AN: Here we go folks, a new chapter. Before we get started, as per usual, we'll look at the comments that need addressing. Tjuparulla, logically speaking that was the only way to do it really. SPARTAN-626, you'd be wrong…As for the Turians everyone seems to forget that, despite how much we destest them, they have been the primary military force of the Citadel for over a thousand years, certain doctrines and ways of thinking get hammered in when you fill a role for so long (unless, you know, your GOD tells you that's not how we're doing things anymore). Artyom-Dreizehn, 1: I gave them their brains partially back, while Bioware DESTROYED their ability to think and progress (They're like the mainline mechanicum in the sense of no technological progress…but they have discovered better metals and other ingredients to improve over the old tech they built on). 2: The treaty still exists, just scaled up with the increased fleet sizes. 3: By modern standards you are correct, but compared to say the Imperium (the version in this fic) they are rather weak. One final thing before we begin, I would like to thank Uncle WAAAAAGH for his help with this chapter; without him I do not think I would have had this ready as quickly, or indeed that it would have been this long. Let's begin.
Speech
Thoughts
Radio/machine speech/scene change
314: The Wolf of Shanxi Prime
Shanxi Primus: eighty miles to the south of the capital city of Beijo...thirty minutes after Turian Landings
Captain Williams, a forty year old Caucasian male with close cut brown hair and blue eyes, scowled as he examined his tac pad. The situation was bad. The invaders had landed forty, seven hundred meter long ships in a circle around the capital; they were deploying ground troops just outside of the range the AA would have ripped their ships to shreds.
The CDF garrison for the planet had already destroyed every way into the city barring the main road, and established a in depth defensive position; one that relied heavily on automated defenses and mines to keep the small garrison from suffering heavy casualties...It would not hold for more than a day, but by then reinforcements should have arrived in sufficient numbers to drive the invaders back.
There was only one issue in the Captain's opinion. He, along with three other troopers were cutoff far from the defensive lines. But there was an upside to the situation, he reflected as he lit a cigar, and he was sitting on it.
As he called the three troopers over, he got out of one of the most destructive mobile weapons on the planet…A refurbished Tiger tank. Compared to the old Second Zeon War vehicle; this tiger had much better protection (forty mm more armor, new metallurgical composition, revamped shielding and engine), and a much more impressive offensive punch (it's old 88 mm railgun replaced with a higher velocity railgun able to switch to laser or plasma fire).
Charles spoke with a calm measured voice: "Alright boys and girl, here's the situation. As I'm sure you're all aware, unknown xenos forces whipped out the small naval force in orbit but took a hell of a bludgeoning. However, their ground forces have landed in a circle fifty miles away from the capital."
Internally the UNSC 7th Armored Division veteran smiled, the three other CDF troopers with him reacted exactly as he hopped…Blank stares and waiting for him to finish. Sucking in a pull on his cigar, and then letting it out, blowing a smoke ring out, he continued: "I for one do not plan on letting that stop us. Governor Alexander has the defenses well in hand, so the plan is to use Lupa here," here he slapped the side of the tank, "to cause as much chaos and destruction as possible to the invaders."
"Any questions? No? Then mount up, every moment we delay is another these invaders have to advance relatively unmolested."
Ten minutes later: Turian Fourth Legion, First Armored Maniple: 30 miles south of Beijo
Colonel Verius, an older Turian male from Galatana, surveyed the area from the commander's copula in his command tank. The landing operation had gone perfectly; there was no opposition to the troops as they had spread out. However that was actually the start of the problems the Turian troopers faced. The minor settlements they had found had all been evacuated and turned into death traps as automated turrets tore through anything that even so much as passed close by the villages. This led to high casualties until artillery and orbital assists were brought to bear in leveling the towns.
Once the minor settlements were blasted into oblivion, the advance continued; but they ran into three major problems. The first being that the primary city on the planet was surrounded by concealed aa and other automated defenses, as the Fifth Airborne Legion's recon elements discovered to their cost, losing half their strength before they even knew what was going on.
A more troublesome issue was the fact that besides the main entrance to the city, the other routes had been rendered impassible. Whether through destroying the passes by burying them in rocks and rubble; or destroying bridges over chasms too wide for their engineering corps to create a crossing point in a timely manner, the defenders had forced the Turians to advance down one route. While this was inconvenient due to the encircling deployment they had taken the main problem was the defenders themselves.
Reports from the vanguard were bleak. The defenders had set up an in depth defensive position, one which had repelled them with ease. The eighth legion was going to be the next to hit the defenders, they would hopefully break the defenders rapidly, if not then there were another five hundred thousand soldiers on the planet who could try.
Verius was roused from his thoughts when one of his tanks exploded…BEHIND him. Turning towards the sound of the explosion, dozens of other tanks exploded in rapid succession around him before he could even catch a glimpse of an attacker. Activating his helmet's inbuilt binoculars he caught sight of a boxy tank on a hill over a mile away. The opposing vehicle was picking them off with ease, every single shot from the tank claimed a kill, and even the new heavy "Archaeon" tanks were no match for the firepower displayed by this frightening new adversary.
Mustering his resolve, the Colonel rallied his men to charge the unknown's armored vehicle. The regiment, now down to half strength, charged valiantly, firing their main guns. Cheers broke out over the radio when they saw their shells impact against their target's armor, only to turn to horrified gasps as they saw that the assault didn't even dent the armor of the metal monster that still fought on.
But now instead of firing railgun shells, a beam of pure energy sprang from the tank's barrel, sweeping back and forth…destroying dozens of tanks and IFVs with each pass. All too soon, only the command tank was left, having reached within fifty feet of the opposing tank; even at such a close range, the shells from the Turian tank bounced off the frontal armor of the steel behemoth. With contemptuous ease, the undamaged tank opened fire with a burst of laser fire, destroying the Turian tank in a ball of fire.
The turret swept from side to side, scanning the battlefield for more targets. When none presented themselves, the tank rumbled on, hunting for more prey.
CDF Defensive Position: Five Miles outside of Beijo: Twenty Minutes Later
Governor Lukas Alexander was a seasoned veteran of many wars, both for the Imperium of Man and its successor state the Imperium. He had fought with his men in countless battles, leading from if not the front, then as close to it as possible. He was a man who enjoyed a good challenge; the higher the stakes, the better he performed, and the higher the shot of euphoria when his adrenalin had worn off and victory was his.
But this was the most dire scenario he had ever faced. To defend a fully operational fortress that had been built over the span of weeks if not months is a challenge in of itself; but he only had hastily assembled defenses here. He gave that's to the Emperor that he had a Death Korps engineer serving under him, otherwise the defenses his men had assembled would not nearly be as effective as they were now.
On top of the less than ideal defensive position, he still recalled the scowling face of Johan as the veteran reported that the defenses were as ready as they could be, the CDF detachment assigned to the plant numbered only five hundred men and women. Defending the defenses that had been erected would be a struggle…especially with considering how badly they were outnumbered. Reports indicated that these unknown Xenos had landed roughly five hundred THOUSAND soldiers. At that great a discrepancy in numbers, losing even a single soldier became all that more devastating; every soldier that fell meant that the others would have to fight even harder against ever more overwhelming numbers.
With the current situation, Alexander was certain of only one thing. He and his soldiers would win gloriously, or all die this day…There would be no retreat, and there could be no surrender. This did not shake him, indeed as a former General in the Imperial Guard, he was used to situations where retreat and surrender were impossible; as such if anything, the sense of familiarity with this kind of scenario encouraged him!
Despite the rush job the fortifications had been, the xenos would have one hell of a time trying to capture the position. The defenses were situated on the main route to Beijo, a long ramp carved directly into the plateau, with artificial cliffs turning this path into an impressive chokepoint; especially as on his orders, every other path had been blocked. This was now the only way the xenos could enter, and it was a death trap.
Thirty automated turrets were watching the entryway of the chasm, silently rotating from side to side. Armed with archaic bolters and multi las weaponry, they would have no problem in wiping the infantry from the face of this world, though vehicles might prove an issue, as had been proven when the vanguard of the xenos had been repulsed by those hidden turrets.
Beyond that there were three main lines of defense. The first being a mine field one hundred meters wide by one hundred meters long. After that was another band of forty automated turrets, these ones using surplus UNSC weaponry from before hybrid weapons started to appear. The last major line of defense was a trench network, nearly fifty feet wide and stretching a good two hundred feet back. Built in the narrowest part of the path, it stretched from one side of the chasm to the other. Reinforced by several bunker complexes and lines of razor wire; and stationed on the edges of the cliffs were multiple mortars, armed with plasma dispersion shells. Such a blast would be more than enough to turn an infantry company, as had been proven during the earlier engagement, into nothing but smoldering ash. Several larger turrets would hopefully provide a decent amount of covering fire, to protect the defenders if they were required to retreat to the final defense position…the Castle St. Angelo, which was currently being constructed by the small engineering unit under his command…If the invaders got past that…
Suddenly, he glanced up, brought back to the present by a buzzing sound. He glanced at the vox caster. He took in a deep breath, as he reached to it, picking it up with his hand. He held it up to his ear, already knowing what was going to be said.
A calm female voice spoke, "The xenos forces moving through the entrance to the chokepoint, Sir…Thousands of 'em….They'll be in the mines in a matter of minutes."
Alexander sighed in relief, as now he would have something to keep his attention in the present, before quickly barking a response: "Activate the turrets and prime the mines. And give me an open channel to every living being on the planet."
With the Turian Third Infantry Legion: First Maniple: Second Cohort: Sergeant Caelrain
Sergeant Caelrain was a career soldier, he had joined the Third Infantry Legion right out of basic training. His homeworld, Carthaan, had provided quality troopers for the Hierarchy for centuries, and he was grateful that he had that legacy to remind himself of as well as his training as they passed the wrecked remains of yet another one of the vanguard detachment's IFVs. It had been completely blown apart by some kind of explosive.
As his unit continued the advance a crackled broke over his radio, and an unfamiliar voice broke through. He was startled as he realized that it was not a Turian speaking: "Enemies of the Imperium, hear me. You have come here to DIE!"
"The Immortal Emperor is with us and we are invincible! His soldiers, will strike you down… His war machines, will crush you under their treads…His mighty guns will bring the very sky crashing down upon you!"
"You cannot win. We are the Shanxi Primus CDF, and today is OUR VICTORY DAY!"
As soon as the voice stopped speaking, explosions ripped through the advancing Turians. The sudden explosions caught them off guard, but the sergeant looked at his radar and froze as his motion tracker detected THOUSANDS of mines all around him: "MINES! We've walked into a bloody minefield, they must have activated them after whoever that was finished speaking. Tred very carefully troopers!"
The troopers reacted accordingly, with their radars active they were able to avoid most of the mines, though some unlucky troopers still stepped on a mine and took out whole squads. Despite this they were still advancing…and then the hidden turrets opened up. Whole squads evaporated under a hail of laser bolts and some strange projectile which killed troopers despite their shields being active. It was a slaughter, most of the senior officers of the legion fell quickly, and soon the orderly advance turned to a full scale rout.
But they would be back…They had numbers, and the defenders HAD to run out of ordinance at some point…Right?
Trench Line: Two hours later
CDF Sergeant 'Klaws' Calgaz, a forty year old black haired male, could see them coming. Hundreds of floating and wheeled vehicles, supported by masses of infantry were swarming towards the main defensive line. It had taken these xenos longer than expected to breach the mines and auto turrets. He chomped on a cigar as he looked over the battlefield, the Sergeant was formerly from the Blazian 9th Fusiliers of the Imperial Guard and was well used to these kinds of long odds.
Something that stood him out from his fellow CDF troopers was that he refused to wear the "fancy techno-sorcery" (ODST armor) that the CDF was issued; instead preferring to rely on the flak armor he had been first issued in the guard. He also eschewed the use of the HEW line for the older Mars Pattern Lasgun he had been first issued.
One of the spotters yelled out as his partner fired his sniper rifle: "TWO HUNDRED METERS!" As around him the CDF assigned to the trenches formed an organized gun line to repel the invaders began to form. Most of the troopers on this line carried basic personal weapons, the more dangerous toys being kept in reserve or stationed in bunkers and the scattered auto turrets.
"150 METERS!" The sergeant barked back: "Shut the frakk up, before I shove my boot so far up your ass that it comes out through your mouth!" The turrets around him whired to life, as old but still dangerous Executioner Plasma Cannons powered up…For a brief second there was silence, and then with a whine, and a blast of light and heat, the plasma cannons fired.
Heated to be roughly the temperature of a dying star, the bright; almost blinding projectiles, slammed into the front lines of the skimmer craft and more conventional apcs. They were reduced to nothing but ash within microseconds. The dazed infantry that managed to survive the plasma bombardment were helpless without their vehicles to use as cover, as the heavy bolter, and other anti-personnel turrets that then opened up immediately afterwards...Scything huge chunks of the advancing Xenos to pieces. The Plasma cannons would have been invaluable in dealing with the attackers quicker, but it was believed heavier vehicles would soon follow, so the turret gunners kept trigger discipline to conserve the ammunition on those ancient guns.
Calgaz his lasgun with the three fingers left on his left hand, as with his right, he made sure that his charge hadn't been depleted, something about Shanxi's atmosphere made energy weapons deplete their ammo faster, he would need to make ever shot count. Putting all the confidence that a veteran like him, who had fought for almost thirty years (from a conscript defending his home, all the way up to the assault on the Eye), could project he called out to his squad: "Alright you maggots! Let's kill these xenos quick! I want some time to go take a bath, because the shit on my foot is abso freaking lutely DISGUSTING."
A small but notable cheer rose from his men. The heavy bolter turrets were still spitting out hundreds of explosive rounds per second. Any xenos that was too stupid and rushed forward quickly turned into a leaky pile of blue meat. But despite this the heavy bolter turret ammunition was wavering, despite the advances of quantum lathes allowing weapons designed with them to essentially have infinite ammo some weapon systems were incompatible with the tech (such as the old Tarantula sentry turrets).
Then another shot of the executioner turrets spat out more burning plasma; Calgaz averted his eyes elsewhere, as the bright supernova of energy slammed into another part of the chokepoint. Hundreds, if not thousands of xenos were killed immediately, dozens more horrifically wounded. Plasma burns were not easy to treat, not by any means. He knew from experience, he could still feel the phantom pain from where he lost his fingers to a Tau firewarrior's plasmgun. Calgaz quickly reached into his pants and scratched his ass. He really had this uncomfortable itch that he could not satisfy...Maybe he should have paid attention when the doc was saying what plants were okay to touch.
He pulled the trigger to his lasgun, getting a bright beam of soaring energy to knock what appeared to be a commander in his, or hers (he really couldn't tell with Xenos), visor. Of course, instead of knocking him to the ground, his head exploded like a grenade. After blinking in surprise, a dark chuckle left his lips: "Obsolete and useless my frakking arse."
Then, he heard clicks. Glancing to the side he saw the inevitable, albiet unwelcome, sight of the heavy bolter turrets being jammed. He swore heavily, as he began to fire shot after shot at the xenos horde.
Snarling in anger he roared to his squad: "You idiots! Get the turrets fixed, or I flay your skin and wear it like slippers!"
These troopers, like him, were all former guardsmen, so they were used to those kinds of threat; and quickly did so, abandoning their position to fix the turrets. Though Calgaz had little worry about how accurate his men were (they all were guardsmen; that meant that they had been the best of their world's military) he knew that they were not gods. The xenos far outnumbered them, and all though they had most definitely killed thousands in the first opening minutes, they still far outnumbered the defenders. The few turrets were the key to survival.
Return fire soon became an issue. As the vehicles got closer, more of the spined xenos embarked out of their vehicles, using the blasted wreckage of their inferior vehicles to save their skin. A fellow CDF was shot right in the eye, crumbling to the ground in a heap after a torrent of fire finally cracked his visor allowing a shot to pass through. Calgaz grumbled in anger, as he threw aside his spent lasgun, but soon he was grinning as he stooped down. Although two of his fellow soldiers had gone down, that was not the point at the moment. Two lasguns were lying there, just waiting to be used. He couldn't just… deny them….even if they were new-fangled UNSC pattern rifles.
Scooping them up, one in each hand, he peeked out of the trenches, and let out a roar of anger and hatred, as he pulled the triggers. Both of the lasrifles barked and growled, letting out a stream of fiery red hot lances of death. Any xeno that got too close was utterly annihilated as his fire cut down dozens. A charging platoon that was trying to take his somewhat lightly defended area of the trench were reduced to nothing but hot ribbons. He did have to give the xenos credit. They were no cowards. Even if their comrades were cut down in front of them, they still gave their all. More the pity to them, as he enjoyed putting them down like the dogs that they were.
As his rifles clicked empty, he leaped back down to the ground, dodging at least two dozen projectiles. He slammed them onto the side of his hips, haphazardly sticking two extra clips into the guns. He then smacked the clips together, by clapping the guns together like symbols. Locked and loaded, he let out another burst of las fire from his guns; then, he heard a beautiful noise. Only inches above his head, a torrent of heavy bolter fire echoed within his ears, cutting another charging xenos unit to nothing but a steaming pile of guts. That was good. Maybe he wouldn't have to get his hands all dirty after the battle was over. The man then smiled, another bombardment of superheated plasma coming from the heavy turrets from above.
As he stood to his feet again Calgaz reached into his pants to scratch his ass again, firing another salvo of fiery las bolts from one of his rifles, killing two xenos when he wasn't looking, when suddenly, he heard a massive boom. A powerful series of explosions began to ring around them.
"Sir! Bombardment! We can't spot the batteries!" The veteran Sergeant swore harshly: "Then let's give em a taste of our own artillery! Contact Lupus and his men on the cliffside, authorize plasma bombardment. Now Emperor damnit! NOW! Broken Arrow, we're pulling back to the Castle!"
Turian forward command post: One mile away
Hosso Caelrain was previously just a sergeant, now two hours into the assault, he was now commanding officer of what was left of the first assault. To call this assault a failure would be a grave understatement. It wasn't just a failure. It was a monumental collapse. They had not expected the defenders to be not only so well equipped (who the hell would have expected LASERS as personal defense weapons), but so… brutal in their defense of their capital. Of the ten thousand men who were part of the Third Infantry Legion, only five hundred dazed and confused troopers made it back to friendly lines.
Now he watched as the Tenth Mechanized finally started to break through the dug in defenders, though it had cost another fifty thousand casualties to even drive them from their trenches. Seeing the plasma explosions drop on what was once the defensive line, he knew that casualties would climb even higher.
Shaking his head he hopped General Arterius and the rest of the senior command could bring a swift end to this, but he doubted it. Don't get him wrong…he had every faith in the general, he had severed under him for over a decade now, but even if it ended soon the casualty rate would mark this as a pyrrhic victory at best.
Night was falling, with victory within grasp and Turian doctrine demanding it the Tenth and other combat capable units pushed on. Those defenders that did not run were dug out and killed through overwhelming firepower. Those that did, and they could concentrate enough fire on, were similarly cut down. Hosso felt no shame in the actions of his fellow soldiers in killing those who fled. He had watched thousands of his kind die in horrible fashion, vengeance was demanded.
He felt pride springing up again as he watched the troopers on the line push forward, their spirit and morale troops was the highest it had been since landing on this spirts forsaken world. Finally, they had broken the defenders, and soon they would be in the capital, ready to end this war on their terms.
Even now the enemy scurried away like animals, something a little incongruous with the iron will they had displayed earlier. But it didn't long for the reason for their retreat to become clear, but by then it was far too late, plasma bombs rained from the sky, vaporizing anything near the trench line.
Luckily, most of the Turian ground forces were still far behind from the trenches, but even then, hundreds if not thousands died without warning. The colonel's blood boiled, he longed to get into hand to hand with these monsters and rip them apart with his own two claws…but he had his own men to look after.
Turian Sector Command:
General Desolas eyed the display with weary resignation. The trenches had been taken, but at enormous cost; and now there was another defensive position they had to take, a massive fortress of steel that had sprung up during the battle.
He felt tired, this battle was forced upon him and his men, and now they were dying in droves because of a dead man's actions. But more than tired he felt hate. He hated that he had to send his own troops into such a meat grinder. He hated that so many of the soldiers he had cared for were slain. But most of all he hated that so many had to die for such a worthless prize!
Even now, dozens of medical teams were attending to the wounded, while dozen more tried to collect the bodies for burial rites, for what good it would do…he had seen what the enemy's plasma weapons could do. And with a steady barrage keeping them from advancing further, the attack was over…for now.
A calm, but puzzled voice, called: "General."
The Turian turned, glancing at long time communications officer, Helios Alecius a son of Palaven. Nodding the General spoke: "What is it, old friend?"
Helios clasped his talons against his back, as he spoke a report that chilled the old general:
"We have strange readings coming from orbit, sir."
Arterius spoke in a low whisper: "By the spirits… please don't be more enemies."
Next time: 314: On Raven Wings
Codex: Turian Legion Organization
The Legion is the Turian equivalent to the Imperial Division organization wise. There are multiple types of Legions within the Turian army, though we will only be looking at four in this brief overview.
There are Mechanized Legions, the armored fist of the Turian military; they usually form the spear head of any ground assault, cutting deep into hostile territory and smashing all resistance before them. Typically by the time news reaches frontline combat forces that a Mechanized Legion is in the area, the combatants opposing one have already been cutoff and surrounded. Usually one can find: four armored maniples (comprised solely of tanks), three mechanized infantry maniple (infantry mounted in IFVs and APCs), a reconnaissance maniple, two motorized artillery maniple (MLRS and mobile artillery), and a support maniple (AA and engineers) in the force organization chart of any mechanized legion. These Legions usually are amongst the smallest numerically, the cost of manufacturing the armor and other vehicles needed makes producing large numbers of mechanized legions, or even larger formations, an unattractive option.
Infantry Legions; they fill the role of both garrison troops and combat forces due to the sheer number of these legions in existence. Wherever the Turian military marches, at least one Infantry Legion can be found nearby, ready to do what Turians have done for over a thousand years, preserve Citadel law and order. They are usually composed of: three heavy infantry maniples, two light infantry maniples, one recon maniple, one anti-tank maniple (usually made of towed AT guns, but sometimes tank destroyers are employed instead), two artillery maniples (towed artillery), and a support maniple. These are the most common Legions in the Turian military, and the most numerous member wise, as it is easier to equip and train an infantry legion then it is for any other legion.
Airborne Legions are a more recent addition to the legion types; while Turians have used airborne assets in the past, they have usually been attached to standard legions when the operation they were involved in called for their inclusion, and detached when they were no longer needed. However, at the battle of Galbanath, out in the Terminus systems, massed Turian airborne elements were able to take multiple strongpoints that had kept the Turian armor from advancing; this event proved the effectiveness of massed airborne insertion, and soon Turian High Command had organized several Airborne Legions to fulfil this new role. The standard force organization for an airborne legion comprises of: five airborne infantry maniples, two airborne light vehicle maniples (composed of stripped down tanks and other vehicles with virtually no armor), one airborne artillery maniple (whatever heavy ordinance can be fitted to the heavy dropships for transport), one airborne support maniple, and two gunship maniples (to provide support and rapid transport as needed for the airborne troops). Because of the cost of equipping and training such a formation, they are rather few in numbers but each legion more than pays for itself when used in the right place at the right time.
Special Forces "Legions," Turian special forces "legions" rarely fight all together at once, they are usually deployed into smaller cohort or century sized units, depending on how thinly stretched a spec forces unit is spread one might only ever encounter a squad or even an individual soldier in a battle zone. Special forces legions have no fixed force organizational chart, they add or detach units as needed for the mission they are assigned. Because of the astronomical high cost of training special forces, who are trained to be able to fill ANY battlefield role as well as pilot any Turian vehicle, and equipping them, only the best equipment is ever given to special forces, a special forces legion is the absolute rarest formation in the Turian military.
Codex: A study of the battle of Shanxi Prime, Why didn't the CDF first response fleets arrive before the Raven Guard
One of the most annoying parts of the brief battle of Shanxi Prime from the Imperial Perspective is that the CDF first response fleets took so long to respond that by the time they got there the battle was already over.
Historians have debated over why the CDF first response fleets didn't arrive sooner, but the fact is that the Imperium, even back then, was a big place. Not only that but at the same time that the battle was raging on the eastern edge of the Imperium, the largest counter offensive to date against the encroaching Mega Nids was being waged. History would recall that is offensive was highly successful, and finally broke the Mega Nid threat once and for all; but if it wasn't for the fact that the vast majority of CDF forces had been pulled in to fight as well, that counter offensive might have not been nearly as successful.
Excerpt from the report on the raid on Cadia's Area 90
…Despite the chaos and destruction suffered during the raid, several cameras remained intact from the raider's attack.
They revealed something astonishing. An Ork Mekboy and, unbelievable as this may sound, a Tyranid Hive Tyrant; no I am not joking, that is more Cain's style then mine.
From video evidence, and testimony from the few eye witnesses that survived the break in, this intruder appeared out of nowhere. There was no tell-tale sign of teleportation, nor any psychic energy that was recognizable at the entrance point.
After this pair of intruders cut their way through a dozen Skitarii and "trooper" battle droids using an array of strange gadgets the science bureau is still trying to figure out, they hit the vault. They stole roughly a dozen of the prototype, and highly unstable, "Sunkiller MK III" shells, which as I'm sure you're all aware are designed for usage by the new Charon Mk IV stealth frigate in case a system is irreparably lost or too deep in hostile territory for an invasion to be justifiable, before apparently teleporting away.
Residual energy at the site they left from hints at a massively powerful teleporter, possibly one strong enough to even breach dimensional barriers. Further studies are ongoing, but it is possible that we may be looking at the next big milestone in technological advancement.
Signed,
Senior Imperial Intelligence Agent,
Amberley Vale
Review please and thank you