The Tower of the Imperial Knights

Wow.... just wow. It's very hard for Brock to wrap his mind around all of this information all at once. The distrust of darksiders he can understand, even sympathize with, but assassination and kidnapping? What possible justification could anyone in the order have for such drastic measures. Unless Nicademus truly had fallen deep under the influence of the darkside.He mulls over that thought for a moment before shaking his head, still obviously lost in his own thoughts.No, he wouldn't believe that of his old friend, and even if he did think Nicadmus was capable of letting that happen, Faina's obvious support would disprove that in his eyes any day. His belief in his soon to be Emporer and in his friend and Grandmaster leave him only one choice realy.Sighing loudly he rubs his temples for a moment before speaking, his tone resigned.Yes, of course I will come with you.  Could this really be happening, is he really volunteering to go after members of his own order, possibly friends and respected members, of course he was, it was what was asked of him by his friend and of the man he swore fealty to years and years ago. I'm afraid that I might have to kill more than one friend before this is over, but I will come with you Fai. Far too many Knights he had known in his career were likely to have the views that would cause this sort of response, and many of them were strong enough in their beliefs that they would be prone to thinking that drastic action was the only kind.

How many are we going after, and is this an execution or an arrest? He would support his friend no mater the odds or the method, but he would like to know as much as he could. If he was going to do this, it was going to get done right. Of course he still wasn't sure if this whole venture was the right thing, but no matter what it was still necessary, and Brock would do his duty.  

“Indeed.”
Taking a holoprojector out of his pocket, he entered a code into it, activating it. This projector itself displayed the distribution of First Order resources between the three Force-Using factions: the Knights of Ren (displayed in yellow), the Sith (displayed in red), and the Imperial Knights (displayed in silver). The slice allocated to the Imperial Knights was less then that of the other two.
“As you can see, the amount of manpower and resources devoted to the Imperial Knights is... not reflective of the organizations true value. With your approval, I have assembled a unit that I would like to use to assist the Imperial Knights and Commander Forsei.”

Nodding that she has understood what the data indicates, which is not surprising to Faina if her expression is any indicator, Faina nods a second time, indicating that she has understood what he has offered without revealing any hint as to her thoughts about the subject, after Raith has made his proposal. That the Imperial Knights have less resources and manpower than the other Force Sensitive allies of the First Order is of less concern to Faina than the possible reasons for the disparity; and while she hopes that the recent culling of the disloyal and treacherous from the ranks of the Imperial Knights will prove to the recently declared Emperor that they exist to protect and serve that he can trust and rely on the Imperial Knights implicitly, Faina cannot deny the allure of adding to the resources of the Imperial Knights, for anything that strengthens them will, in turn, strengthen th Emperor.

Her tone, for once, indicating interest rather than little at all about her thoughts or feelings, Faina says, "Tell me more about this unit, Commander. How large is it, what assets does it have at its disposal, and what would you need from the Imperial Knights were I to accept your proposal?"




Aside from an inquisitively arched eyebrow accompanying the rise of her left hand to invite Brock to make his conditions known, Faina has no discernible reaction to, in essence, being told what Brock will permit in terms of support from Commander Foresi and her fellow Shadowtroopers; her trust in him and his abilities so great that she takes no time at all in determining her reply, a simple, "Done."

Looking towards Commander Foresi, Faina says, "No changes then, Commander. You and your team will cover all of the exterior exit points while we go in and deal with the traitors. If any attempt to escape, and there is no immediate sign of pursuit, shoot to kill. Aside from Brock rounding out the number of Imperial Knights executing the traitors to an even four and relieving Faina of the task of covering the entire south wall on her own, little needs to be adjusted in the overall plan; Commander Foresi and her team never intended to aid in the executions, and only present to prevent any cowards from fleeing the warehouse before their sentences can be carried out. Returning her attention to Brock, Faina says, Once inside, you will hold the south east corner while I hold the south west. Velia and Savin will hold the north. The plan is that we will all try to lead the battle to the center of the room so that we can, together, deal with any traitors who survive to that point."

Trained, as most Imperial Knights are, in Praetori Vonil and Praetoria Ishu, Faina anticipates the traitors will also attempt to work as a team when and wherever possible; and as much faith as she has in her own abilities and those of Imperial Knights she has selected to stand with her, Faina knows that, in the face of such odds as those they will be facing, their chances of success will greatly increase if they control the battle enough that they are near enough to one another to fight as a team rather than as individuals.

Ferrum's agreement, after he gets some clarification and does a bit of haggling with Nikulin about what conditions he imposes on his agreement, seems to conclude the mission planning, and so Nicolina stands up and sketches a quick salute to both Imperial Knights as she says, "I'll go brief my team, let 'em know we have a new addition to the op. We'll be in our positions at 22:00 as planned. Good to meet you, she tells Ferrum, circumstances notwithstanding."

Rolling her neck from side to side after the goodbye for nows are all wrapped up and she has left the room, Nicolina starts heading towards the exit. While she can understand why Nikulin, Ferrum and the other Imperial Knights that are part of the op are all dead set on handling the elimination of the operation's targets by themselves from a purely philosophical standpoint, Nicolina herself would think increasing the op's chances of success by utilizing her team for more than just dealing with any traitors that try to run would come before personal philosophical aesthetics. Not her call, Nicolina thinks, not wanting to go down the rabbit hole that worrying about things that won't change no matter how much you worry about them opens up. Having been in the military since she was eighteen, Nicolina knows that sometimes defending the Empire means doing things that leave a bad taste in the mouth for one reason or another, and has made peace with the fact that doing her job will sometimes involve things that are liable to haunt her if she dwells on them. Which is why, Nicolina thinks to herself with a mental chuckle, she avoids all the navel gazing and tortured introspection she can. Alcohol helps too.

Once outside the tower, Nicolina gets into her speeder and sets out for where her team is assembling before the op.

“I would not need anything extra, seeing as a complete unit has already been assembled. It is big enough to fit any need you might have.”
He pulled up some readouts displaying the strength of his forces. Letting Faina examine them, he spoke after she had been given ample time.
“Is it to your liking?”

Taking a few moments to study the readouts before answering, lifting her right hand and resting her chin atop the fingers after curling it into a loose fist, Faina reviews the information about the unit Commander Tagge proposes to use to assist the Imperial Knights.  Once she has thoroughly reviewed the readouts and concluded that the unit, comprised of troops with skill-sets and training that suggest the unit is flexible enough to suit multiple types of operational needs ranging from simple assault to covert, Faina says, "Very much so, Commander.  Lowering her right hand, looking down as she tugs her glove on more tightly and then adjusts the straps of her gauntlet, Faina says, With the recent signing of the peace treaty, it may be some time before the unit is needed, but it would be ideal to have at least a few joint training exercises.  Foster a sense of team unity, she explains in her usual dry tone, relatively certain Commander Tagge will understand the reasoning without the need for her to spell it out but not wanting to court the all too common mistake of equating assumption with confirmation, and lay the foundation for learning to work in concert with one another."  The sort of relationship and ability to work as a well oiled machine Faina has in mind takes time to build, and considerable effort to maintain, and it is her belief that beginning the endeavor as soon as possible would be ideal. 

Tilting her head to the side at an inquisitive angle, Faina asks, "Will you be leading the unit personally, Commander?"

As she awaits Commander Tagge's reply, Faina observes . . .



Recognizing Knight Korr after a moment due to her recent efforts to familiarize herself with the dossiers of all prominent, active Imperial Knights stationed on Muunilinst, Faina can recall little of Knight Korr's background save that her homeworld is Raxus Secundus.  Nodding a silent greeting to Knight Korr, Faina remembers that Korr has been away from Muunilinst, deployed on missions taking her to other worlds for some time, and so adds a verbal greeting as well, "Welcome home, Knight Korr."     

 

Faina arches an eyebrow when Knight Korr asks what has occurred while she was away, the question one that might, depending on what Charratha did or did not learn while away or since her return to Muunilinst, require a lengthy answer given how many significant events have occurred. With no way to ascertain what Knight Korr has or has not heard of, Faina elects to answer with her customary brevity at first, expanding on her descriptions of any of the events she mentions if Charratha indicates it is necessary to do so.

Leading with the most significant events, Faina begins by saying in her usual even, somewhat dry way, "I imagine that the news of the First Order being declared an Empire with Nicademus as our Emperor reached you even before your return? We have also signed a peace treaty with the Galactic Alliance that ends open hostilities. The slight tightening of her jaw is the only indication that Faina finds her next news far less palatable than what she has just shared, Closer to home, we recently uncovered several traitors in our ranks that have since been executed." As with her other news, Faina suspects that Knight Korr will have already heard of her discovery and subsequent elimination of the Imperial Knights that betrayed their oaths, but just as she saw no need to go about that distasteful task in the shadows, and was upfront with the Imperial Knights who upheld their oaths and honor despite the fact she knew not all of them would understand or support her decision, she sees no need to do so now.

After giving Knight Corr time to ask any questions or to request additional details, Faina asks after Knight Korr's recent activities prior to her return to Muunilinst, "I trust your endeavors while away met with success?"

After a particular loud discussion with the Emporer Brock had spent nearly a day in one of the tower's training rooms, doing everything from weapons training to just running circle, anything to work his frustrations out. Eventually he was able to center himself at least partially and he made his way to the showers. After a long hot shower only mostly filled with dark thoughts he dried himself off and put on a clean set of crimson Imperial Knight armor on, since his more usual white and gold armor was still sitting in a pile in the corner of his borrowed rooms, still bloody and dirty. He hadn't been in a good place when he cast it aside before his extended gym session and he wasn't exactly looking forward to going back there and taking care of them, so instead he began wondering the halls.

After a quick stop for some food he didn't even taste he spotted Faina. He couldn't help but feel a pang as memories started to flood into his mind, ones he'd rather not live again. It was unfortunate that that was his reaction to seeing his friend but the wounds were still too fresh to avoid that, but he'd be damned if he'd star avoiding her just because of something they both had to do. As he makes his way over he is distracted from his unusually dark mood as he recognizes the woman she's talking too.Well that's an unexpected surprise, how have you been? He interrupts the conversation, not intentionally being rude, but as always forgetting to give proper respect and decorum.It had been before his own extended mission to the Unknown Regions that he had seen Charratha Korr but it was definitely nice to see a friendly face, especially one that he isn't in the middle of removing from the person it belongs to.An involuntary shudder goes through him as that thought passes through him and his usually jovial smile disappears as his brown eyes momentarily fade out from the two woman as if seeing a ghost behind them, which in his own head he almost was.