# Insurrection - Prologue

Author: Nakhi
Tags: Cheetah, Female, Fox, Human, Male, Military, Panther, Plot Development, Sci-Fi, Story Progression

Insurrection

Prologue

Selach 10, 960 Imperial Standard Year
Haroma System, Haroma III
Darkmire Mountains, Frostfall Palace
Nestled
high in the Darkmire Mountains, Frostfall Palace serves as the home of the
Imperial Family of the Empire. More specifically, it's the private residence of
House Welhan. With only one land route in, and a closely monitored air route,
the palace is considered by the internal security to be completely
impenetrable. Currently a small contingent of the Imperial Guard is protecting
the Palace, as part of the Emperor shifting all major guard forces in the
Empire through the Palace to show equal recognition. The Imperial Guard just
relieved the Remoran Royal Guard.
All of
those guard units, over time, acquired a knowledge of the palace's security
coverage. It meant that units could fill in any weak spots appropriately and
prepare for the unlikely situation of someone attacking the palace. Not since
the First Federation War did Frostfall Palace come under attack in any form.
With that came complacency from the guards assigned to the Palace. They were
there in a ceremonial role since the Palace wasn't threatened with attack.
Situated
against an inland sea, the lower levels of Frostfall have a scenic view across
the sea and of the mountain forests and plains of this part of the Darkmire
Mountains. The upper levels were built into the mountains a few centuries earlier,
and contain most of the housing for the Imperial family. Its high elevation is
to prevent easy access save through one route at the landing pad.
To the
southwest, avoiding the sensors of Frostfall, a group of Remnoran Royal Guards
moved toward the Palace. The five soldiers, most notably, were all canine. In
the cover of the night, the group had an easier time advancing. Having just
transferred out, they were also well aware of where all the sensors were, and
of the small hole in the sensor coverage. The group silently moved into a
straight line, one behind the other, and passed through the palace's external
sensor net.
"We're in." One of the wolves growled out in the native language of the
South Remnorans, just loud enough for the headset to catch it lest anyone hear
them. "Radio silence from here.
They'll notice the transmissions."
Quietly
the five approached the upper level shuttle pad, stopping to use a few rocks as
cover. Only one Imperial Guardsman stood watch over the pad, though there was a
security drone hovering around. With five hundred feet between the pad and the
rocks, the risky shot would be necessary. With a few hand signals, two of the
squad members took aim at the guard and the drone. Through the helmet HUD, the
squad leader started a countdown. As it hit zero, both fired at the same time. 
The
drone's movement was unpredictable, but the modified tracking round adjusted
its course in flight. The round hit the drone and pierced through the armor
plating as if it were nothing but paper. The drone dropped onto the helipad
with a small bang. At the same time, the stun bullet hit the guard in the
chest, knocking them to the ground. That round was built around disabling
sapient life. If the guard was killed, the central computer would send an alert
through the station. Disabling them didn't set off alarms. Another oversight.
No
cameras existed on the upper level. With both defenses down, the squad moved
from cover and made it across the field and to the shuttle pad quickly. Being
lighter, despite the equipment weight, definitely had its benefits. At the top
of the stairs that led down to a catwalk, the squad waited. One of the soldiers
tossed a drone up, and used its controls to navigate along the catwalk and look
for any further guards. The catwalk ran along the cliff and into the top floor
of Frostfall, two levels above the Emperor's bedroom. With no guards, the squad
leader gave the nod and the squad moved quickly and quietly over the old
catwalk.
At the
end of the catwalk, a single door stood, with a keypad next to it. The squad
leader walked over and tapped in the code, and the bolts in the door slid back.
With a click, the door opened slightly and the squad entered the building. Once
inside, the squad leader fired a micro EMP round at the camera. Now they had
very limited time before anything would seem wrong, but that was expected at
this point.
"Move." The squad leader said, and the squad followed as they moved
down the hall and made a quick right. 
One
soldier glanced at the door on the left as the squad passed, and saw a solder
approaching. A quick glance at the armor, and he knew it was an Orbital Shock
Trooper, thus the secondary target of this raid. He let loose a burst of
subsonic rounds on instinct, which caused the soldier to take several steps
back, and then return fire with his own pistol. The far louder bursts
immediately caused a flurry of activity in the palace.
The
trooper didn't give chase as the Guard squad began a rapid descent down a
spiral staircase. Descending two floors felt as though it went far slower than
it really did, as the adrenaline began to pump through the squad. Once the
squad leader reached the floor with the bedrooms, he saw his main target. Being
pulled from his bedroom, along with his wife, was the Emperor.
There
was a short silence and a break in the combat as the squad approached the
Imperial Guardsmen and the Emperor. "Lieutenant Giese?" The Emperor
asked in Imperial Common, directed at the squad leader. The curious look that
the Emperor gave faded quickly into fear as the rifles were raised again. The
Emperor's mouth moved to say something, but anything was quickly cut off by
gunfire, from both the Remnorans and the Imperial Guard.
In the
haze of combat, the Emperor was hit multiple times, and limped away, leaving a
trail of blood as he did so. More Imperial Guards were on the way, and so he
fled to the elevator. The two that were preparing to escort the Emperor put up
a fight considering the close quarters but inevitably fell, and three of the
Remnorans were killed in the close range firefight. This is not the plan that
the Guard had developed to make this happen.
Lieutenant
Giese continued down the hall, stepping over the corpses of the Imperial Guards
and the bullet ridden Empress. For now, the hall was smoky, but quiet. Giese
almost picked up the pace until he saw the Emperor slump against the wall,
slowly succumbing to his wounds. Mission accomplished, almost. Giese put the
rifle over his shoulder and walked over to the Emperor.
"Why."
Emperor Welhan said. Normally a question, this was a dying man wanting an
answer. 
Giese
kneeled down. He wasn't heartless, even if this was the way he wanted things to
be. "Why? Retribution for your treatment of us." Giese growled out,
mouth barely working well over Imperial Common. "Your treatment and that
of your ancestors."
That
actually made the Emperor laugh, and then cough up a bit of blood. "Sins
of the father, passed to the son. Typical dogs. And you wonder why you're
treated like this."
The
growl that emanated from Giese turned quickly into a whimper, almost masked by
the blast of a pistol from down the hall. Stumbling backward, the lieutenant
fell to the ground. The second Remnoran turned to fire, but was put down by
that same pistol. The Emperor gave another laugh, which again devolved into
coughing.
"Welcome
to Haroma." The OST said as he
walked down the hall, with a hand covering his abdomen. The bullets barely made
it through the armor, but the one that did hurt. With all threats taken down,
the trooper walked over to the Emperor and kneeled down. "Remnoran Royal
Guard?" He asked.
"Head
back to Tarquin." The Emperor said. When the elevator opened with more
Imperial Guards, he added, "I'll be fine."
With a
nod, the trooper stood up and started down the hall, back to the upper level
once more.
Selach 11, 960 Imperial Standard Year
Haroma System, Haroma III
Darkmire Mountains, High Command
Situated
deep below the Darkmire Mountains, Imperial High Command is the center of all
military operations in the Empire. During peacetime protocols, only one of the
main command centers are active, however war time opens all five in the
facility to handle logistics and planning between branches and coordination of
forces across the front line. The entire facility covered about 200 square
miles under the mountains.
General
Tamarynn Trovato walked through the halls of High Command rather happily. It
was a good day, even in the wake of the near assassination of the Emperor.
Local commanders in the Haroma-Azizos Military Sector knew their protocol well,
and the institution of martial law in the HAMS went over about as well as
protocol dictates. It's a temporary measure anyway to make it look like the
Army knew what they were doing in the wake of this incident. Since the
intelligence services are handling this massive blunder, the Army has to be the
public face of competence. 
After
nearly a millennium as a member state of the Empire, it was uncommon for a
Remnoran - much less a South Remnoran - to attain high rank within the Imperial
Armed forces, let alone the government itself. General Trovato, being an arctic
wolf, was one exception to that. He saw humanity's domination of the Empire,
and didn't even mind it. His loyalty to the Emperor and the Empire was
absolute. Loyalty took people to high places, and many of the nonhumans and
particularly Remnorans - Northern and Southern both, especially the Northern
cats - couldn't understand the idea of loyalty it seemed.
Trovato
made a turn and walked into his office. Being this far underground definitely
had its drawbacks, such as the solid metal walls and not a sight of the sun.
He'd be heading back home in the capital in the evening, and that was the best
part of the day for the general, when he had the chance to get out of the underground
metal coffin he worked in every day. Until then, there was little for him to do
other than make sure that his subordinates were handling operations
appropriately. All that required was conversation with a few Lieutenant
Generals just below him.
This
lasted for several hours, doing the checks with all subordinates in the HAMS.
The Imperial Army had a garrison of about five million soldiers in both
systems, with concentrations on Haroma III, Haroma IV, and Azizos III. Smaller
garrisons protected the space stations and other minor colonies in the systems.
Unlike most other military sectors, the HAMS had a primarily human make up,
owing to the fact that these worlds were also known as the 'Human Core Worlds'.

By the
local time came around to evening, Trovato started to pack up for the day. As
if knowing he was about to head home, first alert of the day came through. Without
a complaint, however, the general left his office and proceeded down the hall
to the HAMS operations center. While most military sectors had their own
command areas in the sector, the Haroma-Azizos was built into High Command. The
operations center was dominated by a hologram showing both systems and all
military deployments in the system, updated roughly in real time.
On the
Haroma side of the map, Haroma III was flashing as Trovato entered the
operations center. That was rare, but also unlikely to be anything major. Most
alerts on Haroma were incidents of local disorder, primarily in more criminal
areas such as the Gracaria public housing sectors. This alert originated out of
Fort Tarquin. Trovato pulled up the emergency broadcast and looked over it. It
barely made sense, and was obviously very rushed.
PRIORITY ALERT - FORT TARQUIN - FIREFIGHTS
HAVE OCCURRED ON BASE BETWEEN MULTIPLE UNITS. MILITARY POLICE OVERWHELMED.
REINFORCEMENT REQUIRED.
'Well,
that's to the point.' Trovato thought as he looked over the message. It was
definitely not something he wanted to see now. From the command console near
these holograms, the general keyed in an order to move reinforcements over to
Fort Tarquin, pulling from a few Army patrols in nearby Lontus. Fort Tarquin
facing this high a level of chaos was certainly unheard of, but still possible.
Once
the reinforcement order was sent, a few more alerts came up on the hologram.
Gracaria-Nordavic had a priority alert, focused around the Capitol. Haroma IV
sent an alert regarding mass disorder on the planet. Azizos III followed
shortly after, with a priority alert referring to what they called "race
riots". That wasn't uncommon on Azizos, but they never sent an alert for
it before.
Tapping
his headset, Trovato opened up High Command's... well, command channel. The
command channel was a channel only the generals had access to, for more private
communication. "I am getting multiple alerts across Haroma and Azizos. How
many other sectors are seeing this?"
"General
Mestrat here." Mestrat is the commander of the Remnora Military Sector.
"My board has been lit up all day. Southern Remnora II is... well, there's
a general retreat in all sectors. Something about racial riots and military
defections."
Along
with the generals, admirals were also on the channel. Unlike the Army, the Navy
maintained a Fleet Admiral, whether there was a war or not in order to provide
a highest ran in the hierarchy. The Fleet Admiral was quick to respond after
Mestrat. "Sensors are reporting several fleets along the Terminus and Rim
Worlds are defecting and firing on each other. Remnora Novus has cut all
contact with the Fleet."
"General
Boldomar here." General Boldomar, being the son of Emperor Boldomar,
commanded the Remnora Novus Sector, which is one of the largest military
sectors in the Empire. "Army units in the Novus sector are out of
communication. I think our relays are down in the area."
"Can
we put this up on a combined hologram, so we can see what we're missing?"
Trovato asked. A few moments later the Haroma and Azizos system were replaced
with a hologram view of the entire Empire, and all the alerts across its
thousands of systems. The operation center went quiet as they looked to the
hologram, and it showed every system in the Empire with a priority alert or
without a relay. Increasingly the lack of a relay was growing more common.
"We need to inform the Emperor." Trovato said after a moment.
"Prime
Minister McCovery is on the way. The Emperor is still unfit for duty." The
Fleet Admiral said. 
The
lights flickered shortly, which made Trovato look up, and immediately after the
room shook violently. High Command was built on springs and shock absorbers.
Anything that managed to shake the base had to be coming from a capital ship
launching a bombardment. And if a capital ship was firing on the surface of
Haroma, it meant that the Empire's five centuries of peace was now shattered.
With all the alerts, and the bombardment, the Empire was now at war.
Fort Tarquin
"They're
moving around the side." Private Greymane said. The cheetah was quick to
move to compensate for where a few other soldiers had fallen, and opened fire
on a few approaching South Remnorans. He pulled back after he was targeted
again, which was expected, but it wasn't an easy fight regardless.
The air
was thick with smoke and the smell of fire now. The fighting had been ongoing
for about an hour now, and no one knew just what caused it. One moment there
had been silence, and then there was sporadic gunfire. Within a few minutes,
entire battalions had turned their guns on each other. Now there was a clear
species divide which was noticed. Most of those that continued to fight were
South Remnoran, while humans and North Remnorans along with other species were
at least trying to repel them.
Base
buildings were proving to be the only asset on the defense, turning shop
windows into cover, and using its walls to hide. What used to be a barbershop
was now a building held by a group of four Orbital Shock Troopers and a pair of
Imperial Army soldiers. Despite the specialized training of the troopers, all
of them were green, with none having seen real combat in their lifetimes or
even in the training.
With
the sergeant dead, command fell to Private First Class Isaiah Welhan, due
mostly to his name. His cover was the door frame, as it was just wide enough to
either side to use effectively, and the building is made of concrete anyway. 
"Greymane,
keep your damned head down." Isaiah said as he watched the cheetah recoil
from a few shots in his direction. He glanced down and saw the tail flick out
into the doorway. "And watch the tail." Greymane's name always amused
Isaiah. As a cheetah he was neither grey nor had a mane.
Without
a word, the two Imperial Army soldiers got up and ran from the cover at the front
of the building, fleeing toward the back. They didn't get hit by the small
group outside, but in the back of his mind, Isaiah wished that they were. It'd
be proof of what happens to cowards. Of course, Isaiah also knew that he had
been in cover more than the rest of the squad, as he spent more time making
sure everyone else wasn't injured than taking a few shots across the street.
Outside,
catching Isaiah's attention, was something shouted in Southern Remnoran over a
loudspeaker. Isaiah turned to the one South Remnoran on his squad. The
vulpine's name escaped Isaiah actually, but that wouldn't matter. "What
are they saying?" Isaiah shouted to the fox.
There
was a pause, but the fox was obviously listening now. "Remember the
Intervention." He paused and listened. "Let humanity fear us."
Again, another pause. "That's all that's worth noting there." The fox
said.
The
Intervention, if Isaiah had to guess, referred to the Haromian Intervention on
Remnora. About 950 years ago, the Empire had encountered the Remnorans for the
first time, and the planet was at war. The tribal coalitions of South Remnora,
the primarily canine regions of the planet, had been able to push the primarily
feline monarchies in the north to the breaking point. The Empire ended the war in
two weeks by bombarding Southern supply lines with nuclear weapons and
deploying its own soldiers to push the South Remnorans back. In the wake of
this, the Empire annexed the planet and repressed the South Remnorans, a fact
that they have not forgotten apparently. If this was a common belief, it was
going to be a major problem. Remnorans made up about 40 percent of the Empire,
and South Remnorans specifically made up roughly 25 percent of the population
of the Empire.
For a
short moment the gunfire outside had stopped, and Isaiah looked around the edge
of his cover. The South Remnorans that were firing had decided to run in the
opposite direction. That worked for Isaiah. They wanted to flee, so he'd make
sure they bled for it. Leveling his rifle, Isaiah fired on the retreating
soldiers. At least one was hit in the back, and Isaiah laughed as it hit and
the Remnoran collapsed.
"Alright,
looks like they're running." Isaiah said over his squad radio. "Let's
just settle in and wait for higher command to say what the hell is going
on."
With
more time now, a few metal tables were moved from the back room of the shop and
to the front. Side entrances were blocked off, and the rear door was blocked to
prevent entry and keep an escape route if the building was surrounded. Raimo
decided to post himself at the back door of the building. Private Heino Senft,
the fox that answered Isaiah's question earlier and whose name he recalled
after checking his squad roster, took cover behind one of the metal tables, and
just watched across the street. Much of the fighting had ended so it wasn't
really necessary.
On the
roof, and only visible on Isaiah's squad overlay, was Private Masako Tijerina.
A panther and a damned good shot, she was watching for any incoming soldiers
from all around. She'd occasionally change position to check all directions. So
far, she was giving an all clear. In fact, she was saying it looked like this
whole sector was entirely abandoned. Having her as the squad's marksman was
useful.
Rain
came in shortly after the sunset. The heavy rain pattered off the roof of the building,
and was the only sound in the shop. Nothing was said over communications
regarding the status of the Fort. At worst, it would seem that the
communications were down. Gunfire in the distance was gone, but it wouldn't
have been audible over the rain anyway. Masako confirmed there was no shooting,
as in the darkness there were no lights except further to the west. The command
center for the Fort was well lit, but beyond that, Masako couldn't see
anything.
The
night passed slowly as the squad took sleeping shifts in the shop. Isaiah and
Raimo watched the shop for the first half of the night. Masako and Heino took
care of the watch at the end of the night. Masako also refused to come in from
the rain, which shared a quick joke between everyone inside about a cat liking
water. Nonetheless, as morning came about, all four were hardly rested, having
been overly used to a regular bed rather than hard floors and walls.
As the
sun rose in the east, the loudspeakers outside crackled loudly. "Fort
Tarquin. This is General Trovato. We have sustained a large scale attack here,
and across the Empire. We're still learning the extent of the damage, but we
are the least affected area in the Empire. All units are to pull back to the command
center immediately. The Prime Minister will be addressing the Empire within the
hour, and deployments will be given."
Isaiah
awoke the rest of the squad that didn't hear the loudspeakers, and most were
slow to rise. Masako was awake quickly, but the other two weren't as quick. By the
time that Isaiah, Raimo, and Heino stepped out of the shop, Masako was almost
bored of waiting it seemed. She didn't tend to say much, but she sometimes had
a remark. "Good to see you three are done spooning each other. Can we get
going please?"
With a
small laugh between the three, they started the slow walk back to the command
center. Around the squad, Isaiah saw a few other squads that were pulling
themselves out of the buildings they took shelter in overnight. Most were
Imperial Army, but there were also other OSTs among them, and a handful of the
Empire's Cavaliers. The Cavaliers are the Army's elite powered armor infantry.
Gracaria-Nordavic, Capitol District
Capitol Building, Senate Chamber
This
was almost what the Prime Minister lived for. The Senate Chamber was full of
the Empire's thousands of Senators. In all, a little over 7000 had arrived, and
it was unknown if any others would make it. Of the 9400 that made up the
Senate, that was good enough. Among them were countless news agencies that were
about to broadcast this live across the Empire, and likely beyond. The Prime
Minister feared what would happen when other nations became aware of this
weakness.
Despite
the conflicting thoughts, Prime Minister McCovery was keeping a very calm
appearance, which was a lie of course. He had never been this worried, this afraid,
this nervous. This was an unprecedented occurrence, and something he never
wanted to see during his term as Prime Minister.
In his
ear, General Trovato was going over the strategic situation in the Empire, and
feeding information that they were aware of. The Director of National
Intelligence also had his own information to give. Neither were pleased with
the news, but they knew it had to be reported. The Emperor was in stable
condition, at least, and would return to duty within a few days. For now, the
Prime Minister was the acting head of state of the Empire. It was something he
was made aware of being possible, but he wasn't prepared for. Who could
honestly be prepared to go from head of government to effectively the ruler of
an interstellar empire?
One of
the Imperial Guards in front of the Prime Minister's podium gave a nod to him.
That meant he was free to start. He took a deep breath and looked down at the
microphones. He stood here often, but never for this.
"As
many are now aware," the Prime Minister started, "the Empire has been
subjected to widespread attacks. Every world in the Empire has been affected by
this fighting. National Intelligence has confirmed that elements of the
Brotherhood of Remnora are to blame for this attack. For those unaware of the
Brotherhood, they are an extremist organization that have fought for full South
Remnoran rights. Their membership was unknown, but it is sizable enough that they
have launched these attacks."
The
Prime Minister paused as he heard more information from General Trovato. There
was a hesitation as he continued. "General Trovato has confirmed that
large portions of the Imperial Army and Navy have defected to these rebels,
aiding the South Remnorans in a fight for independence." The last part about
independence was a lie, but the news media were going to have a field day with
this anyway.
"To
put it very simply, the Empire is now in a state of war against an internal
enemy." The Prime Minister used the word 'war' very carefully. War always
invoked a negative sense among the population. "This internal enemy has
struck out across the Empire. Fort Tarquin was attacked, the Emperor was nearly
assassinated, Azizos is burning, Remnora has been lost, Fan-Kui is devastated
in just hours. These are just a few examples.
"But
we, as a united Empire of many different species, have built a society which
the rule of law and order reigns supreme. A society where the rights of its
people are protected, where freedom of dissent is allowed. This is not dissent.
This is a rebellion against lawful authority. There was never an attempt to bring
concerns to the government. These rebels, these terrorists, must pay the price of failing to abide by the social
contract. As parts of the military defect, those traitors will see their defeat
within a matter of weeks.
"As
I speak, the Army is rallying its loyal forces for counter these terrorists
across all our worlds. We will restore order. It will take time, but this
setback will be short lived and contained. My words may mean little, but our
military leaders will say the same thing, and the Emperor would as well. We
have not been to war in centuries, but our military is ready and able to fight
for the Empire to ensure our future.
"The
Senate will not make a declaration of war on these rebels. In not doing so, we
avoid giving them legitimacy. We will fight, and we will win this war, and show
that peace has not weakened us. That is all. May the Gods bless the Empire, and
its loyal soldiers."

Source: https://sofurry.com/view/874888