Hunt of the Scylla

Hunt of the Scylla

Imperial Escort Frigate Scylla (EF76-class) has been assigned to a “stability campaign” to eliminate some dissident elements in the Belassar system of the Expansion Region. Running for nearly a year with few resupplies or reinforcements, the battle against the vicious criminal group known as the Blackstalkers has dragged on longer than Captain Arcas ever imagined it could.

The Blackstalkers are a group of well-equipped and organized outlaws have been terrorizing the area for years: they have territory they hold outright, natives who are too terrified of retaliation to speak against them, and a surprising amount of starships and other military assets at their disposal. Perhaps, some might say, if the distant Empire had bothered to step in before the pirates grew arrogant enough to move against Imperial shipments of mythra... either way, it is the mission of the Scylla to find and eliminate the pirates and their base.

After 10 grueling months, you are some of the best and brightest left on the resource-strapped Scylla. Maybe you know what you did to get this assignment in the ass end of the Empire, maybe you don’t. As you are, in essence, one of the best commando/shock troop units available to Captain Arcas, he wields you as such: a vibroknife to plunge and twist into his enemies or a shock maul to crush them.

On a personal level, however, some of the things you've been ordered to do have given you... doubts. The kind of doubts that might get you flagged for re-education-- or execution-- were you foolish enough to speak them closer to Imperial Center. Can you trust this squad around you, assembled through attrition but now bonded in battle, with those thoughts? How long can you continue to do the devil’s work and still meet your own gaze in the mirror?