War Officer
Report
5.24.2005 - HA Priyum Patel
Report from the War Officer for week ending 22/05/2005 – and not some PROF report.
Imperial Storm – Empire Ablaze
It began quietly, almost innocently. Communications centres relayed the inbound message, decoding the ciphers within minutes of the signal reaching Aurora.
Within an hour of transmission the decoded message found its way into the hands of a member of the Grand Admiral's staff. Delivering it quickly, the officer waited patiently as Astatine quickly read and reread the datapad. Sighing, he began a lengthy reply.
"Return this to Fleet communications for immediate transmission, cipher Alpha-3-Red, maximum priority", the curt command echoing in his ears, the Officer took the pad, moving away quickly to the comm-centre in the grounds of the Admiral's residence. He smiled to himself, trust was hard to earn, and it took time. He'd been in position for nearly three years - the anticipation of completing his mission within minutes sent a shiver down his spine. Not yet enciphered, the message, complete with the Grand Admiral's authorisation, took barely minutes to change.
Three minutes after that a communication technician had processed the pad, ciphering the contents and assigning the transmitters that would broadcast the message to every single battle group. The staff officer watched the technician prepare to send and with a flick of a switch, the EH was plunged into chaos, and the staff officer began his brisk walk to the hangar, and freedom.
Across the territories of the EH, priority messages arrived for the Fleet's flag staff, frantic BGCOMs relaying the message down the line, their panic unmistakeable, an aura of fear beginning to permeate alongside hatred and resolve. Frantic messages were sent back to Aurora, command clarifications, requests for information. Not one was able to reach the capital
The communications centre registered the critical loss of a relay station, then another, then another. Vulnerable links between systems flashed red as key comm relays systematically shut down or disappeared. In seconds the EH was split, its unity broken, its co-ordination lost -with only the last message from Aurora to examine for answers.
Citizens of the Empire - I send this message to you, the last loyal element of the EH! Traitorous forces working with the Rebels have arisen to overturn our proud Empire! Traitors march on my own residence, the capital is aflame - you are the last hope, the only citizens and soldiers loyal to me. I ask you this one thing, fight! Avenge me! Destroy the traitors and show no mercy, long live the Empire! - GA Astatine
Astatine examined the message quietly, his sense of frustration barely held in check. Rebel forces had begun to mass on the borders, hence the fleet wide alert. It seemed, however, that the greatest threat had lain within all the time. Without contact with fleet command, Astatine could almost imagine the consequences - the mighty battle groups intent on each other's destruction, convinced that they alone were acting in his name.
This piece of fiction was written by Colonel La’an and sets the background for the war-game. La’an was duly awarded the Imperial Security Medal for his work on this.
So of course Imperial Storm has started – several months late. In situations like this, I like to look at the oft-used adage: “Better Late Than Never”. Still, it’s certainly better to run a war-game that takes time to prepare correctly, than a rush job.
It’s the end of turn one and we have two battles already – the ASF and Sith have engaged over Ryloth, and the Sov and TCBGs battle it out for supremacy of Mon Calamari.
The missions for all of these have now been released and can be found at: http://www.btinternet.com/~spellfire/wo_misc.html
The XWA MP portion I will be hosting on Wednesday @ 10pm GMT / 5pm EST in #isd_predator (simply because I can control the channel in there). Game-play should resume Thursday morning, assuming there are no problems.
~ HA Pri