{"sf1_id":874888,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Insurrection - Prologue","author":"Nakhi","words":4591,"posted_at":"2015-06-18T08:19:00.000Z","tags":["Cheetah","Female","Fox","Human","Male","Military","Panther","Plot Development","Sci-Fi","Story Progression"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/874888-insurrection-prologue","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/874888","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=874888\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Insurrection\n\nPrologue\n\nSelach 10, 960 Imperial Standard Year\nHaroma System, Haroma III\nDarkmire Mountains, Frostfall Palace\nNestled\nhigh in the Darkmire Mountains, Frostfall Palace serves as the home of the\nImperial Family of the Empire. More specifically, it's the private residence of\nHouse Welhan. With only one land route in, and a closely monitored air route,\nthe palace is considered by the internal security to be completely\nimpenetrable. Currently a small contingent of the Imperial Guard is protecting\nthe Palace, as part of the Emperor shifting all major guard forces in the\nEmpire through the Palace to show equal recognition. The Imperial Guard just\nrelieved the Remoran Royal Guard.\nAll of\nthose guard units, over time, acquired a knowledge of the palace's security\ncoverage. It meant that units could fill in any weak spots appropriately and\nprepare for the unlikely situation of someone attacking the palace. Not since\nthe First Federation War did Frostfall Palace come under attack in any form.\nWith that came complacency from the guards assigned to the Palace. They were\nthere in a ceremonial role since the Palace wasn't threatened with attack.\nSituated\nagainst an inland sea, the lower levels of Frostfall have a scenic view across\nthe sea and of the mountain forests and plains of this part of the Darkmire\nMountains. The upper levels were built into the mountains a few centuries earlier,\nand contain most of the housing for the Imperial family. Its high elevation is\nto prevent easy access save through one route at the landing pad.\nTo the\nsouthwest, avoiding the sensors of Frostfall, a group of Remnoran Royal Guards\nmoved toward the Palace. The five soldiers, most notably, were all canine. In\nthe cover of the night, the group had an easier time advancing. Having just\ntransferred out, they were also well aware of where all the sensors were, and\nof the small hole in the sensor coverage. The group silently moved into a\nstraight line, one behind the other, and passed through the palace's external\nsensor net.\n\"We're in.\" One of the wolves growled out in the native language of the\nSouth Remnorans, just loud enough for the headset to catch it lest anyone hear\nthem. \"Radio silence from here.\nThey'll notice the transmissions.\"\nQuietly\nthe five approached the upper level shuttle pad, stopping to use a few rocks as\ncover. Only one Imperial Guardsman stood watch over the pad, though there was a\nsecurity drone hovering around. With five hundred feet between the pad and the\nrocks, the risky shot would be necessary. With a few hand signals, two of the\nsquad members took aim at the guard and the drone. Through the helmet HUD, the\nsquad leader started a countdown. As it hit zero, both fired at the same time. \nThe\ndrone's movement was unpredictable, but the modified tracking round adjusted\nits course in flight. The round hit the drone and pierced through the armor\nplating as if it were nothing but paper. The drone dropped onto the helipad\nwith a small bang. At the same time, the stun bullet hit the guard in the\nchest, knocking them to the ground. That round was built around disabling\nsapient life. If the guard was killed, the central computer would send an alert\nthrough the station. Disabling them didn't set off alarms. Another oversight.\nNo\ncameras existed on the upper level. With both defenses down, the squad moved\nfrom cover and made it across the field and to the shuttle pad quickly. Being\nlighter, despite the equipment weight, definitely had its benefits. At the top\nof the stairs that led down to a catwalk, the squad waited. One of the soldiers\ntossed a drone up, and used its controls to navigate along the catwalk and look\nfor any further guards. The catwalk ran along the cliff and into the top floor\nof Frostfall, two levels above the Emperor's bedroom. With no guards, the squad\nleader gave the nod and the squad moved quickly and quietly over the old\ncatwalk.\nAt the\nend of the catwalk, a single door stood, with a keypad next to it. The squad\nleader walked over and tapped in the code, and the bolts in the door slid back.\nWith a click, the door opened slightly and the squad entered the building. Once\ninside, the squad leader fired a micro EMP round at the camera. Now they had\nvery limited time before anything would seem wrong, but that was expected at\nthis point.\n\"Move.\" The squad leader said, and the squad followed as they moved\ndown the hall and made a quick right. \nOne\nsoldier glanced at the door on the left as the squad passed, and saw a solder\napproaching. A quick glance at the armor, and he knew it was an Orbital Shock\nTrooper, thus the secondary target of this raid. He let loose a burst of\nsubsonic rounds on instinct, which caused the soldier to take several steps\nback, and then return fire with his own pistol. The far louder bursts\nimmediately caused a flurry of activity in the palace.\nThe\ntrooper didn't give chase as the Guard squad began a rapid descent down a\nspiral staircase. Descending two floors felt as though it went far slower than\nit really did, as the adrenaline began to pump through the squad. Once the\nsquad leader reached the floor with the bedrooms, he saw his main target. Being\npulled from his bedroom, along with his wife, was the Emperor.\nThere\nwas a short silence and a break in the combat as the squad approached the\nImperial Guardsmen and the Emperor. \"Lieutenant Giese?\" The Emperor\nasked in Imperial Common, directed at the squad leader. The curious look that\nthe Emperor gave faded quickly into fear as the rifles were raised again. The\nEmperor's mouth moved to say something, but anything was quickly cut off by\ngunfire, from both the Remnorans and the Imperial Guard.\nIn the\nhaze of combat, the Emperor was hit multiple times, and limped away, leaving a\ntrail of blood as he did so. More Imperial Guards were on the way, and so he\nfled to the elevator. The two that were preparing to escort the Emperor put up\na fight considering the close quarters but inevitably fell, and three of the\nRemnorans were killed in the close range firefight. This is not the plan that\nthe Guard had developed to make this happen.\nLieutenant\nGiese continued down the hall, stepping over the corpses of the Imperial Guards\nand the bullet ridden Empress. For now, the hall was smoky, but quiet. Giese\nalmost picked up the pace until he saw the Emperor slump against the wall,\nslowly succumbing to his wounds. Mission accomplished, almost. Giese put the\nrifle over his shoulder and walked over to the Emperor.\n\"Why.\"\nEmperor Welhan said. Normally a question, this was a dying man wanting an\nanswer. \nGiese\nkneeled down. He wasn't heartless, even if this was the way he wanted things to\nbe. \"Why? Retribution for your treatment of us.\" Giese growled out,\nmouth barely working well over Imperial Common. \"Your treatment and that\nof your ancestors.\"\nThat\nactually made the Emperor laugh, and then cough up a bit of blood. \"Sins\nof the father, passed to the son. Typical dogs. And you wonder why you're\ntreated like this.\"\nThe\ngrowl that emanated from Giese turned quickly into a whimper, almost masked by\nthe blast of a pistol from down the hall. Stumbling backward, the lieutenant\nfell to the ground. The second Remnoran turned to fire, but was put down by\nthat same pistol. The Emperor gave another laugh, which again devolved into\ncoughing.\n\"Welcome\nto Haroma.\" The OST said as he\nwalked down the hall, with a hand covering his abdomen. The bullets barely made\nit through the armor, but the one that did hurt. With all threats taken down,\nthe trooper walked over to the Emperor and kneeled down. \"Remnoran Royal\nGuard?\" He asked.\n\"Head\nback to Tarquin.\" The Emperor said. When the elevator opened with more\nImperial Guards, he added, \"I'll be fine.\"\nWith a\nnod, the trooper stood up and started down the hall, back to the upper level\nonce more.\nSelach 11, 960 Imperial Standard Year\nHaroma System, Haroma III\nDarkmire Mountains, High Command\nSituated\ndeep below the Darkmire Mountains, Imperial High Command is the center of all\nmilitary operations in the Empire. During peacetime protocols, only one of the\nmain command centers are active, however war time opens all five in the\nfacility to handle logistics and planning between branches and coordination of\nforces across the front line. The entire facility covered about 200 square\nmiles under the mountains.\nGeneral\nTamarynn Trovato walked through the halls of High Command rather happily. It\nwas a good day, even in the wake of the near assassination of the Emperor.\nLocal commanders in the Haroma-Azizos Military Sector knew their protocol well,\nand the institution of martial law in the HAMS went over about as well as\nprotocol dictates. It's a temporary measure anyway to make it look like the\nArmy knew what they were doing in the wake of this incident. Since the\nintelligence services are handling this massive blunder, the Army has to be the\npublic face of competence. \nAfter\nnearly a millennium as a member state of the Empire, it was uncommon for a\nRemnoran - much less a South Remnoran - to attain high rank within the Imperial\nArmed forces, let alone the government itself. General Trovato, being an arctic\nwolf, was one exception to that. He saw humanity's domination of the Empire,\nand didn't even mind it. His loyalty to the Emperor and the Empire was\nabsolute. Loyalty took people to high places, and many of the nonhumans and\nparticularly Remnorans - Northern and Southern both, especially the Northern\ncats - couldn't understand the idea of loyalty it seemed.\nTrovato\nmade a turn and walked into his office. Being this far underground definitely\nhad its drawbacks, such as the solid metal walls and not a sight of the sun.\nHe'd be heading back home in the capital in the evening, and that was the best\npart of the day for the general, when he had the chance to get out of the underground\nmetal coffin he worked in every day. Until then, there was little for him to do\nother than make sure that his subordinates were handling operations\nappropriately. All that required was conversation with a few Lieutenant\nGenerals just below him.\nThis\nlasted for several hours, doing the checks with all subordinates in the HAMS.\nThe Imperial Army had a garrison of about five million soldiers in both\nsystems, with concentrations on Haroma III, Haroma IV, and Azizos III. Smaller\ngarrisons protected the space stations and other minor colonies in the systems.\nUnlike most other military sectors, the HAMS had a primarily human make up,\nowing to the fact that these worlds were also known as the 'Human Core Worlds'.\n\nBy the\nlocal time came around to evening, Trovato started to pack up for the day. As\nif knowing he was about to head home, first alert of the day came through. Without\na complaint, however, the general left his office and proceeded down the hall\nto the HAMS operations center. While most military sectors had their own\ncommand areas in the sector, the Haroma-Azizos was built into High Command. The\noperations center was dominated by a hologram showing both systems and all\nmilitary deployments in the system, updated roughly in real time.\nOn the\nHaroma side of the map, Haroma III was flashing as Trovato entered the\noperations center. That was rare, but also unlikely to be anything major. Most\nalerts on Haroma were incidents of local disorder, primarily in more criminal\nareas such as the Gracaria public housing sectors. This alert originated out of\nFort Tarquin. Trovato pulled up the emergency broadcast and looked over it. It\nbarely made sense, and was obviously very rushed.\nPRIORITY ALERT - FORT TARQUIN - FIREFIGHTS\nHAVE OCCURRED ON BASE BETWEEN MULTIPLE UNITS. MILITARY POLICE OVERWHELMED.\nREINFORCEMENT REQUIRED.\n'Well,\nthat's to the point.' Trovato thought as he looked over the message. It was\ndefinitely not something he wanted to see now. From the command console near\nthese holograms, the general keyed in an order to move reinforcements over to\nFort Tarquin, pulling from a few Army patrols in nearby Lontus. Fort Tarquin\nfacing this high a level of chaos was certainly unheard of, but still possible.\nOnce\nthe reinforcement order was sent, a few more alerts came up on the hologram.\nGracaria-Nordavic had a priority alert, focused around the Capitol. Haroma IV\nsent an alert regarding mass disorder on the planet. Azizos III followed\nshortly after, with a priority alert referring to what they called \"race\nriots\". That wasn't uncommon on Azizos, but they never sent an alert for\nit before.\nTapping\nhis headset, Trovato opened up High Command's... well, command channel. The\ncommand channel was a channel only the generals had access to, for more private\ncommunication. \"I am getting multiple alerts across Haroma and Azizos. How\nmany other sectors are seeing this?\"\n\"General\nMestrat here.\" Mestrat is the commander of the Remnora Military Sector.\n\"My board has been lit up all day. Southern Remnora II is... well, there's\na general retreat in all sectors. Something about racial riots and military\ndefections.\"\nAlong\nwith the generals, admirals were also on the channel. Unlike the Army, the Navy\nmaintained a Fleet Admiral, whether there was a war or not in order to provide\na highest ran in the hierarchy. The Fleet Admiral was quick to respond after\nMestrat. \"Sensors are reporting several fleets along the Terminus and Rim\nWorlds are defecting and firing on each other. Remnora Novus has cut all\ncontact with the Fleet.\"\n\"General\nBoldomar here.\" General Boldomar, being the son of Emperor Boldomar,\ncommanded the Remnora Novus Sector, which is one of the largest military\nsectors in the Empire. \"Army units in the Novus sector are out of\ncommunication. I think our relays are down in the area.\"\n\"Can\nwe put this up on a combined hologram, so we can see what we're missing?\"\nTrovato asked. A few moments later the Haroma and Azizos system were replaced\nwith a hologram view of the entire Empire, and all the alerts across its\nthousands of systems. The operation center went quiet as they looked to the\nhologram, and it showed every system in the Empire with a priority alert or\nwithout a relay. Increasingly the lack of a relay was growing more common.\n\"We need to inform the Emperor.\" Trovato said after a moment.\n\"Prime\nMinister McCovery is on the way. The Emperor is still unfit for duty.\" The\nFleet Admiral said. \nThe\nlights flickered shortly, which made Trovato look up, and immediately after the\nroom shook violently. High Command was built on springs and shock absorbers.\nAnything that managed to shake the base had to be coming from a capital ship\nlaunching a bombardment. And if a capital ship was firing on the surface of\nHaroma, it meant that the Empire's five centuries of peace was now shattered.\nWith all the alerts, and the bombardment, the Empire was now at war.\nFort Tarquin\n\"They're\nmoving around the side.\" Private Greymane said. The cheetah was quick to\nmove to compensate for where a few other soldiers had fallen, and opened fire\non a few approaching South Remnorans. He pulled back after he was targeted\nagain, which was expected, but it wasn't an easy fight regardless.\nThe air\nwas thick with smoke and the smell of fire now. The fighting had been ongoing\nfor about an hour now, and no one knew just what caused it. One moment there\nhad been silence, and then there was sporadic gunfire. Within a few minutes,\nentire battalions had turned their guns on each other. Now there was a clear\nspecies divide which was noticed. Most of those that continued to fight were\nSouth Remnoran, while humans and North Remnorans along with other species were\nat least trying to repel them.\nBase\nbuildings were proving to be the only asset on the defense, turning shop\nwindows into cover, and using its walls to hide. What used to be a barbershop\nwas now a building held by a group of four Orbital Shock Troopers and a pair of\nImperial Army soldiers. Despite the specialized training of the troopers, all\nof them were green, with none having seen real combat in their lifetimes or\neven in the training.\nWith\nthe sergeant dead, command fell to Private First Class Isaiah Welhan, due\nmostly to his name. His cover was the door frame, as it was just wide enough to\neither side to use effectively, and the building is made of concrete anyway. \n\"Greymane,\nkeep your damned head down.\" Isaiah said as he watched the cheetah recoil\nfrom a few shots in his direction. He glanced down and saw the tail flick out\ninto the doorway. \"And watch the tail.\" Greymane's name always amused\nIsaiah. As a cheetah he was neither grey nor had a mane.\nWithout\na word, the two Imperial Army soldiers got up and ran from the cover at the front\nof the building, fleeing toward the back. They didn't get hit by the small\ngroup outside, but in the back of his mind, Isaiah wished that they were. It'd\nbe proof of what happens to cowards. Of course, Isaiah also knew that he had\nbeen in cover more than the rest of the squad, as he spent more time making\nsure everyone else wasn't injured than taking a few shots across the street.\nOutside,\ncatching Isaiah's attention, was something shouted in Southern Remnoran over a\nloudspeaker. Isaiah turned to the one South Remnoran on his squad. The\nvulpine's name escaped Isaiah actually, but that wouldn't matter. \"What\nare they saying?\" Isaiah shouted to the fox.\nThere\nwas a pause, but the fox was obviously listening now. \"Remember the\nIntervention.\" He paused and listened. \"Let humanity fear us.\"\nAgain, another pause. \"That's all that's worth noting there.\" The fox\nsaid.\nThe\nIntervention, if Isaiah had to guess, referred to the Haromian Intervention on\nRemnora. About 950 years ago, the Empire had encountered the Remnorans for the\nfirst time, and the planet was at war. The tribal coalitions of South Remnora,\nthe primarily canine regions of the planet, had been able to push the primarily\nfeline monarchies in the north to the breaking point. The Empire ended the war in\ntwo weeks by bombarding Southern supply lines with nuclear weapons and\ndeploying its own soldiers to push the South Remnorans back. In the wake of\nthis, the Empire annexed the planet and repressed the South Remnorans, a fact\nthat they have not forgotten apparently. If this was a common belief, it was\ngoing to be a major problem. Remnorans made up about 40 percent of the Empire,\nand South Remnorans specifically made up roughly 25 percent of the population\nof the Empire.\nFor a\nshort moment the gunfire outside had stopped, and Isaiah looked around the edge\nof his cover. The South Remnorans that were firing had decided to run in the\nopposite direction. That worked for Isaiah. They wanted to flee, so he'd make\nsure they bled for it. Leveling his rifle, Isaiah fired on the retreating\nsoldiers. At least one was hit in the back, and Isaiah laughed as it hit and\nthe Remnoran collapsed.\n\"Alright,\nlooks like they're running.\" Isaiah said over his squad radio. \"Let's\njust settle in and wait for higher command to say what the hell is going\non.\"\nWith\nmore time now, a few metal tables were moved from the back room of the shop and\nto the front. Side entrances were blocked off, and the rear door was blocked to\nprevent entry and keep an escape route if the building was surrounded. Raimo\ndecided to post himself at the back door of the building. Private Heino Senft,\nthe fox that answered Isaiah's question earlier and whose name he recalled\nafter checking his squad roster, took cover behind one of the metal tables, and\njust watched across the street. Much of the fighting had ended so it wasn't\nreally necessary.\nOn the\nroof, and only visible on Isaiah's squad overlay, was Private Masako Tijerina.\nA panther and a damned good shot, she was watching for any incoming soldiers\nfrom all around. She'd occasionally change position to check all directions. So\nfar, she was giving an all clear. In fact, she was saying it looked like this\nwhole sector was entirely abandoned. Having her as the squad's marksman was\nuseful.\nRain\ncame in shortly after the sunset. The heavy rain pattered off the roof of the building,\nand was the only sound in the shop. Nothing was said over communications\nregarding the status of the Fort. At worst, it would seem that the\ncommunications were down. Gunfire in the distance was gone, but it wouldn't\nhave been audible over the rain anyway. Masako confirmed there was no shooting,\nas in the darkness there were no lights except further to the west. The command\ncenter for the Fort was well lit, but beyond that, Masako couldn't see\nanything.\nThe\nnight passed slowly as the squad took sleeping shifts in the shop. Isaiah and\nRaimo watched the shop for the first half of the night. Masako and Heino took\ncare of the watch at the end of the night. Masako also refused to come in from\nthe rain, which shared a quick joke between everyone inside about a cat liking\nwater. Nonetheless, as morning came about, all four were hardly rested, having\nbeen overly used to a regular bed rather than hard floors and walls.\nAs the\nsun rose in the east, the loudspeakers outside crackled loudly. \"Fort\nTarquin. This is General Trovato. We have sustained a large scale attack here,\nand across the Empire. We're still learning the extent of the damage, but we\nare the least affected area in the Empire. All units are to pull back to the command\ncenter immediately. The Prime Minister will be addressing the Empire within the\nhour, and deployments will be given.\"\nIsaiah\nawoke the rest of the squad that didn't hear the loudspeakers, and most were\nslow to rise. Masako was awake quickly, but the other two weren't as quick. By the\ntime that Isaiah, Raimo, and Heino stepped out of the shop, Masako was almost\nbored of waiting it seemed. She didn't tend to say much, but she sometimes had\na remark. \"Good to see you three are done spooning each other. Can we get\ngoing please?\"\nWith a\nsmall laugh between the three, they started the slow walk back to the command\ncenter. Around the squad, Isaiah saw a few other squads that were pulling\nthemselves out of the buildings they took shelter in overnight. Most were\nImperial Army, but there were also other OSTs among them, and a handful of the\nEmpire's Cavaliers. The Cavaliers are the Army's elite powered armor infantry.\nGracaria-Nordavic, Capitol District\nCapitol Building, Senate Chamber\nThis\nwas almost what the Prime Minister lived for. The Senate Chamber was full of\nthe Empire's thousands of Senators. In all, a little over 7000 had arrived, and\nit was unknown if any others would make it. Of the 9400 that made up the\nSenate, that was good enough. Among them were countless news agencies that were\nabout to broadcast this live across the Empire, and likely beyond. The Prime\nMinister feared what would happen when other nations became aware of this\nweakness.\nDespite\nthe conflicting thoughts, Prime Minister McCovery was keeping a very calm\nappearance, which was a lie of course. He had never been this worried, this afraid,\nthis nervous. This was an unprecedented occurrence, and something he never\nwanted to see during his term as Prime Minister.\nIn his\near, General Trovato was going over the strategic situation in the Empire, and\nfeeding information that they were aware of. The Director of National\nIntelligence also had his own information to give. Neither were pleased with\nthe news, but they knew it had to be reported. The Emperor was in stable\ncondition, at least, and would return to duty within a few days. For now, the\nPrime Minister was the acting head of state of the Empire. It was something he\nwas made aware of being possible, but he wasn't prepared for. Who could\nhonestly be prepared to go from head of government to effectively the ruler of\nan interstellar empire?\nOne of\nthe Imperial Guards in front of the Prime Minister's podium gave a nod to him.\nThat meant he was free to start. He took a deep breath and looked down at the\nmicrophones. He stood here often, but never for this.\n\"As\nmany are now aware,\" the Prime Minister started, \"the Empire has been\nsubjected to widespread attacks. Every world in the Empire has been affected by\nthis fighting. National Intelligence has confirmed that elements of the\nBrotherhood of Remnora are to blame for this attack. For those unaware of the\nBrotherhood, they are an extremist organization that have fought for full South\nRemnoran rights. Their membership was unknown, but it is sizable enough that they\nhave launched these attacks.\"\nThe\nPrime Minister paused as he heard more information from General Trovato. There\nwas a hesitation as he continued. \"General Trovato has confirmed that\nlarge portions of the Imperial Army and Navy have defected to these rebels,\naiding the South Remnorans in a fight for independence.\" The last part about\nindependence was a lie, but the news media were going to have a field day with\nthis anyway.\n\"To\nput it very simply, the Empire is now in a state of war against an internal\nenemy.\" The Prime Minister used the word 'war' very carefully. War always\ninvoked a negative sense among the population. \"This internal enemy has\nstruck out across the Empire. Fort Tarquin was attacked, the Emperor was nearly\nassassinated, Azizos is burning, Remnora has been lost, Fan-Kui is devastated\nin just hours. These are just a few examples.\n\"But\nwe, as a united Empire of many different species, have built a society which\nthe rule of law and order reigns supreme. A society where the rights of its\npeople are protected, where freedom of dissent is allowed. This is not dissent.\nThis is a rebellion against lawful authority. There was never an attempt to bring\nconcerns to the government. These rebels, these terrorists, must pay the price of failing to abide by the social\ncontract. As parts of the military defect, those traitors will see their defeat\nwithin a matter of weeks.\n\"As\nI speak, the Army is rallying its loyal forces for counter these terrorists\nacross all our worlds. We will restore order. It will take time, but this\nsetback will be short lived and contained. My words may mean little, but our\nmilitary leaders will say the same thing, and the Emperor would as well. We\nhave not been to war in centuries, but our military is ready and able to fight\nfor the Empire to ensure our future.\n\"The\nSenate will not make a declaration of war on these rebels. In not doing so, we\navoid giving them legitimacy. We will fight, and we will win this war, and show\nthat peace has not weakened us. That is all. May the Gods bless the Empire, and\nits loyal soldiers.\""}