Captain David Mullir
S2 (Intelligence Officer), 4th Regiment (Ranger), 5th New Republic Special Forces Division
Tikirt, Exaron, Exaron System
Captain David Mullir looked across the briefing table at the two people who had come to meet him for this particular briefing: the first was a female pilot, Commander Orama Sal, who had been assigned to fly cover for the 4th Regiment's covert operations on Exaron, and the second was a lithe, suave-looking intelligence agent, Rowan Thanewulf. Thanewulf had been assigned as an attache and liason between the 4th Regiment and New Republic Intelligence. "Commander, Agent," said Mullir each in turn, "thank you both for coming. I know OP-tempo is high right now and we don't have a lot of time to waste, so I won't mince words. I trust that each of you have read my intelligence summary?" He received affirmative responses from both of them, so Mullir continued, "Good, then I won't need to waste time explaining the basics. Since that IntSum was written, not much has changed. The Empire Miccol, the ship which has been referred to many times in the Imperial Intelligence reports, is slated to arrive on Exaron in less than twelve hours now. It is leaving Fondor shortly, supposedly hauling foodstuffs for the Imperial citizens of Vratokh. From what I can glean from the communications, the Miccol will be docking in Vratokh, the Imperial capital of Exaron. Right now, I don't have the personnel in the city to be able to effectively track what is going on with that ship once it touches down, and that's where I need help from you, Agent Thanewulf. Is there any way you can get either you or one of your people inside the city's spaceport and observe what gets offloaded from that freighter when it touches down?"
"Commander Sal, what I need from you is to be a cue for Agent Thanewulf," continued Mullir. "I want to know, in advance, when the Miccol has entered the Exaron system, and I need you to track its trajectory down to the planet, as well as try to pick up on its comms with the surface. There are over a hundred docking bays in the Imperial military portion of the spaceport, and even though the Miccol is listed as a bulk freighter carrying food, I'm sure it's going to land in that sector and not in the civilian spaceport. I need you to monitor the comms and trajectory and determine which docking bay the Miccol is going to land, and that way Agent Thanewulf can get to the right docking bay to observe the unloading."
Major Patrick Rudder
Commander, Alpha Company, 4th Regiment (Ranger), 5th New Republic Special Forces Division
Tikirt, Exaron, Exaron System
Major Patrick Rudder walked through the makeshift barracks bay which had been assigned to his Company upon the seizure of Tikirt from Imperial forces several days prior. Tikirt was the second major city to fall to the New Republic Army during the Republic's invasion of the planet, and Alpha Company had been instrumental in helping the Army secure it. Patrick had led a strike team from the Company into the city in a grav-chute insertion in the middle of the night, landing behind enemy lines and sabotaging several power relays which ran to the Imperial's defensive lines to the west of the city. When the New Republic Army had attacked, the Empire had found that many of their turrets were either not working or were severely underpowered, leaving gaps in the defense which the Republic was able to exploit. Since then, however, the company had not been assigned any new missions, with Patrick being told little about what was in their future. The uncertainty was eating at him, and he knew it was likewise doing so to his men. They were always at the forefront of any operation being undertaken by the Army, but this time the armor and infantry had pushed ahead, with other Special Forces companies still accompanying them, while Alpha was left in the rear.
As he walked through the barracks, checking on his men, he saw his headquarters section medic, Corporal Fyar, and stopped next to the young man's bunk. "Corporal," Patrick said, nodding. "How are you holding up?"