Chapter Four:
Operation Cinder Engaged
Captain Voughn Triklus stood on the command deck of the ship Emancipation, observing the stars and the encircling TIE Fighters flying in formation with the rest of the 77th Battle Squadron Fleet in rotation around the planet Lu'ur-Coss.
Word had reached the ears of every officer and commander in the squadron of Endor, but the loss of the Emperor was of no concern... for now. Lu'ur-Coss was under control, it's citizens loyal, save for the insurgents that had made several attacks on Imperial shipping yards within the past month.
"Captain..." A stormtrooper reported, "You have a visitor."
Triklus turned, seeing a figure dressed in red appear on the bridge. The messenger droid approached the devoted Imperial captain and extended its hand; "You will verify by blood."
"I serve the Emperor's will." Triklus said, he turned to every officer and soldier on the bridge, "All of you, leave!"
The crew left the bridge, leaving Triklus with the Messenger Droid, save for the Stormtroopers that continued to stand guard. The captain held out his hand and a claw emerged from the droid's finger, the droid tapped the captain's bare arm, drawing a sample of blood.
Then, the droid beeped and an image appeared on its visor; the face of Emperor Palpatine himself, no doubt a recording.
"Captain Triklus..." Palpatine's voice intoned, ""Operation: Cinder is to begin at once. Resistance. Rebellion. Defiance. These are concepts that cannot be allowed to persist. You are but one of many tools by which these ideas shall be burned away. Heed my messenger, he will relay you to your target."
The visor shut down and the droid beeped. Triklus wasn't familiar with Operation Cinder, but he knew a scorched-earth policy when he heard a command for it. Palpatine's last command for him was to burn a world, loyal to the Empire or to the Rebellion, it didn't matter.
The last time he'd enacted a scorched-earth policy, it had been at the Battle of Troku-Hikol eleven years ago. He remembered it all, what had to be done. The insurgents had proven themselves to be far stronger, the uprisings were endless and the planet's civilians had been defiant to the end.
Triklus had commanded the fleet to bombard it all, leaving whatever remained of that world as a smoking ruin, a smoldering, barren wasteland. And he'd gotten Palpatine's blessing to conduct the bombardment, the emperor had been pleased with him that day and assigned him to maintain order in the Lu'ur-Coss sector.
Now, with Palpatine dead by the hands of the rebels, there was no other choice.
"Your target is relayed; you know what must be done!" The droid told him.
Triklus nodded and ordered his crew to report back onto the bridge. He gazed out at the window, surveying Lu'ur-Coss once again before he turned to every single Imperial in the room. "We have posthumous orders from the Emperor!" He declared, "Operation Cinder is to begin immediately, I repeat, we are to begin Operation Cinder!"
"Captain, what does that mean?" An officer asked.
"You know what it means, Lieutenant." Triklus said firmly, "We are loyal to the Empire, to the late Emperor Palpatine, and his last orders are very clear. Now, prepare for lightspeed, and relay the command to the fleet, Operation Cinder is in effect starting immediately!"
"Yes, sir." A fleet officer nodded.
Vors-Roluq, the Lu'ur-Coss desert. Years ago, the Imperial garrison had established its base of operations in the region, the base was under heavy guard by an entire legion of Stormtroopers and Death Troopers, mostly due to how important the base was.
Once, a Jedi enclave was located here, now the site of Imperial Base Utau-Deltic.
Blaster fire echoed through the canyon as the 78512th Imperial Regiment held their ground, fighting against the Lu'ur-Coss Partisan Brigade. The Brigade was equipped with stolen Imperial gear and Separatist weapons from the Clone Wars.
Partisan leader Saugoun Chumara ducked behind rocks to avoid enemy fire, dressed in old Clone armor decorated with droid parts and high-tech goggles, he'd been leading the insurgency for the past several years. However, he wasn't as well-known as the late Saw Gererra was.
"MAN DOWN!" Hai'Leu screamed as one of the insurgents, an Imperial defector, took a hit.
"Keep firing!" Saugoun shouted, "BRING IN THE HEAVY WEAPONS!"
Clanking echoed through the region as an AT-ST walked in, piloted by an armored Twi'lek. Cannons exploded as the stolen walker fired, blasting the Stormtrooper squad to oblivion, allowing the insurgents to keep pushing forward.
An AT-AT entered the vicinity, all guns aimed at the rebels. A Rodian stepped in with a rocket launcher, opening fire on the AT-AT's legs. The walker collapsed, its legs smoldering, the pilots escaped and fired on the insurgents.
Saugoun ducked to avoid a stray blaster shot and blasted one of the Stormtroopers piloting the AT-AT in the head.
"We got 'em on the defensive!" Saugoun said, "Kairinia, what's the Imperial status report?"
Kairinia, a shapely woman wearing a hat and dusty overalls, walked up, holding a data-pad. "The holo-net is still talking about Palpatine's death..." She said, "And we just got some reports of Imperials fighting each other, there's also been a major development, something called Operation Cinder going into effect."
"Sounds like some kind of scorched Earth policy…" A bulky resistance fighter yelled as he threw a grenade at a squad of Imperials.
"If it is, what planets have been targeted..."
Kairinia studied the data-pad again and looked at Saugoun along with the rest of the resistance with an expression of uncertainty and disbelief. "According to the Imperial database..." She said, "Operation Cinder targets worlds such as Fondor, Naboo, Vardos, Rahng, Burnin-Konn and... Vos-Ralo."
The group glanced at one another and Kairinia clutched her blaster tightly as she looked at the data-pad again, the whole group felt unsettled by what they'd just heard and hearing that Vos-Ralo was on the list was even more unsettling.
"That's your home-world, Kai…" Quipped Bo'kalio, who held a repeater cannon, "Didn't you grow up there before you left when the Empire took over?"
"It was her home..." Saugoun said uneasily, "…Until the night her family was slaughtered by a man known as Darth Vader."
