[IC] Insurgents in Imperial Center (Hotshot and Sep)

[Hotshot]

Markus smiled as his heart filled with happiness and pride as he looked around at the countless beings assembled here in the streets. News of the Emperor's death had reached Coruscant only hours before, not through official channels of course, but through messages and reports from family members or contacts off-world. The Emperor, Darth Vader, and many others had been slain by the Rebellion, and revolutions and riots had broken out across the galaxy. Even here, the heart of the Empire, Imperial Center, gatherings such as the one Markus was now a part of were occurring. People were ecstatic, firing off fireworks, singing songs, and cheering loudly. Markus had waited for this day for a long time; he had long dreamed of the death of the Empire, of the freedom to say and do as he wished, and of the planet being once again named Coruscant, rather than Imperial Center. It was for those dreams that Markus had helped to start the little group of freedom fighters to which he belonged. He and his childhood best friend, Jason Vett, a Zabrak, had grown up talking of their hatred for the Empire, and their desire for a new life. When they matured, this talk turned to action, and they founded a small cell of fighters. At first, it was little more than a club, and their "actions" included petty robberies and vandalism; in reality, they amounted to little more than petty criminals. Slowly, however, they had begun to acquire weapons, and equipment, and more members, and now, with the death of the Emperor, Markus knew their time for true action had come.

Someone started to play music loudly, a lively dance tune, and people started to cheer before beginning to break out into spontaneous dance and song. Seeing a very attractive woman with long blonde hair wearing a black tank top and tan pants, Markus smiled and moved up to her, dancing as he went with a goofy smile on his face. He could not contain his excitement at the current events, and the girl laughed and began dancing with Markus as he took her hand. She had beautiful blue eyes, and a fantastic smile, and Markus found himself getting lost in the moment as they twirled about in the mass of people. Everything was going so perfectly.

[Sep]

While Markus was partying Jason was ensuring that the partying could continue. While there was mass confusion it hadn't taken long for someone else to take control off the situation on Coruscant. Being raised by Mandalorians Jason was always prepared, and while also a plotter for the resistance cell the CSF(Coruscant Security Force purely for the Irony) he was always in the main assault teams. Right now he had an E-Web turret perched on what was left of a windowsill looking down at Imperial Troops, with only a couple of Stormtroopers. They had the height advantage but that was about it, the separate resistance movements usually didn't like to share missions or resources today they had with the news of the Emperors death, street parties all over the planet were surrounded by resistance members stopping the Imperials from breaking it up, however the party had been going for several hours and they weren't well enough equipped to keep them at bay forever.

"Jam, Jam, Jam." He moved away from the E-Web to allow a technician to look at it, crouching he moved to the corner of the room as debris flew off the windowsill as the now unpinned Imperials began lacing the room with fire. "Move that turret out of here, set up position one floor up in the eastern room. Take Porky and Jones with you." As he said that a Gammaroean entered the room accompanied with a human, who hunching went to assist the tech with moving the turret to the new location. Picking up a scoped rifle he peered over the edge. In the distance he could already see vehicles loading up, AT-ATs, STs some older looking TEs and an entire legion of Stormtroopers without even counting the regular Imperial troopers. He could either hold on, and lose more good men. Or pack it in, break up the party and they'd live to fight another day. As he was contemplating this a massdriver bolt destroyed several of the floors above him, he heard the brief screams of his comrades as he dove out of the way off rubble. He activated his commlink, blasterfire still tearing at the building. "Markus! Markus, do you read? We've got to fall back and go back underground, we can't hold them. You need to get everyone of the street now"

[Hotshot]

Markus heard the chirping of his comlink, telling him that he had an incoming call, but he decided to ignore it. This girl was too beautiful, and at the moment, he could not care less who was calling him; what could be so important, after all, during a time such as this? Taking the girl's hand, Markus pulled her close, and kissed her on the lips. She returned the kiss, snaking her arm around the back of his head even as they continued to dance. His comlink chirped again, and the girl broke the kiss. Giving him a playful look, she said, "It keeps going off...don't you think you should check it?"

"Not for the galaxy," Markus laughed, and they kissed again.

A third time, the comlink chirped, jolting Markus back to reality. Anyone calling this many times meant it was important, and he could only think of one person who would be trying to reach him this furiously, especially at a time like this. Pulling away from the girl, Markus flipped his comlink open and asked, "Jason?"

"We've got to fall back and go back underground, we can't hold them. You need to get everyone of the street now!" shouted Jason from the other end. In the background, Markus could hear what sounded like blaster fire and crumbling rubble.

"I read you!" shouted Markus back. "We'll link up at the cafe!" Markus was referring to the Spindler Cafe, a small, out of the way joint whose owner, a man named Valken, allowed the Coruscant Security Force to meet in secret in his basement and provided plenty of warning of any approaching Imperials. It was as safe a location as they could have found, and regularly used it as a linkup point.

Putting his comlink away, Markus looked around at the partying, the singing, dancing, and loud music, and felt a bolt of despair and fear rush through him. How could he possibly break this party up? Even if he shouted as loud as he could, no one would be able to hear him or even understand him. It was imperative that all of these people cleared out, however, before the Imperials came rumbling through and massacred anyone who was celebrating. Sighing in resignation, Markus pulled out his holdout blaster pistol and fired it once into the air. People around him screamed in surprise, and the music abruptly stopped. Everyone was staring at him, falling quiet, and Markus was able to shout, "The Imps are coming! Get out of here!"

The screams broke out now louder, but in fear, as people scrambled to get off of the street.

[Sep]

Jason grabbed someone up practically by the scruff of their neck and threw them down a small flight of stairs which they had fallen on to the bottom, nothing to hurt them but enough to get them up and get them moving. The building shook and dust was displaced, falling down on the floor. They got up and moved to pick up their weapon. "No don't, just get outta here. Blend in with the victims and hope that the Imperials are in a forgiving mood, I doubt it but you'd be better running anyway. You're in no shape to fight." He grabbed two concussion grenades from his belt, arming them and then tossing them towards the lines of approaching Imperials. All around bolts of plasma began hitting the ground, the Imperials were actually using artillery in the capital. That was just insane, next there'd be bombers coming in. However it could just be an unfortunate side effect off this being the frontline, he hoped so anyway otherwise those in the street parties would soon face death.

He peered around the corner of the building, watching as the Imperials took cover from his grenade. Turning back he ran over to a sewer hatch jumping down into it he placed the hatch back, took out a remote detonator for an explosive and placed it with his grenade belt at the bottom of the ladder into the sewer. He re-activated his commlink to Markus. "The lines are broken, they'll be on their way. I'll meet you at the fifth house." The fifth house was a house owned by a supporter in the under city, he did not feel that the wisest course of action was to meet anywhere near the top levels of Coruscant in the next couple of days, martial law would be strict and uncompromising..

He flicked the switch on his detonator and the explosion destroyed the sewer behind him and likely threw anyone nearby the sewer. He moved to an opening where he could see one of the pathways down to the lower city, of course the traffic was almost non-existent except for a few Imperial Ships. This was going to be interesting.

[Hotshot]

Markus's comlink chirped again, and he answered it. "The lines are broken, they'll be on their way. I'll meet you at the fifth house," said Jason.

Markus did not like the sound of what Jason was saying; if they were meeting at the fifth house, it meant that Jason did not think they would be able to get to the Cafe, or if they did get there, that they would not be safe for long. Markus had no idea what kind of Imperial force was coming towards them from Jason's direction, but he knew it had to be bad if his friend was advocating traveling down into the seedier lower levels of Coruscant to hide.

As the people cleared quickly off of the street, Markus spun around and around once again, looking for the beautiful blonde woman he had been dancing with earlier. Unfortunately, she was nowhere to be found. On the other hand, maybe it's fortunate that she's already gone, thought Markus. That probably means she's gotten to safety. Disappointed nevertheless that he would not be able to take her with him to safety, Markus quickly stuffed his blaster pistol back into the makeshift holster inside his jacket and took off running himself, blending into the crowd of mass hysteria. He made his way towards one of the large, long, ferrocrete staircases which would lead him down a level. The staircases were incredibly old, and some thought them unsafe, but in either case, the Imperials rarely, if ever, used them. It would take him longer to get down to a lower level this way than using one of the turbolifts or a speeder, but it would ultimately be safer and stealthier, and he knew he would get there in one piece without being stopped or detained.

[Sep]

Jason ran down a side sewer, activity was picking up in the tunnel. Dropships primarily however there were some civilian speeders going around as well rushing back to their homes, some of them were pulled over and some of them shot down. It was complete carnage, he felt sorry for anyone who was simply trying to look for family and was being shot down because of it. He peered around the corner, still walking through the slime. He followed the new pathway which lead to a walkway on the edge of the tunnel. He moved out and winced as he saw several Imperial Transports. He ran out and along the walkway, his footsteps only droned out only by the sound of the life support systems on the lower levels and the craft flying past.

Out of nowhere laser beams began cutting into the wall behind him sending pieces of debris ricocheting everywhere. Right, when the Imperials were in a state of war with their own planet, running around with a gun is a bad idea. He dove as he finally reached part of the undercity. He was only on the fifth level below the surface. He still had a long way to go, which wasn't aided by the fact that there was a squad of stormtroopers pointing weapons at him. He tried to find a way out of it when he saw four flashes of black, and then red laser flashes laced out killing the troopers. BX-Commando droids, the Separation movement. Not exactly friends but not truly allies either. They both wanted rid of the Empire they could fight over the semantics later. He gave a brief wave at them as he took off down a side corridor and inserted a keycard into an old card reader as an even older maintenance elevator opened up. A few people other than him knew were they were, he himself had been taught about them back on Mandalore by a Clone Defectee and which is where he got his card, he doubted even the Imperials knew of their existence. Coruscant had been modified that many times especially on the lower levels it was hard to tell how it was built. There could be planetary engines and no-one could know about it.

Which is why he preferred the undercity, easier to make changes without anyone noticing. He didn't know why Markus didn't like using the Undercity when it was perfect for a movement like theirs. However he was on his way now, they'd regroup and counter attack. They wouldn't get away with this.

[Hotshot]

After an hour of trudging down long, sometimes unstable sets of ferrocrete stairs, Markus reached the level on which fifth house was located. Taking a seat on one of the stairs, Markus took a few minutes to look around at the passers-by and people on the street, ensuring he did not see anything suspicious, such as someone watching fifth house or paying too much attention to him. Once he was satisfied that everything was safe, Markus got up, walked up to the house, and knocked on the door. He heard some shuffling from inside as someone came to the door, no doubt looking through the peephole to identify who it was, and a moment later the door opened.

"Markus, come in, come in," said the owner, putting a hand on Markus's shoulder and guiding him inside before quickly closing the door and locking it.

"There are others coming," said Markus. "Jason and a group got hit by some Imps while everyone was celebrating. I think they're gonna start cracking down on everyone up there for revenge."

The owner nodded somberly and said, "I will make ready some beds in case there are any wounded. But please, help yourself to any food or drink you want."

"Thank you," said Markus, moving into the kitchen and grabbing a glass of alcohol before sitting down to wait for Jason.

[Sep]

Jason walked into the house, merely offering the owner a nod before moving into the kitchen and sitting down opposite Markus. He then took a moment to brush some dust and debris off him. "We've lost an E-Web, Marks, Simmons and Mar'la and that is just from our operation, no telling what the damage is to the other operations and I suspect we're going to see a crack down on rebel activity from the Imperials, especially as they fight amongst themselves on who is to take charge. The bets are on if we get a new Emperor or if the Empire fractures, I'm currently betting it fractures and if it does that'd be a good thing for us as forces would move elsewhere all over, sectors would lose support and become weaker. That'd make the Alliances job a hell of a lot easier, I mean I don't fully agree with the Alliance but I don't have to. Once they're in control it becomes a democracy and then we can change it without bloodshed."

He un-holstered his Westar-35 blaster pistol rubbing it down slightly, and pointing it randomly and looking down the sight. "Things are changing, and they're going to get worse before they get better. I hope you know that, we need to try and bring the different rebel groups together and you know as well as I do I'm not the most diplomatic of individual."

[Hotshot]

Markus chuckled and shook his head as a wide smile spread across his face. "No, that you most certainly are not," he said. The smile quickly faded from his face, however, as the weight of the loss of three members of their small cell truly hit him. In the years since they had started their cell, the deaths at the hands of the Imperials had mostly been few and far between, and never multiple people at once. Even in the last few months, when Jason had ramped up the actions against the Imperials into more serious and violent endeavors than the cell had traditionally done, the losses had always been one here, one there. Losing the E-web was also a blow, but Markus knew that any serious action needed people, not just equipment.

"We're going to need to be more careful," he said. "Lay low a bit for a few days, maybe a few weeks. We can't afford to lose many more people, Jason. Coruscant is still the capital of the Empire, and as much as I'd like to see the Alliance come riding in right after the Emperor died and save the day, I don't think it's going to happen any time soon. We need to start looking at the long game."

[Sep]

Jason shook his head. "I completely disagree. I think this is when we need to keep up with them. If we can just band together with the other cells, the Separation movement has plans to build droids and the Templar chapter has a factory deep in the undercity. If we can unite everyone together, we can make. Well not a great big army but we can make a difference. We need to keep going against the Imperials, keep them soft and focused on us. That will give the Alliance the opportunity they need to come in and get us and they'll find the Imperials weakened and an army ready to rise against them and take them out in joint movements!" If he wasn't so stubborn he'd admit his Mandalorian spirit never ceased to appear.

He took out a piece of paper, they were easier to dispose off than tablets. "We still have just under twenty members and some decent equipment, and about a hundred non-combat volunteers. How many did you manage to recruit during the party? I presume that is why you weren't answering your commlink anyway."

[Hotshot]

"Maybe one," said Markus, his mind drifting back to the blonde girl he had been dancing with, but he quickly pushed the thought from his mind. "I wasn't there recruiting members, though, Jason. I was having a good time, I was relaxing, I was celebrating the death of the Tyrant." He knew Jason had known he was not really recruiting anyone, but his friend was probably trying to make him feel guilty for doing so, especially with the comment about the comlink, but Markus refused to do it. "There will be time enough to recruit after this; people are bound to be pissed about this. We should take time when the opportunity comes up." Taking a drink of his beer, Markus then pointed the bottle at Jason and said, "You should take more time to relax yourself."

[Sep]

Jason shrugged it off. "Yeah, we've gotten rid of the Emperor, but it hasn't done much has it? More people must of died today protecting these idiotic parties than we have in any of the operations. We just weren't cut out for that kind of work and without us it would of been a complete and utter slaughter." He stood up and then holstered his pistol, placing both his hands on his desk looking at Markus.

"We need to get moving on these assets, we can work together. We need each of the other groups to aid us or we aren't going to free Coruscant, sure the Alliance might come but it won't be easy to take this planet, but we're already here. We're on the inside we can make it easier for them, so. Will we get to it?"

[Hotshot]

"These parties aren't 'idiotic,'" countered Markus. "You may think so, but the people of this planet certainly don't. Wars aren't just won by battles and guns, Jason. People need to be able to believe that things will change, that things are going to get better. People haven't been able to have parties or celebrate...well, anything in a long, long time on this planet." He took another swig of his drink and then put it down. "I still don't think going it against the Empire right now is smart, not without some outside help. Sure, there are other groups, but we'll never be able to topple the Empire on our own on Coruscant. We need the Alliance before we do anything major."

He sighed. "But, if you really want to step things up, I won't try to convince you otherwise. But please don't think that this is going to win Coruscant for us. That kind of thinking and we'll get overextended."

[Sep]

He sighed as he was cleaning his weapon. "I don't think we will take Coruscant by ourselves. However the stronger we are, and Coruscant is the more we can help the Alliance."

He checked everything was set up. "We need to also keep these current troops planet side to precent them being sent anywhere else and stopping the Alliance from advancing towards Coruscant. We have to do everything we can."

He took out a piece of paper and placed it on the table. Paper was better, easier to get rid off without leaving any trace but ash behind. "We've been asked to take out the prison in the fifth district. The Imps have been rounding up civvies for no apparent reason. They want us to get them out."

[Hotshot]

Markus took the paper off the table from where Jason had placed it. "Sounds like them, for sure," said Markus sarcastically. Looking at the hand-sketched map of the Imperial prison in the fifth district and the surrounding area, Markus began to try to formulate a plan in his head, as well as figure out how many men and women they would need to bring along in order to make sure that the mission was a success. "Who's asking us to do this?" he asked. Unlike Jason, who was big on trying to unite the various undergroudn resistance movements who had been struggling on Coruscant for the past several years, Markus was more wary of the others, their intentions, and their means. All, it was true, were anti-Imperial, but some could be trusted and counted on more than others to come through. Additionally, some supported ideologies or political systems which were no more desirable than the Empire.