[@Vecee] [hr] [img]http://i.imgur.com/hGlyTDL.png[/img] [hr] [b]Yorvha [/b] Io City 17:42 Imperial Yorvan Time "Citizens! The curfew starts at 6 PM IYT! All citizens found on the streets after 6 will be taken into custody and released after the curfew is over at 6 AM! Any effort to organize meetings after the curfew is considered illegal, and an act of defiance towards your local governement. Bars and pubs will close at 5:45, and anyone inside will be forcefully removed." the loudspeaker blared on top of the armored truck. A searchlight lit up the shady streets of the city. The sun was still up, but only it's most determined rays of light managed to illuminate the small streets and alleys of the Io. 4 Militia soldiers carrying guns accompanied the APC, taking positions next to the corners of the vehicle. The truck featured many independant armor panels on it's side, clearly meant to protect the vehicle from one or multiple AP shells. The Black-Orange pattern of the EOM covered the entirety of the vehicle and gave it a fearsome gun. To finish the display of absolute dominance over the streets, an automatic gun scanned every corner of the street and turned around in seemingly random directions. On the top of the vehicle near it's front, a crew member was leaning out of a hatch. She was looking around the streets, observing their eerie emptiness. Most of the people on the streets already left and went home, fearing that the soldiers may begin the curfew earlier than announced. Only the alcoholist occupied the streets, stumbling home in a drunken state that was miserable to look at. One such group of humans approached the convoy and raised the bottles high in the air as they shouted racist things into the night air. [i]"Yeah boys, show these snot nosed xenos not to blow up our shit!"[/i]. One of the soldiers giggled into the intercomms, and the rest of them seemed to be supressing their laughter at the sight of the drunkards. The Militia member closest to them replied with joy in his voice. "We'll do. You just make sure those bottles get empty!" The laughter finally filled the intercomms, and the convoy left behind the drunken group who gave the soldiers a discomforting look. The woman on the top pulled a helmet out from the vehicle, and put it on her head. It was different from the helmet the other Militia members used, and it beared the insignia of the Imperial Military on top. She attached a large plastic tube to the back of her helmet, and switched on some things via the HUD. She was frowning inside, and muted the laughter on the intercomms. Her vision was filled with detailed information of every pebble and dust particle on the street, and the vehicle's sensors kept updating her HUD. Maybe it was too much information for one person, but the pilots and crew members of the Imperial Military were accustomed to filtering out excess data from their data feeds. You have to get used to it, or you've spent years of your life getting into the Military for nothing. She pulled up her jacket and looked at a small watch on her wrist. The clock's hands slowly ticked clockwise, and they finally hit 6 PM. "It's showtime boys. No radio chatter from now, we're going full blackout. Check your sensor link with the APC regularly and don't forget your gun on safety. if you're feeling triger happy then now is a good time to get into the back of the truck. Shoot only if you see a gun, we don't want this curfew to be an administrative disaster." She descended back into the truck and closed the hatch above her. The spotlight turned off, and a small red light replaced it on the side of the gun. An IR scanner to paint the terrain and possible hostiles. The other lights also wnet black on the truck, and the soldiers turned off their flashlights. [i]10 Minutes later[/i] The HUD lit up with an incoming message. Bob looked around the convoy before opening the message. It was from Mike, the guys just in front of him. -You think they'd send us outta here just for a curfew? *Mike* Perhaps. It wasn't unheard of to put a curfew on worlds where the population was rebelling against the Empire. -Whats so strange about it? How else are we supposed to keep the curfew if no one is patrolling. *Bob* -No, I mean why send out a motorised patrol. -Seems strange to me. *Mike* He had a point. Why not just send a normal patrol of a few soldiers. Why would they need an APC against a few drunk people who forgot where they live? -And did you see that chcik in the truck? She is from the frucking Military. *Mike* -So what? *Bob* -Have you ever SEEN anyone from the Military before? *Mike* -We all have on the holoNet. *Bob* -In real life. *Mike* -No. Of course not. They don't deal with policing duty. -Oooooh.... *Bob* Mike really hit the spot there. Why would the military send resources here? Aren't they busy defending against the Mekhar and doing other interstellar military campaigns? Things escalated quickly. -So what are you proposing? *Bob -The whole city has been on a lockdown since the accident last night. I haven't seen a Glory battleship in action before, but ever since the terrorist attack they keep their searchlight switched on permanently. And all these gunships and drones don't fly around for no reason. Something is fishy about this curfew as well. *Mike* -Like? *Bob* -Apart from the Military APC, gunships and drones? I don't know dude, have you ever felt like you are in battle instead of patrol duty? *Mike* -Yeah I can see what you mean. But seriously, tell me what you think. *Bob* -Okay, here's the deal: I think this ain't some curfew. I think something is about to go down, but the HQ doesn't know when or where yet, so they decided that the curfew is the best execuse to mobilize troops around the city. And from the firepower they are bringing, it seems to me that they are expecting something big to happen. *Mike* -You guys cease this talk immidiately or I'll take you back to HQ, and you can tell them your ideas yourself. *Sgt Misha* Thought the lens of the helmet covered her face, the woman looked at Bob with a possibly angry look. Her body language showed nothing but anxiety, possibly to taze both of them for disobeying a direct order. A gunship flew past above them, the searchlights illuminating the street for a second. The insignia on her helmet gleamed in the light, and burnt into his retina. The Sgt looked up at the VTOL and then retracted back into the truck and closed the hatch shut again. In front of him Mike turned back to him, and used sign language to send a last message "Remember what I said. Ready the gun, finger on trigger." -I can still see you with the sensors Pvt Mike. We'll have a chat about this later. *Sgt Misha* Silence befall the convoy again as they marched through the dark streets of the Io, anxious about what's gonna happen now.