Chapter 4

The Empress fleet arrived above Illium in less than two hours because the Imperium's fleet had advanced jump drives that could get them anywhere in an instant, and the nearly two-hour wait was due to Kana's desire to visit Illium as well, which Xavier allowed because it would mean more protection for Velena.

As the fleet passed over the planet, Velena and Kana were ready to board their escort, which consisted of four transports, three of which would carry the valkyries and Paladins and one of which would take Velena, Kana, and a few other guards.

Velena was escorted around the city after arriving at a spaceport controlled by Imperium soldiers. As they traveled, she appreciated the beauty of the city and thought to herself, "No wonder this place is a tourist world because it looks so beautiful." She thought to one day come back here with Xavier once the planet was done being improved.

POV Amulus (Gang leader)

With all the soldiers patrolling the planet and hideouts being destroyed by Imperium raids, it's been tougher to do business around the planet since the Galactic Imperium took over, therefore my crew has been trying to discover ways to get back at the Imperium. Another Turian strolled in while Amulus was thinking, and was identified as Servious, Amulus' most trusted friend.

"Amulus, we have a possible target to capture, but the security for this one is high. I believe it's someone in the Imperium who wields a lot of power, and if we can capture this person, we might be able to force the Imperium to free our mercenary group or give us something of equal value," Servious said as he pondered what they should ask for since he was confident they would be able to capture the target and he had seen the tech of the Imperium which was so advanced.

Amulus agreed with Servious, so they gathered a force of 150 men, plus another 50 as a backup group. They were all Turians with fighting experience, so he was confident in their ability to ambush the convoy.

Amulus was a formidable leader of a notorious mercenary gang that was known throughout the quadrant for never failing a contract and having the best mercenaries before their current condition. And, as a result of the numerous contracts they were receiving, Amulus established their mercenary base on Illium, which was a planet full of wealthy corporations who came to hire mercenaries or expand their business to Illium on a regular basis, and Amulus knew they would need to hire mercenaries to protect their properties, so this was the best location to establish themselves and become even more powerful.

And, because Amulus' mercenary group was well-known, this was the greatest planet to establish themselves on, and contracts were coming in almost weekly. However, once the Imperium invaded, multiple corporations hired them to help defend the planet, and the money was substantial, so Amulus used the majority of his mercenaries to defend the planet, but they were overrun by the invading force only hours later, and he and his group were forced to scatter across the planet and hide.

The majority of his mercenaries were captured, with only 200 recovered from the surrounding areas. He couldn't leave to find more because his face was plastered all over the city on notice boards, and every agent he sent to find more was captured, so he and the rest of the mercenaries hid underground to avoid being discovered, which worked since the imperium didn't search underground.

And he's been trying to discover methods to hurt the Imperium and reclaim his former power ever since, so when Servious told him about a target being escorted by a large number of guards, he figured this might be his chance to at least damage the Imperium in some manner.

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A group of 100 men was spread around in buildings overlooking a road, waiting for their target to come. After a few minutes, a group of transports could be seen heading down the street, so the mercenaries laid their traps and waited for the convey to ambush it.