As Vaukt's team took cover in the tall grass around the shuttle forming a perimeter, the General himself entered the shuttle containing Sko and Kiz.
"You two just had to come down here for me, didn't you?"
"To the bitter end with you, no matter what, boss." Sko nodded.
"Besides, rebellion won't be as fun without our General around." Kiz grinned.
"Well, I suppose I should be thankful. This could work…you two could help us out."
"Name it, boss." Sko looked at the holographic map Vaukt withdrew.
"Canigoris is down that road. Got an outpost of Imperial Troopers. We need to liberate some medical supplies, food, ammunition, you name it, and bring it here." He pointed to the mining town.
"What's so special about Izmiz?" Kiz asked.
"Vortian resistance cell led by a Commodore. He's got a lot of civilians. They're in a bad way, they really, really need the aid."
"I see where you're going with this." Sko nodded.
"Sko and I skitter over there on our PAK legs, ask for supplies, they drive them over, drop them off, and then we have them brought over to the goats?" Kiz continued with laying out what they were both thinking.
"Good to see my head of Invaders and an Invader graduate on his staff don't forget military strategy. Say you're en route to Jakri and forgot to resupply your ship so you need the goods from the closest outpost to get going before Grimm gets too anxious."
"Works for us. We'll get going." Sko started out the door.
"By the way, boss, you're going to want to keep a real low profile. Everybody's gunning for you. Armada gets wind you're down here, they'd be likely to just glass the whole sector rather than take the risk with you."
"I figured. Don't worry about me, let me worry about all of this."
Kiz nodded and left the shuttle, sprouting her PAK legs alongside Sko and both officers making their way towards Canigoris. Something about the Vortian countryside was extremely calming. It seemed tranquil, serene, but the construction and interference from the Empire was ruining all of it. Strange. She never felt this way about the outdoors before.
Rapidly closing on the visible perimeter of the Imperial Trooper garrison, freshly-constructed, emplaced positions evenly spaced around the exterior of its walls kept vigilance from all sides. Conquered officially, but far from subdued with lingering insurgency and resistance efforts across the Vortian homework. General Cagir could not be faulted for being overly cautious.
The Special Operations duo's arachnid-like traverse of the terrain tripped motion sensors and alerted its subsequent emplacement scanning the sector. What had been hours into yet another droll, boring rotation of watch suddenly became the center of attention with possible resistance fighters encroaching on the perimeter.
"Hey! HEY!" One of the Troopers manning a machine gun nest on the outside of the outpost sprung to from his boring watch as the alarms blared at his position. "We got incoming!"
A burst of plasma fire flew their direction, causing both to quickly retract their legs and throw themselves into the dirt on their abdomens in trained reaction. The illumination of plasma bolts and sizzling heat cutting through the air threatened to singe their antenna. Far too close for comfort. Several more followed over their heads before the fire ceased. Silence lingered over the field.
"Did…did we get them?" One of the Troopers asked.
"WHO IN THE BLAZES TAUGHT YOU TROOPERS HOW TO IDENTIFY TARGETS THAT YOU SHOOT AT A COUPLE OF INVADERS?!" Sko yelled from his position.
A series of quickened, panicked murmurs could be heard before one of them called out. A floodlight activated from their emplacement, beginning to scan the general area they had targeted.
"I-Identify yourselves and come out slowly!"
Sko rose to his feet, followed by Kiz. "Major General Sko, head of the Invaders, and Major Kiz. You shot at a couple of Invaders without identifying us first, you absolute nitwits!"
Another hushed conversation followed before addressing them. Their mounted weapon clearly pointed away and unmanned now could come as some relief.
"Our CO said shoot anything that moves outside of the perimeter! Why didn't you use the front gate?"
Kiz's patience ran its course as her PAK legs shot out, taking off in a full, galloping sprint of metallic legs at frighteningly speed. Within a matter of seconds, she was on them, pouncing through their viewport, and tackling the first hapless Imperial Trooper in her way to the concrete floor. The others accompanying her chosen target of interest were wise to step back in surprise and shock as their fellow Trooper was at her whim.
"Since when do talking meatsheilds question their betters?!"
"I-I-I'm sorry, Major!" The Trooper she tackled happened to be the same one who was manning the gun and fired at them. "I was just following orders!"
Sko rapidly took off after Kiz, running with his legs instead of his PAK legs. Part of him knew the Troopers deserved a scare for what they did. Once close, he, leaped through the port and picked up his hat, dusting it off before putting it back on his head. Not that it didn't do anything for the dirt on his uniform.
"You people really are stupid. You should be identifying your targets before you shoot, orders or not." Sko began and sighed in frustration. "There was a reason we didn't use your front gate."
By then, the commotion had alerted much of the compound with further activity. Bursts of automatic fire, then silence and no follow-up report of confirmation on their target's status. The bunker's door was thrown open by an Imperial Trooper Sergeant. His disposition none too pleased.
"What in the name of the Tallest's underwear is goin' on over he-" He bellowed, stopping short as he rounded the corner into the room where both Invaders and the bunker's occupants all stood.
"Sergeant Skiff, Sir!" One of the standing Troopers straightened up to attention, slapping the back of the head of the other at his flank to do the same.
"Someone tell me what's goin' on over here. Now. What's with the fire an' no follow-up?"
Sko crossed his arms. "Your idiots fired at us without even identifying who we were first."
"Yeah? And just who might you be? Why you runnin' around outside the base?" Skiff challenged as Kiz allowed the Private pinned beneath her to scramble to his feet and shuffle into line at attention near his comrades.
"Major General Sko, head of the Invaders. Major Kiz and I were running here because we set down out that way in our shuttle. Came to ask for some supplies. We left Irk after an urgent call to join up with Supreme Commander Grimm out at Jakri but in our haste, we forgot to load up our vessel at Irk." The General explained as he put a hand on Kiz's shoulder to calm her nerves. "We used our PAK legs to close the distance as quickly as we could in the hopes we could get the supplies we need from your outpost."
Kiz lightened up slightly at his touch, letting her shoulders down slightly. "Ruined our dress uniforms, by the way. These Privates going to pay our cleaning bill?"
Terrified as the trio of Privates were witnessing the exchange between their commanding officer and two very high-ranking Special Operations officers, they stuck to protocol and principle. Do not speak unless addressed directly. The rules were there for a reason.
Skiff, on the other hand, eyed them with suspicion.
"...excuse my ignorance, Major General…but why did you two land outside of the base instead of request landing clearance? Even then, we have a very large front gate that is easily approachable."
Sko shook his head. "You're going to laugh…we actually didn't even get our shuttle fueled up and the maintenance guys apparently forgot to fix our radio. We set down where we did with the fuel we had. If we tried to land in your base you'd be clearing out shuttle wreckage, scraping two Invaders worth of paste off the ground, and having to explain to General Cagir why there's a Major General and a Major dead. We didn't want to cause more trouble than we had to."
"That doesn't explain why you didn't use the gate, Sir."
"He doesn't answer to you, Sergeant." Kiz snapped at him, stepping forward. What had gotten into her? "I don't answer to you, either. You will take us inside immediately or I will personally escort all of you to T'daali and introduce you to Colonel Niz of IIA myself!"
Sko put his hand on Kiz's shoulders, gripping it, silently urging her to calm down.
"We didn't know which direction your front gate was, we haven't been on Vort for some time. We just followed the road built by the Vortians to get here and apparently it leads us to some bunkers and a smaller side gate. Now are you going to keep playing twenty questions with us or maybe I should have you speak to Supreme Commander Grimm and explain why we're being delayed in getting our supplies."
Clearly not happy with the arrangement, but a dookie sandwich to be eaten all around, Skiff did the smart thing and relented. He stepped aside, gesturing back around the corridor to which he came from.
"After you, Major General."
As the pair of Invaders proceeded past him, he glared daggers at the three terrified Privates.
"...I'll be back to deal with you three later."
"Y-yes, Sergeant."
Sko and Kiz pushed forward, he gently pulled Kiz closer to him and whispered to her.
"You know I care a great deal about you and how close we are. What's going on? Why are you so…enraged all of the sudden?"
"Not enraged. Annoyed. Dealing with simpletons and morons getting in the way." She pointedly answered, clearly on-edge. "Troopers are barely functional Irken given arsenals and no intelligence to use them."
Sko sighed. "Yeah, yeah I know…makes them easier to manipulate though. Just…stay calm and let me do the talking. Squeeze my hand if you have to or something. We'll be done with these idiots soon enough."
"I don't appreciate being shot at, either." She huffed.
"Makes two of us on that point…" He shook his head, squeezing her shoulder for some reassurance.
From a nearby keep, a Captain was hurrying down the stairs.
"What in the blue fuck is going on down there?!" The officer himself was clearly a long veteran of the battle of Vort if he was using the local language. "I've got radio traffic asking why we're firing and asking if we need backup but nobody's telling me any-" He paused in his path after seeing Sko and Kiz, snapping to attention and saluting.
"Sorry, General, Major, I didn't know we had visitors and we're under attack!"
"Relax, Captain, we're the attack."
He blinked, looking at Skiff and lowering his salute. "Really? We just shot at two high ranking officers?"
"We did not do anything, Sir…but Squad 3 on overwatch in my team jumped the gun. Literally. Our esteemed guests of honor are on a mission of the utmost importance behest of Supreme Commander Grimm." The Sergeant explained, checking his disdain for the intrusion and how he was spoken to by the Major.
The Captain facepalmed. "Agh, damn it, this isn't going to look good on my record when this gets reported."
"We can make this incident go away, almost like we were never here." Sko began, withdrawing a dataslate with a list of supplies he made on the way in and extended it to the Captain. "We're parked way up the road from your side gate we came in. We need these supplies and some fuel barrels trucked over to our shuttle so we can resupply our ship and make for Jakri to continue Impending Doom. Don't want to keep the Supreme Commander waiting."
There was a very firm squeeze of his hand from Kiz, an apparent signal.
"And I believe my dear Major here wants a few minutes of private time with the idiots who fired at us to…correct their behavior, off the record."
"Deserving as they may be, it is our responsibility to deal with them." The Captain insisted, looking to Skiff. "Sergeant, bring your men into line. I expect better."
"Yes, Sir. It won't happen again, Sir."
"Ensure that it doesn't or it will be my problem and you are the problem."
"Captain, if we can have our supplies trucked out to our shuttle and unload them, we can get going back to Jakri and get out of your way doing whatever it is you're doing here these days since the campaign ended."
"Yes, of course. We can fulfill your request without incident." He offered with a nod, turning to the Sergeant. "Take their list and get it prepared for transport…and be quick about it."
"Yes, Captain." Skiff nodded, accepting the dataslate from Sko before taking off in the apparent direction of their stores.
"General Cagir has been adamant about neutralizing the insurgent threat…but at the same time hampers our progress with denied requisitions for heavy armor and ordnance. Needless to say it has been…frustratingly fruitless getting into protracted firefights with resistance fighters at-range only to have them scamper away without incident."
"So you're forced to engage infantry with infantry without support? That does sound tedious." Sko figured this would be a good intelligence gathering mission. "What's going on locally? I figured with IIA being at the city over that way they'd have the surrounding areas locked down tight as could be. They only just secure the city?"
"More or less, yes." The Captain continued making conversation. "Colonel Niz stated, for the record, that it is not her problem and not to make it her problem or it will become everyone's problem. IIA holds T'daali operating out of the prison. Canigoris, this garrison, mainly holds jurisdiction between T'daali and Renoov on the coast to the north."
"Security for logistics?" Kiz queried.
"Yes, Ma'am. Keep the corridor secure to ensure the movement of Imperial goods and troops with minimal incident. Something that could be entirely avoided if General Cagir provided more Armada support for the occupation. It isn't my place to question but unsupported infantry can only accomplish so much, even against resistance fighters."
"Any idea where the locals are operating from?" Sko asked, "Unless General Cagir is holding you back, anything stopping you from going out for them?"
"Reconnaissance and repeated incursions has narrowed down a sizable operation between here and T'daali. Unfortunately, due to our lack of support, my men are tasked to capacity with keeping the flow of supplies moving uninhibited and Colonel Niz has no interest in operating outside of her sphere of influence. I realize we are but Troopers but I still have a job to do and cannot do it if everyone works against us."
"You seem like you got a decent head on your shoulders. I'm sure you'll think of something. Anyone who survived the fury that was the Vortian campaign can certainly do so." Sko looked to the first trucks coming over after being loaded up by a hard working crew. "We really appreciate the supplies. The Empire appreciates your support for ongoing operations abroad."
Wrapping up their conversation, Kiz and Sko hopped onto one of the supply trucks and made their way back to the shuttle. Vaukt's men quickly made themselves scarce. The Imperial Troopers set about loading the supplies into their shuttle and added the fuel they brought with them. With everything loaded, the trucks returned to base and Sko made a convincing looking startup sequence for the shuttle to take off as the Troopers departed.
"General?"
"Fly low, bring it northwest to my position. Transport's waiting then hide that thing."
"Copy, out."
Hours passed as the Invaders hid their shuttle, unloaded the supplies onto the resistance cell's own transports, and brought them back to base. Vaukt, his First Sergeant, Sko, and Kiz waited up above, watching the unloading and distribution of supplies as the Commodore emerged from the mine shaft to survey what they had done.
"Here you go. My two Invaders here got your people three months worth of food supplies, a full stock of medical supplies, and plenty of ammunition for plasma and mass driven weaponry of the Empire." Vaukt gestured to the supplies. "I hope this is enough for you."