
She held back a glower. "You will find it will be easier to root out these terrorists if the local populace supports us."
"I have neither the time nor manpower to swing a planet's populace that is already at a disposition towards us, and actively supporting and sheltering an opposition group." Jackson replied, unwavering. "Your job is to figure out their movements and common hotspots to allow us to best act to dispose of these terrorists. I expect a report ready tomorrow."
He left the bridge at that, retiring to his quarters for the night.
He could feel Nightshade staring daggers into his back.
Stepping onto the bridge with his cup of caff, Jackson read the morning briefing from his personal data pad. Looking out the viewport, he could still see smoke lingering above the northern side of the capital. Down below, Captain Solace's Sunray was lingering above the main space port in the centre of the city. The position provided best positioning to intercept all spacecraft leaving with the tractor beam, or provide further fire support.
The most concerning parts of the briefing were twofold; firstly there had been a dramatic increase in anti-imperial sentiment, with graffiti beginning to appear on some buildings. Secondly, the cargo rail system used to transport freshly mined raw resources had been attacked, and at sections had been completely destroyed.
In response, Captain Chase had ordered the use of Combat Assault Tanks, retrofitted to hold capacity for cargo. It was an excellent order, and he noted that he had perhaps judged her too quickly.
She had also put in a request to import the necessary materials required to repair the rail system. He approved the request, and passed it up the fleet logistician, who would manage the import of necessary equipment.
Whilst shipments had been resuming, they were at reduced capacity and were slowing total export quantities. Furthermore, shipments were being held up at the cargo port where they would be scanned prior to being exported. All of these steps were crippling bottlenecks, and all a result of the insurgent activity.
Finally, he had received the preliminary report from Nightshade. It was long-winded, and Jackson skipped over much of it, reading only into where it was suspected the insurgent main operating base was.
According to the report, the main base was situated underground, within an old gemstone mine that ran for many miles underground. He called for his legion commander to the bridge.
It didn't take long for Commander Hark to arrive, their white armour had been repainted completely in forest green camouflaged, and outfitted in scout and recon trooper gear. "Fleet admiral, sir." He greeted, saluting.
"At ease, commander." Jackson replied. Hark was a surviving clone trooper, and was highly valued among the empire's stormtrooper corps. His battle experience was legendary and had been specially requested by Jackson for the ninth fleet.
"Orders, sir?"
"Intelligence has pointed towards an insurgent base in an abandoned gem-stone mine, which runs for many miles underground. I want you on scene to flush it out, use whatever assets you require, I will greenlight any request." Jackson explained, as he flicked through different scans of the tunnels.
"Your mission objectives are twofold, firstly, clear out any insurgent resistance you encounter. No quarter given." Jackson emphasized. "Secondly, obtain any intel found. You will be wearing helmet mounted cameras so we can analyze everything post-op." Jackson told them.
Hark snapped a crisp salute. "Yes Admiral, I'll have my pre-op report ready in an hour."
The assembled general staff sat in the bridge as they watched the viewscreen.
The silence on the bridge allowed the sound of the video feed to be sent through. They watched from the mounted camera on commander Hark's helmet. The commander looked back to show the squad of fourteen other troopers with him, all outfitted with different gear.
"Tunnel entrance is just up ahead." The staff heard Hark speak.
Slowly the team stood up from the brush, and approached the open pit which housed the sealed mine. The night forest around them was silent as the troop stalked through the clearing.
The hatch on the floor was covered in dust and dirt, and the troops began clearing it with hands to get a good view of everything. What was left, was a grey durasteel vault door, with the emblem of the Confederacy of Independent Systems logo emblazoned upon it.
"No clear way in, bring up the cutting torch." The order was given. There was a small shuffle as a team of two came up, and began cutting into the vault door, a third attached magnetic handles. Progress was steady, it wasn't long before the cut was complete, with the centre of the thick door being lifted out.
The observers could see two fingers being pressed to the side of the helmet before his voice through the central radio link. "Beskar 1-1, 1-2, 1-3 entering the tunnel system now, Besker 1-4 is holding at the entrance, deploying signal amp now, Hark out."
The video feed saw as fast lines were dropped into the dark pit. Where as the overground of the planet during the night was clear, with the moons and lack of light pollution allowing near clear sight during the night.
"Switch to night vision."
The camera feed lit up green as the three squads descended into the underground chamber. It was about 20 metres tall, and eventually the teams reached the bottom, looking around and scanning the chamber they were in, revealed something of great interest. Filling the room, was 8 sheathipede shuttles.
"Highground, confirm visual on this?" Hark's voice came through.
Jackson keyed his own microphone in response.
"Highground confirms visual."
After scanning the room, they moved to to the main door. Stacking up, they keyed the control panel and allowed the door to slip open. Another hall lay before them, large shipping containers were stacked high.
"Highground to Beskar 1-1," Jackson spoke, "Open one of the containers."
"Beskar copies."
The troopers watched over and secured the perimeter, before Hark keyed a button and swung open the door to the containers. The containers were full of deactivated B-1 battle droids, in storage racks.
Hark took a step in, confirming all of the droids were armed.
"Beskar teams, lets move on."
The container was shut and the teams began navigating the maze of containers, finding another blast door. Behind it, was a long corridor, lit by low green lighting. The team stalked up, footsteps hardly audible.
"Scans indicate some sort of control room ahead, lets move."
The pace was increased, and the team stalked forward, checking the different junctions for any insurgents. So far, they had seen nothing. Jackson was beginning to doubt if the facility was even in use.
Ahead was a door, the control room. Reaching it, the soldiers again stacked up either side of it, tapping the door panel it slid open. They filed in, finding an active nerve centre. Screens flashed up, showing different aspects of the underground facility.
"Beskar to Highground, readouts show this facility as an old CIS weapons and equipment cache. It appears there is a small droid foundry too." The message from Hark came.
Through the tall glass, they could see the active foundry, alongside containers of minerals from the local mine.
"Visual contact with insurgents confirmed, alongside a CIS super tactical droid." The video feed showed his statement to be true, with the group appearing to be touring the facility.
The discharge of a blaster caused Hark to snap around, only to see a bolt slam into a nearby trooper.
"Beskar team has been made, cover is blown."