For a brief moment, peace was present aboard the Ghost of Irk.
The team fully retained, their assignments largely consisting of investigating random signals and anomalies in remote sectors of Imperial-controlled space and beyond. Those in themselves were nothing terribly involved. Dropping in from FTL travel, scan the surrounding area or nearby celestial bodies, record their findings, and move on. Most of them were due to interference or a false reading. A few cases of local wildlife messing with transmissions were dealt with. Repairs were made to Imperial communications equipment. A few times, opportunistic salvagers attempting to make quick work of an Imperial relay found their way into their sights. They, too, were promptly dealt with from afar with the ship's armaments. Unlike the wildlife, however, they did not make for a delicious change to the menu at evening mess.
Unfortunately, the lull in action was forced to come to a close. Even with the Tallest being unreachable for some time. Those next-in-line, a scant few inches away from Grimm in height, were becoming equal parts concerned and eager. Maybe they would be next to take the mantle of the Almighty Tallest. Murmurs of unrest echoed on the fringes and among certain circles, toeing dangerously close to outright treasonous speak against the regime. Those smart enough to keep such comments to themselves were largely looked over as they kept to their daily routines and assignments.
Vult, taking Lieutenant Volx's amended records of the events that transpired over the duration of the assignment, filed them accordingly. The sensitive information pertaining to the remaining presence of Irken crewmen from the missing freighters being alive and well beneath many meters of rock and soil was buried just as deeply. As far as the Empire was concerned, those crewmen and vessels were lost due to instrument interference bringing them too close to the gravity well of the nearby planet. With its hostile surface to flesh and metal alike, all evidence was promptly destroyed.
Byte was made aware of "Haven", the new home to the liberated starship crewmen living beneath the planet's surface. Through third-party contacts and resources via the strained, tentative relationship forming with the remnants of the VDF, there were plans to give them the same treatment as Vult and a majority of his crew. Free them of the shackles of burden that were the Control Brains and allow them free passage from their new "home". Humble beginnings to ambitious aspirations of what could potentially be the first ranks of the revolutionary army their benefactor sought to build. In due time.
Mundane assignments came to an end. With the Tallest remaining incommunicado, Grimm had the authority to take some actions upon himself. Tired of the run around of going through 'proper channels' in usual circumstances, he bypassed all of that, using his height to justify his authority. He ordered Vult and his team back to Vort, ripping command away from the commanders on Irk. They'd be going back into that hell hole for the final portion of the battle. Grimm assumed his plan would see the end of this nonsense and Vort fully under an Imperial banner.
Orders were relayed, much to the team's dismay. Preparations for another slough through war-torn Vort began. Clean uniforms, gear repaired and accounted for, armaments and ammunition aplenty, and necessities abound. Unlike before, an extended stay against their will was expected. It was better to be overprepared than lacking at this conjecture. Unlike the hubris of their military leaders and the Tallest, a cornered enemy was often at their most ferocious. The crafty, hardy veterans of war remained with their ranks stacked deep with hardened troopers ready to lay down their lives...not unlike the brain-washed masses that opposed them.
The team departed their mobile base of operations. Their Vortian guests were kept company by the SiR Unit as there wasn't much else in the way of options. While cordial, giving their prisoners free reign of their ship was out of the question. Vult required all-hands for whatever was taking place on Vort.
The stealth shuttle dropped down from above, soaring through the atmosphere before it came to rest outside the Armada's field HQ. Irkens were confused at first, seeing a Vortian shuttle with Irken markings, before Vult and his assembled team stepped off. Flanked by his recently mended second, they made their way towards a building nearby, a rather tall Irken indulging in Vortian smokes. He was in a uniform typical of special operations, albeit with a custom helmet not unlike theirs in style, General's rank on his shoulders. It was Vaukt, the long time man coordinating, and even participating in, special forces missions on Vort.
The man looked at the approaching duo and exhaled some more smoke, black eyes similar to Volx, and dark green skin. "So, you're the team that Grimm keeps trying to call into this mess again? Welcome back to the place where nobody listens to reason."
Vult, helmet attached at his hip, brought his hand up for a per-protocol salute in the presence of a superior. Something he almost forgot to do between where his own thoughts resided and the fact that for the past several months, this was the first time he was physically before an officer that outranked him in both rank and stature.
Their presence garnered many looks from the surrounding mixture of Troopers, Elite, and a handful of Spec-Ops going about their orders of the day. The uniform was different from theirs, the pair in their posture and body language had a commanding presence despite their stature. Most peculiar.
"Yes, sir, that would be us," he nodded. "I don't know if we should be humbled by such demand or be concerned. Nevertheless, here, as ordered."
He motions for them to follow as he starts heading for a police precinct that Grimm made his field headquarters, continuing to smoke his cigar. "General Vaukt, Special Operations. I heard about what you guys did with the factory and the station. I have to admit, I'm a fan of your work."
"Thank you, sir," Corr spoke, "Can you fill us in on what's going on?"
"I believe the Vortian words for this are 'pure hell.' We're bogged down with Grimm continuing to throw bodies at the barrier. Saro in Sector One has it much worse, and there's a highly dangerous corridor between the power plant and no man's land. Grimm refuses to listen to reason. The idiot has looked foolish this entire campaign. That near miss only made his attitude worse. I'd much rather General Yarnitch have been the one burned and Grimm shot."
"So he continues attacking, sir?"
"Yes," he paused to take a long puff of his smoke, "I've advised, constantly, we simply wait and allow the Vortians inside to starve to death. He never listens, and it continues costing us lives." His voice went lower, whispering to the other two, "Between special operations types like us, I've had rather...homicidal fantasies about introducing Grimm to a shower of daggers."
Vult processed all of this and did his best to not let his visage betray his emotions. This sort of thing that they had been blind to for so long. The uncaring waste and throwing away of soldiers' lives behest the orders of their superiors in stature and not in competence. A literal meat grinder...all over saving egotistical face and appeasement of the Tallest and their flawed decrees.
"How...long has this strategy been employed, General?" Vult began, searching for the best way to ask politely. "Our mission brief was...lacking, as to be expected. Only to report to Supreme Commander Grimm as soon as possible."
"Months. Far longer than I'd like," he opens the front door to the precinct and leads them inside. "More specifically, three weeks here in the siege. This strategy only doubled down after the assassination by Vortian special forces that saw General Yarnitch dead and half of Grimm's face burnt. This sort of nonsense has gotten entire divisions encircled and annihilated as we made our way here. He's lobbed the heads off several high ranking officers himself for perceived incompetence. My guys have been working overtime to try and salvage this shit, and I've been in the field as well. Needless to say, we're all ready for this to be over with." He hit the button to an elevator. The Vortian occupation of the power plant had another downside, it powered some of the buildings in outer Tallum as well. The precinct happened to be one among many occupied structures.
"The casualty rates, sir?" Corr asked, curious.
"Horrendous, I'll leave it at that."
Vult listened as Vaukt explained in better detail what the lay of the situation was. A disaster was putting it lightly. What little military history Devastis drilled into new soldiers made this appear to be the very definition of strategic blunder bordering on sabotage. Had it been anyone else other than Grimm, they would have been deactivated by now. Through some means of insanity, this parade of failure was allowed to march the streets of mockery uncontested. He allowed his gaze to drift around the halls they passed through. Murmurs of curiosity and rumors abound were whispered among the low-level officers making up the command staff as they passed by.
"Optimistically, we will be the necessary change to break the stalemate, Sir."
The elevator arrived at their floor and opened, allowing the trio to step inside as he hit the button for the sixth floor. Grimm took over the top floor, as he would. "Optimistically. I'm hoping your team will end up under my command." He paused as the doors closed and the car started to rise, "Either way. I'll hand you my secure frequency. If Grimm tells you to do anything stupid, get in contact with me. We'll figure out something that doesn't get you killed."
"I did not bring my team back here a third time to lay in the graves Grimm has dug for us," Vult made clear, if not a little too clear at how protective he was of those beneath his command at this point. "I appreciate whatever semblance of intelligence is still residing within the command structure offered, General. I will be sure to pass that onto my Communications Specialist."
Vaukt nodded, a smirk on the General's face, "I get the feeling I'm going to like working with you and your team, Commander."
The General led them out once the door opened. The screens of the wall of a command center displayed a multitude of camera views, allowing Grimm a view of the front. A few displayed static, waiting for either a reestablished connection or a new camera. He opened the double doors to the office that Grimm occupied, formerly belonging to the commander of the precinct.
"Supreme Commander, they've arrived." He stood off to one side as they stopped, leaving one hand behind his back as he looked outside briefly to check for snipers before stepping out of the line of sight. He wanted to make sure he didn't get popped by some Vortian laying in wait.
Grimm, in his opulent uniform, the only difference being the mask that covered his scarred, disfigured face after being on the receiving end of a near-fatal plasma bolt, looked to the disturbance within his office. Vaukt, the sniveling, annoying worm...and with him, one Commander Vult and his second-in-command, Captain Corr.
"Supreme Commander," Vult addressed, standing to attention, Corr doing the same at his flank.
"What took you so long?" Grimm's voice dripped with disdain as he rose from his desk, towering over them. He was but a few inches away from the Tallest themselves. The only difference being is he still walked under his own power and didn't hover around lazily like they did.
"Time and distance, Sir," Vult answered, truthfully...if not cheekily.
Far past the point of jokes, his saber cleared its sheath frighteningly fast and the tip quickly pressed to Vult's neck, tipping his chin up.
"Do...not...get smart...with me...Commander," he seethed, his brown eyes livid.
"Apologies, Sir," the Commander acknowledged, if not stonily cold about it despite being threatened. "Not my intentions. Truth is we were on the edge of known Imperial space. Even at faster-than-light, it takes time to return to this part of the universe."
"Excuses," Grimm spat, finally lowering his sword to sheath haughtily. "...does not matter. You are here, as ordered."
Vaukt during the whole ordeal had one hand instinctively go for his holstered sidearm, though he didn't draw it. The situation diffused itself. Deep down, he was looking for an excuse to deal with Grimm, though this wouldn't have been it. The speed he moved simply triggered a reflex. He quietly removed his hand from his weapon and cleared his throat, saying nothing more. He wanted to get this over with.
Corr masked his shock well, despite also wanting to act. He had to maintain appearances, they all did. Maybe he could diffuse it further. "Our orders only said to report to you as soon as possible. We're ready for our mission, Supreme Commander."
Grimm eyed the pair with momentary contempt before slowly moving back around his desk to activate the holographic projection of the strategic map featuring Tallum and the surrounding area. The Empire was clearly holding the numerical advantage, having the remaining forces of the VDF completely surrounded in Tallum. Air superiority had been established with constant patrols, AAA sites a plenty, and a staggering number of Armada vessels in low-orbit ready to vaporize the capital at a moment's notice.
"...for the past several weeks, the offensive has been stalled to the perimeter of Tallum's phasic barrier. Are either of you familiar with the technology?"
"Not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, Sir, but my briefs stated that this defensive barrier allows one-way transmission of physical matter. VDF artillery, guided munitions, and the sort can leave the barrier with impunity while our ordnance cannot pass through it."
"You're well-read, Commander."
"It's my job to be, Sir," Vult stated, watching his tone and cutting straight to the point. "...I assume this is why the offensive is stalled just beyond its perimeter. General Vaukt briefed us on the way in, stating that a narrow band surrounding the perimeter is where the majority of losses are being sustained."
"And right along here," Vaukt cut in, pointing to a corridor in Sector 1 between the power plant protected by the phasic barrier. "Anyone caught in here tends to get hit rather hard as well. Sometimes the Vortians make a mad dash of supplies between the power plant and the protected portion of the city using light tanks and recon vehicles. Though my forces have reported them becoming a bit more sparse lately. I think they're running out of supplies."
The Commander dared to put something to the test as he returned his attention back to Grimm from the map before them.
"With the VDF encircled and trapped...why not settle in for a war of attrition, Sir? Starve them out, let them get desperate for relief, and leave their defended position directly into our prepared lines?"
Grimm's eyes narrowed. A raw nerve touched.
"Because, Commander...the Tallest want this campaign done and over with yesterday. I do not have the courtesy of sitting on my c'hurta while the little goat-legged freaks succumb to hunger and illness. As much as it would amuse me to force them into such suffering, this conquest is behind schedule. Future campaigns in this sector are delayed. Vort's allies and their neighbors across this quadrant of space have had many months of preparation for the impending invasion. We took Vort by surprise...imagine facing an entrenched enemy who had plenty of time to await our arrival."
Vaukt quietly glanced at Vult. Those other forces could've already been off on their next assignments while leaving a smaller force and occupation army behind on Vort to starve the remainder of the VDF out. Lucky for him, he was scheduled to return to Devastis and pick out the next candidates for special operations. Grimm would be someone else's problem soon enough.
Corr glanced over the information on the map and what was said. "I'm guessing we'll be headed to sector one, Supreme Commander?" That was at least his assumption going off everything thus far.
"Making an awful lot of assumptions, aren't we?" Grimm dared either of them to speak in protest.
"My second is not making an assumption, Sir," Vult defended, looking directly at Grimm. "He is tasked with strategic observation and delegates command of our second team. We are only seeking clear intel of our directives."
A brief lull of silence overcame them as Grimm's eyes shifted between the two black-clad operatives. He wanted to fault Vult's logic and dress both of them down for getting too long in the antenna for their station. He couldn't and rather than embarrass himself in front of Vaukt, he left it lie.
"To answer your question, Captain, yes, I want your team in Sector 1 assisting Major General Saro as he sees fit. You are already acquainted, I presume?"
"We are, Sir." Vult said. More than he knew. Less than he'd like.
"Good. Report to him. I expect to be updated accordingly of your activity at all times. Your team will crack that barrier or you can lay with the rest of them out there. Dismissed."
Vaukt simply left the room as Vult and Corr saluted before stepping out. He took yet another puff of his cigar in relief after relighting it and headed back to the elevator. "I've got a guy out there in that sector. You guys familiar with scout snipers at all?"
"Actually, sir, we have one of them in our unit."
"Small galaxy." The door opened allowing the three to step in and descend to the first floor. "Captain Mizak is out and about in no man's land, he's been looking for some way to crack the defenses of both the power plant for several weeks, aside from hunting a number of Vortian snipers operating in the area."
"You think he has anything, sir?"
"They don't like to send radio communications in the field, for good reason. The Vorts triangulate him, they'd rain artillery down. I'll recall him to the sector headquarters so you can debrief him."
"Thank you, sir. Anything else we should be aware of?"
"Saro's guys found someone interesting a few weeks ago. Haven't been able to get over there and evaluate it. Maybe you guys can look into it and let me know." Vaukt wrote down his secured frequency and handed it off to Vult. "Good luck out there, Commander. I'll see if I can't assist however I can."
The blue-eyed Irken accepted it with a nod, making a mental note to forward that information to Vard so they could get into contact with him. Somehow, he anticipated doing so would improve their chances of survival given how the campaign had fared so far in their absence.
Vult waited until they were all back in the lift to return to the ground floor before speaking.
"Permission to speak freely, General?"
"Go ahead."
"It would be preferred if you were overseeing our operations while planetside on Vort. A clerical arrangement that whatever updates reported to Major General Saro end up in your hands before Grimm's is ideal. The man has his head stuck so far up his own c'hurta and is obsessed with appeasing the Tallest he is going to lose the ground war against an enemy that should have been defeated already, figuratively and literally."
Whether it be the operational freedom, the lack of Control Brain oversight, or their own experiences in the field, Vult did not pull a single verbal punch in laying out his thoughts to a superior. Surely a man in the familiar field of special operations would know this well enough. It was not as if Vaukt had any love lost for Grimm, after all.
The General rubbed his chin as the elevator came to a stop. "Very well, I can manage that. You're right about Grimm. His obsession with his own ego and pleasing the tallest have cost us dearly as it is. I don't mind playing mind games with him at all. I'm sure I've angered him greatly as it is, but he knows he can't kill me. There'd be some...rather serious repercussions if he does." He sounded confident in it, maybe he had something of an end game if Grimm did something stupid. "Besides, having my name attached to things may also prevent any potential crazy orders from anyone else."
"Such would be greatly appreciated by myself and my team, Sir," Vult acknowledged, continuing to maintain mental notes about Vaukt as they spoke. His familiarity with the man was purely at-a-glance in the overall command structure of the Empire's military up until this point. For a man of his stature and station, he was surprisingly grounded. Many parallels could be drawn between them, even. "If you have any additional resources or assets I may use at my disposal, that too, would be greatly appreciated."
Vaukt nodded, "I can see what I can manage with what specific needs you might have. I know the troops under my command would be glad to divert from whatever idiotic plan Grimm has them on." He stepped out of the elevator first, taking in some more of his cigar, "He's gotten a number of us killed too."
"As I said, General," Vult began, following after him as they exited the lift, returning whatever salutes were thrown their way in passing by lower-ranked officers and enlisted assisting them. "I am not here to absorb plasma fire on the Supreme Commander's behalf. Something I will not hesitate to detail in my report to the Tallest assuming we make it off Vort alive. If not, please do so in our stead. I assure you that it will benefit you and your likely promotion."
"I'm already putting together quite the scathing report on him as it is. I'm sure whatever you're likely to add will only serve to add more weight to it." He opened the front door of the building and walked out, "I don't intend on having you eat any either. If my guys are worth their weight as effective spec ops guys, you guys must be worth at least three times that." He extended a hand to Vult. "Looking forward to seeing what you're capable of personally."
Vult's thoughts were correct, Vaukt was a more grounded leader. He had his own history with ID1, running spec ops on Praxxus at the time. He did his best under the circumstances, but even then, he advised against the proposed strategy, only to be ignored by his contemporaries. Such happens when people are blinded by their own pride and unwilling to listen to the reality of the situation. Not to mention, their already callous view of their troops' lives; Vaukt saw more advantage in keeping his men alive. An experienced, veteran operator is worth much more than some green clone fresh off Devastis.
"We won't disappoint. Thank you, Sir," Vult nodded, returning the handshake before saluting and departing with Corr.