Entry #3: Royal Assassination
14 Sep 2020Hurkadurkaa
Commander Bellator ab Hurk returned to Sturckow Port in the Kokarwang system from fending off Federal Shadow President Felicia Winters' recent expansion into the Velnians system. He docked his Mamba, the LLV Shadow Winger, and exited his ship for refuel, repair, and rearm services to be conducted. Unlike usual practice, no one entered the hangar upon the exterior door closing. The Commander looked around and saw the maintenance crew huddled together in the hangar’s workshop, their backs towards him. He walked into the workshop to see what was going on to take everyone's eyes off their work.As the door to the workshop slid open, he saw the news headline: Prince Harold Duval Assassinated. He began to listen to the broadcast with as much interest as the hangar crew, totally forgetting about his needed maintenance.
"First, they attack four Imperial starports, now they kill the Emperor's half-brother?" said one of the station's workers, "This Neo-Marlinist Liberation Army has come out of nowhere."
His friend replied, "Apparently they don't like Arissa. There has to be more to this than just that though."
"I'm just happy this is an Independent station," a third worked joined in, "apparently the Empire isn't saying anything about this yet."
Commander Bellator ab Hurk was astonished by all he had heard. Not only was the NMLA able to attack four Imperial starports using Thargoid-derived weapons, as reported two days prior, but now that had managed to kill the Prince of his beloved Empire. He began to think about the recent rumors he heard about NMLA attempting a coup d'état against the Emperor, which he had originally dismissed as impossible. But that was before confirmation of their possession of Thargoid weaponry, and prior to their killing of Prince Harold Duval. Commander Bellator ab Hurk also knew that this was beyond not liking Emperor Lavigny-Duval as one of the workers had suggested. While there were some Imperial citizens who disagreed with her succession to the throne, the vast majority of the Empire had come to terms with the rule of the current Emperor, even if they didn't like her policies; they were loyal Imperials, and as such loyal to the throne. The Triarri of the Legion himself had sworn allegiance to the Emperor upon joining Lavigny's Legion. In his mind, this was not about the Emperor as an individual, but the Empire and the throne as a whole.
Commander Bellator ab Hurk then heard a triple beep and felt a vibration in his left wrist. He raised his arm to check his Legion-issued Imperial Holographic Communication Device and saw a priority message from Lavigny’s Legion which confirmed the news report: Prince Harold Duval had indeed been assassinated. However, the notification alerted the hangar crew to his presence, as they turned around and saw Commander Bellator ab Hurk in his Imperial Flight Suit standing in the doorway. The crew began to move into the hangar to work on the Legionnaire’s ship, pushing past the Commander. As the door closed behind the workers, Commander Bellator ab Hurk moved to the holographic imager which had previously been crowded. Listening to the broadcast, the Commander once again raised his wrist to read the priority message from the Legion.
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"We will need all hands on this I wonder.." Saint looks to his comms panel and types out a message.
"Hello Triari, I have heard good things about you from Legate Serror and Quaestor Natovsky. I need your help. I will be blunt as you I'm sure already know the Prince has been assassinated. We need information, right now we have nothing but a name. I need you to find out any information you can through any means necessary. I will be speaking with your Superiors as well but wanted to reach out to you personally after hearing of your reputation. I want you to put those skills I have heard about to work, o7.
(Authorized High Priority Message: Imperial High admiral and Praetor of Lavigny's Legion Michael B. Lee)"
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Commander Bellator ab Hurk returns to his seat in the LLV Shadow Winger. As he sits and begins his pre-flight checklist, he receives an Authorized High Priority Message from Praetor Michael B. Lee, one of the nine Praetors of Lavigny's Legion. While he did not know the Praetor well, he was very familiar with is reputation as a loyal Imperial. He opened the message from the Imperial High Admiral and began to read it.
Understanding his new mission orders, the Triarii of the Legion began to type a response:
"Praetor:
Thank you for the confidence. I just finished refuel, rearm, and repair services on my ship, during which I read the Legion's priority message regarding the assassination. Independent news organizations are already reporting on the incident.
I am currently on the border of Imperial-Federal space working for the Office of Military Incursion to repel our Federal enemies. I will begin intelligence-gathering operations here to determine if the recent assaults on Imperial sovereignty originate from or have support of the Federation. I will report any findings I have directly to you.
Should you require anything further of me, do not hesitate to ask.
Respectfully,
Triarii Bellator ab Hurk"
The Commander sent the message to the Praetor, then opened a new communications tab to contact Captain Wilbur Buckley, the Bridge Officer of his Fleet Carrier LLV Imperial Herald, informing him of the new assignment and directing him to continue to support any and all Imperial and Legion objectives during the Commander's deployment. He also instructed the Captain to alert Lieutenant Commander Nathanial Slater, Commander Bellator ab Hurk's crew member, of the change of orders and to have him prepare all ships currently aboard the fleet carrier for immediate combat operations.
Upon sending the message to Captain Buckley, Commander Bellator ab Hurk requested approval for takeoff from Sturckow Port, beginning his new mission in service to the Empire, his Emperor, and Legion.
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Saint grabs his PDA; "excellent" he thinks. Saint quickly types out a message to Triarius Bellator ab Hurk "I look forward to reading your findings in the coming days and weeks. We will not rest until Imperial justice has been served. Let's get to work. Arissa Invicta!"
Saint gets up and begins to head to the docks. "Time to remind some folks what happens to traitors." he thinks to him self with a slight side smile appearing on his face.