At fifteen, Luna bested three of her older sparring instructors during a session. Daimon watched in as she flowed between different techniques, never relying solely on her raw strength. When she bowed at the end, he nodded once, showing his approval of her victory.
By fourteen, Luna had earned the title of Initiate Commander within Daimon's elite youth cadre, not as a favor, but through skill and discipline. Her squad adored her, not for her na, but because she fought beside them, not above them.
That sa year, Luna began visiting the outer colonies alone, with only her most trusted companions. She listened to the farrs, the miners, and the engineers. She kept a small journal and wrote down their fears, their hopes, their grudges. She wanted to understand how different life was in the outer colonies from the Inner colonies. Of course, she was under the watch of several undercover Imperial guards which consisted of both Gen'Dai and force users.
However, during one of their trips, they were encountered one of the many rising problems with the outer colonies, Pirate gangs. They had begun to form as the Imperium took control of the planet. Most outer colonies had a garrison of 10,000 soldiers, 20,000 War droids, and 10 mbers of the Order of the Balance Keepers. The garrison patrolled most of the planet, but 30,000 soldiers could not protect everything. As such, gangs were able to form in the Outer colonies.
Their presence didn't cause many problems in the densely populated areas, allowing them to fly below the radar and conduct their illegal operations away from the prying eyes of the Imperium.
Landing on Yalara, a planet with a human population of about 5 million, Luna exited her transport accompanied by her 5 trusted companions who were the sa age as her. They were the sons and daughters of other noble families of the Imperium, part of the youth cadre chosen to accompany Luna on her trip. Despite being so young, they were considered the brightest of the youth in the Imperium.
That combined with Luna's abilities is one of the reasons why Daimon permitted them to venture to the Outer colonies with additional protection and such. That combined with her sweet little face pleading to go to the outer colonies, Daimon had a hard ti saying no.
As the group went into the bustling city center, the streets buzzed with life despite the city being quite small and on the outskirts. Market stalls overflowed with colorful fruits, alien spices, and cheap machine parts. The scents of grilled ats and engine oil filled the air, thick and intoxicating. Luna and her companions moved through the streets, dressed plainly to blend in. Though their presence gave off an inner world vibe which made them stand out a little.
Mira, the sharp-eyed daughter of an Admiral, kept a hand near the concealed blaster at her hip, her eyes constantly flicking through the shifting crowd. Soren, tall and broad for his age, scanned every alley they passed with the wary look of a soldier. Jace, lean and fast, walked a few steps ahead, ready to intercept trouble should it co. Talia and Nyla fanned out slightly, forming a discreet but effective periter around Luna.
They passed a square where musicians played on battered instrunts, their lodies almost drowning out the shouting of vendors selling everything from water purifiers to weapon modifications. Luna stopped at a map vendor's stall, pretending to study a detailed map of the region.
"This place has history," she said aloud, her finger tracing the markings.
"And a lot of places to ambush travelers," Mira muttered, her eyes scanning the upper windows.
Across the city, in a crumbling warehouse, a different scene unfolded. In the shadows, the Red Fangs convened. Their leader, Koro Vesh, a scarred ex-rcenary with a hate for Imperials, slamd his fist into a crate, sending dust into the air.
"They're soft, these Inner World brats. Spoiled. Easy pickings," Koro growled to the dozen n and won gathered before him.
A lean man with tech-goggles snorted. "Saw their shuttle land. Civilian transport. No heavy guards. No banners. They think they're untouchable."
Koro sneered, flashing his tal teeth. "We hit 'em quick, we take hostages. Ransom 'em back to their rich daddies. Or sell 'em off-world. Soone'll pay well. Imperium's stretched thin out here. No one will know till it's too late."
They ard up: slug-throwers, shock batons, crude vibroblades, jury-rigged energy nets. They moved like a pack of hungry wolves, full of misplaced confidence and desperation. None of them considered that the Imperium's elite youth cadre were not pampered weaklings, but honed weapons.
Back at the plaza, Luna leaned closer to the vendor's goods as Mira stiffened. "Six o'clock," Mira whispered.
Luna nodded subtly. Her fingers pressed the signal band at her wrist, sending a coded pulse to the Imperial guards hidden among the crowd. But it was already too late to avoid the first move.
Koro's gang ca fast, aggressive, shoving civilians aside, weapons drawn. Koro himself grabbed a young boy selling sweets and hurled him at Luna to disrupt her line of sight.
One of the Balance Keeper Guardians reached out and caught the boy with the Force, halting his montum midair before setting him gently on the ground. Simultaneously, the rest of the hidden Imperial Guards revealed themselves, erging from the crowd.
"Move!" Luna ordered her squad, her voice sharp.
Soren and Mira imdiately drew their blasters, returning fire at the pirates who had rushed into the square. The first wave of Red Fangs went down quickly, surprised by the sudden shift from what they thought were easy prey.
Talia hurled a shock grenade into a cluster of attackers, sending three of them falling to the ground, twitching violently. Nyla dashed forward, using her shock baton with brutal precision, striking knees, ribs, and throats.
Koro snarled in frustration, pulling a heavy slug-thrower from his belt. He fired into the crowd, careless of who he hit, but the Balance Keepers stepped forward, using Force shields to absorb the attacks.
Luna weaved through the chaos. She closed the distance to a pirate wielding a vibroblade and disard him, following up with a punch that sent him crashing into a vendor's cart.
Another pirate lunged at her from behind, but Jace intercepted him with a tackle, slamming the man to the ground. Jace grinned up at Luna briefly, only to be blindsided a mont later as another pirate slashed a crude knife across his back.
"Jace!" Talia scread, shooting the attacker point-blank before rushing to Jace's side.
Mira covered them, dropping pirates with well-placed shots. Soren barreled through another wave; his fists as deadly as any weapon.
Koro realized the tide had turned against him. He tried to retreat, signaling his remaining crew to fall back. But the Balance Keepers closed ranks, their movents too fast, too coordinated.
One of the Guards, a towering Gen'Dai, caught Koro by the throat with a chanical hand, lifting him off the ground effortlessly.
"You have brought sha to this world," the Keeper said before slamming Koro into the ground. Within minutes, the skirmish was over.
The Red Fangs who weren't dead were cuffed and lined up on the pavent. Civilians peeked cautiously from behind cover, whispering in awe and fear.
Luna knelt beside Jace, who was conscious but grimacing in pain. She pressed a hand to his wound.
"You'll be fine," she said firmly. "dics are inbound."
Jace gave a weak chuckle. "Next ti... I'll duck faster."
The Imperial Guards ford a periter, ensuring no further threats lingered. The marketplace was silent except for the occasional moan from the wounded pirates.
Luna turned to the lead Guardian, a woman with silver hair and a scar down her cheek.
"Send a report to the garrison commander," Luna ordered. The woman bowed slightly. "As you command, your highness."
Luna glanced around the battered plaza, noting the shattered stalls and frightened civilians.
This was not what she had hoped to find in the Outer Colonies. But if this was what survival looked like out here, then she would make sure to put in a word with her father. Although she had a feeling that he already knew things were pretty bad out here.
Within minutes, several transport ships arrived and started to lock down the city. What just happened was a serious matter that would need to be reported directly to the emperor.
As Luna and her companions returned to their ship, the events on Yalara were already reaching Daimon. The pirate threat had been growing, but even he was surprised that their influence reached so far. The Imperium's rapid expansion had left so outer worlds more vulnerable than anticipated, and pirate gangs like the Red Fangs were quick to exploit perceived weaknesses.
Wiping out all of the pirates was nearly impossible as others would just rise up to replace them. Which is why he slowly developed worlds like Yalara that were on the far reaches until they could establish a much stronger presence. The Imperium was still in its developing stages and didn't have the manpower or resources to enforce order across the entire world.
A large number of resources were already invested into the region, but it would take ti to develop dozens of worlds while also raising their economic value. Developing a newly conquered or colonized world required a lot of investnt, ti, and manpower in addition to ships.
Still, this incident was not sothing that he could overlook. His daughter was attacked, and he needed to send a ssage that such a thing would not be permitted. So, in response, Daimon gathered the Progenitors in a face-to-face eting.
As the eting begun, the first one to speak was Progenitor Orin Volkar, head of the Ministry of Expansion and Colonization. "Sir, I've heard what happened in one of the Outer colonial planets. I can't believe one of those filthy pirates dared to attack the Princess. Should you say the word, and my Architect Legion will head to the Outer colonies and start flushing these rats out." Orin voiced. Pirates were sothing that every empire faces when they expanded at such a rapid pace and there was nothing anybody could do to completely get rid of them.
Daimon held up his hand in response. "Don't worry about this Orin. There's not much we could have done to prevent this. But there is sothing we can do in response to this to send a ssage to these pirates." He turned to Progenitor Liraen Vos, Lord Marshal of the Ministry of War.
"Nyssa," Daimon said, "I want you and your legion alongside 1 million soldiers to start making your way to the outer rim worlds. Take one of the Admirals and 100 ships to start an operation to decrease pirate activity in the region. This plan will be a show of force in the outer rim worlds and will be a permanent deploynt until I say otherwise."
Nyssa nodded and started typing out the orders into her holographic tablet. "After what happened I assu you want to send a ssage, I will have my legion and the 1 million soldiers on their within the next 3 days." She knew how Daimon thought and predicted that he was going to launch a large-scale campaign to round up all of the pirate groups.
Orin, seeing that Daimon had a plan in place, wasn't as agitated as he was before. "Sounds like you got everything under control. I was about to head to Kalee to see the progress of their integration, but if you require my assistance just send a ssage." Orin said as he stood up and left the eting room.
Once he had left, Daimon turned to Progenitor Raelos Vyn. "Raelos, you will oversee the Alpha Legion. Make sure that when the system wide purge is over, the populations on those worlds continue as planned with their integration." Raelos nodded.
A day later, he received Luna's report personally once she returned to Veldari. She was unhard but shaken by the experience. "We thought we knew what to expect," she told him. "We didn't."
Daimon listened as his daughter explained her first experience with people who refused to simply make a living the right way and always resorted to other illegal ans. "You adapted," he said. "And you survived. The experience will strengthen you and overti you will gain valuable experience." She appreciated her father's confidence but remained troubled by what she'd seen. "If one gang can do this, how many more are out there?"
"We'll find out," Daimon assured her. "But no matter how many of them there are, when they encounter the Force Scions and the 1-million-man army, they will be wiped out or captured by our forces." She nodded, understanding the difference between regular pirates and the ard forces of the Imperium.
The garrisons on the outer rim worlds were mainly made up of humans. Gen'Dai mainly stayed within the inner worlds while humans migrated to places across the galaxy in search a new ho and because of the incentives that they got from being a colonists. Then there were the human and other native species to the planet that had joined the Imperial military after being taken over.
By now, millions of humans are in the Imperial ard forces across all branches. Gen'Dai still ford the core of the ard forces but humans and other species who joined were treated with great respect for fighting for the emperor. It didn't matter if you were human or any other species, if you were fighting for the emperor, you were considered a brother or a sister.
———
Current Imperial Year: 104 (6874 BBY)
Daimon Age: 176
Imperium's Population: 25 Billion
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