Metal Sky (Damien Kantrael)

Several weeks after http://www.sw-fans.net/forum/showthread.php?t=21865

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The room was muggy and dark. There wasn't a place inside that wasn't muggy this far down in the lower levels of Coruscant but much couldn't be done about it. No conditioning unit could solve that problem. The dark couldn't be extinguished by enough glow lamps though. The man squinted for a moment, rubbing his eyes, before resuming his perusal of the multiple screens in front of his face.

Smithra was on the last few hours of his shift on guard duty before he could thankfully turn in for a good cycle. The small, abandoned facility they had taken over had been easy enough to get back up and running with the generator they had brought in.

"Sentinel, come in."

He sighed, reaching over for the comm link on the small table beside the consoles.

"This is Sentinel, nothing new."

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Agent Berray, the Counter Intel specialist of the Nightmares stood in front of a holographic rendering of their current operations. The briefing room was empty so far, but IMP had already warned him that all of the other Nightmares were on the way. Another moment passed before the door opened and the dreaded red glow of Inquisitor Helghast's implant preceded his entrance. Berray straightened his jacket collar out of slight anxiety, having never really grown accustomed to the man. Behind him followed the rest of them as they filed in and took their seats.

What had only been a few weeks had somehow managed to be tougher than his entire tenure at the Imperial Grand Academy. The advance training was harder than he could ever imagine. Damien was not too proud of his own abilities, but he had assumed that he would be better off than he was, especially when it came to new things learned in his element: flying. Forget the academy. He had to decompress the influx of new information in his sleep they were drilling him so hard. Looking back he should have expected this, going into the Inquisition. Perhaps harder than the training was letting everything else go. He did not write home, he did not call his friends from the academy. For his own good he had cut himself off from the outside world here and now instead of eventually getting it all taken away from him at some later time. This way he couldn't accidentally let something slip that would compromise not just his life but the life of the unknowing listener.

However, today was different. He was being summoned by Agent Berray. By the look of the other's filing into the room in front and behind him all of Project: Nightmare was here. Damien subconsciously straightened his uniform and dusted his shoulders before taking his seat beside his felling Nightmares. He had no idea what to expect, but he had ideas. This was the Inquisition after all. He had no illusions that there were horrible things that were planned in this room and performed by these people. As much as he loved his Empire, he knew that even an strong military nation like their's needed monsters in the shadows to grease the gears.

They all took their seats and Inquisitor Helghast nodded. Agent Berray ran a gloved finger around his collar and swallowed before speaking.

"Nightmares, we have discovered a terrorist way station for the smuggling ring of force adepts and people of questionable allegiances in the depths of Coruscant. The station has been under some observation as have its' multiple counterparts, however we have determined that this station..."

The holographic rendering zoomed in to a specific building, built into the ceiling of one of the many plates that made the sub levels of Coruscant.

"is vital. Within it are three main complexes. Complex One, labeled Alpha is the security station that monitors the other two complexes. Complex Two, labeled Bravo is the loading station as well as the living quarters for interim personnel. Complex Charlie is some kind of command node that also has a turbo lift that connects to an upper level. We have yet been able to determine exactly where this turbo lift goes, but intelligence reports that it likely stops at another complex only a few levels above. The sub levels above this level have been buried in debris for some time now. Seekers are currently scanning the area now. IMP is now uploading the operations order to your neural implants."

The neural implants that all of the Nightmares had were rather extensive, some more obvious than others but they could all receive and transmit information from IMP as necessary, and they all perceived the information in one way or another. In bringing them so far, Helghast led the most feared and efficient team in the Empire against its' citizens' most feared enemies, the Force adepts, and their terrorist allies, the so called Rebel Alliance.

UPLOADING...
OPERATION METAL SKY RETRIEVED...

SITUATION:
ENVIRONMENT - The sub levels are at approximately 75% humidity at all times. Visibility is limited due to heavy gas particles in the atmosphere within the sub levels. Illumination is at 0%. Infrared can be thrown off by idling generators throughout the sub levels. The temperature varies depending on proximity to heavier industrial generators, specifically if they are leaking. Specific air masses are highly acidic and can produce acid rains at times.
The structures present can limit maneuverability and visibility. Weapon ranges will vary accordingly and maneuver space is dynamic because structures are built at nearly every angle. The destruction of support structures can lead to further obstacles because of the lack of stability throughout most of the sub level.

ENEMY - The terrorist forces manning this facility maintain a degree of security at 66%. Approximately twice in a standard week, the turbo lift is operated. Approximately one every two standard weeks, a transport will dock and unload personnel and equipment. Personnel range from men, women, and children, at varying ages, very few of them military in nature. The facility is usually manned by no more than eight to 12 lightly armed terrorist personnel at any time. Various other transports arrive randomly to pick up personnel and smuggle them to the next point.

FRIENDLY - The only allied elements in the area is approximately 10 to 15 Seekers conducting over watch of the facility. No reserve forces are available as the maneuver space is too dangerous but for an extremely skilled pilot.

MISSION - The Nightmares will conduct a raid within 48 hours on the terrorist way station in order to deny the terrorists the capability to smuggle wanted personnel.

Schutta. Sounded like one hell of an operation. Essentially underground, as far as the many levels of the city go, along with poor visibility, a lot of hazards, and acid rain" You would have to be lucky or suicidal to even think about attempting such a thing, and Damien was starting to get the sinking feeling that he would be the one piloting in those conditions. He had an advantage the average pilot would not in that his implants allowed him an edge while flying. He could sync with the craft and go beyond simple hand controls. An experience pilot could apply the smallest amount of thrust in the right direction using his hands. With his implants he would be able to go into even greater detail by controlling parts of the ship with his mind. His own eyes had been modified so that information from the ship could be transmitted into them, allowing him to zoom the viewscreen, lock on to objects, and other visual queues as well as use the forward cameras to see while flying the ship manually. With his mind. It was all quite grand, and expensive.

Even with all that hardware he was still apprehensive about such an flight. It was suicidal. Even with all his gadgets he was only as good as either what he could see or what the ship could see, and by the sounds of things they wouldn't be able to see jack. No back up also meant no chance of a quick rescue if things went bad. It was win or die. Just the kind of odds he expected with the Inquisition.

The mission briefing continued, contingencies and so on. Scothis' implant logged specific things that were specific to him while the rest was set to his immediate archives. Agent Berray continued on for a while, covering the capabilities of the terrorists but for the most part nothing was new and no significant target had been identified. The briefing came to an end and they all stood. He saw the new guy hesitate just a bit, not used to all the protocol just yet. The Nightmares put their fists to their chests in salute and as one said,

"Veritas Vincit."

Inquisitor Helghast's voice carried the undertone of them all. The Inquisitor was the first to leave the room and Scothis took the opportunity to check on the new guy. He put his gloved hand on Damien's shoulder.

"You gonna be alright, bud? This looks like its gonna be a bit of a bumpy ride in."

The hand on his shoulder made him want to jump out of his skin, but he managed with just a shudder. "Sir, yes sir. I will be fine." He said, trying to make himself a beacon of radiant self-assurance, but inside he was still shaking his head at this entire operation. He was going to get himself killed, he knew it, but he was determined that if it came down to that he would perform his suicide flawlessly, just like everything else in his life. His Academy record said as much. Not that his academic success could be attributed to just himself. He had parents at home holding a club over his head forcing him to excel or face unknown consequences. All Damien knew was that he was told he had an older brother once, and said brother had disappeared because he did not study hard. That had been enough to push Damien to excel through most of his early life and once in the academy he had threats of having his tuition funding cut and being thrown out of the home to live on the streets. That had been the motivation he had needed, and now he had a new motivation. He worked and lived with a cuthroat group of men and women who would kill him and toss his corpse aside in the moment he showed weakness. He not only needed to be strong, he HAD to be strong.

"I look forward to the challenge." Damien said, at last, turning to face his superior officer. "Truth Conquers, Inquisitor Scothis." and with that he placed his fist against his chest and moved out of the briefing room with the rest of the gathered Nightmares.