The Attempted Assassination of Michael Aborshine, also known as Operation: Starscream, was an event in American-Imperial history that saw the ambitious Grand Marshall Lance Corvus attempt to assassinate Michael Aborshine and his four brothers, the legitimate heirs to the Imperial throne following the death of their father, Emperor William Aborshine.
Background[]
On November 2, 2023, Emperor William Aborshine was assassinated. William had five sons, among them his firstborn, Michael. Each of them desired to rule the Empire, sparking a massive succession crisis. The Imperial Governing Council, traditionally responsible for swearing in Emperors and fearing the outbreak of a civil war, attempted to mediate the situation. The members of council met with the siblings and attempted to work out a solution. However, the siblings rejected all proposals and bickered amongst themselves.
The next several weeks were racked by a power struggle as each sibling contended for power and influence in an effort to win the Emperorship. Finally, on November 18, 2023, the Governing Council decided that for the greater good of the Empire, a more permanent solution would be needed. The council began to hold secret talks with the Imperial Intelligence and Enforcement Bureau, Imperial Ministry of Truth and Enlightenment, and Grand Marshall Lance Corvus. Corvus had always desired the position of Emperor for himself and reciprocated the ruling council's top-secret offer to give the Emperorship to him. What was unclear at the moment was what the fate of the Aborshine family would be. After a period of deliberation it was decided that the Aborshines would be wiped out.
On December 10, 2023, after several weeks of preparation the Aborshine siblings were invited to the Marshal’s Palace to “personally celebrate the glory of the Empire and reach a satisfactory agreement regarding the position of Emperor.” For reasons unknown, all five siblings agreed to the meeting. The siblings arrived at the palace and were escorted down to an underground meeting room, only to be attacked by Corvus' forces mere hours later. Though Corvus was successful in destroying most of the evidence following the event, a single set of security recordings survived his efforts.
Security Recordings/Transcript[]
At 8:10 p.m. on December 10, 2023, the Aborshine siblings and their personal guards are seen entering the Marshal's Palace. Upon being greeted by Captain Vallo of the Marshal's Palace Security Unit, the Aborshines are escorted downstairs into the Palace's sub-level, where they are then seated in an underground meeting room typically reserved for members of Imperial High Command. At 8:30 p.m. Lance Corvus enters the room with a number of security troops, who exchange tense glances with the Aborshine guards.
Lance Corvus: "Ah, welcome gentlemen! I'm happy you all agreed to come here tonight. We have much to talk about and as I stated in my formal invitation, reach a satisfactory agreement regarding the position of Emperor. But first, let's get ourselves comfortable."
A formal dinner is prepared for all of them and they proceed to eat. As this is occurring, Corvus discreetly orders Vallo to station troops at every possible exit from the sub-level. At approximately 9:35 p.m. discussion surrounding Corvus' "agreement" begins.
Lance Corvus: "I was very pleased with the Governing Council's proposal and I assure you-"
Zachary Aborshine: "Wait, the Council's proposal? Your invitation said nothing of the Council. Wasn't this 'agreement' of yours entirely your own?"
Lance Corvus: "Forgive me, Zach, but yes: I neglected to mention the Council's involvement."
Michael Aborshine: "And why is that?"
Corvus smirks, knowing that regardless of what happens or is said next, Operation: Starscream will be fulfilled. The brothers are right were Corvus needs them to be.
Lance Corvus: "Because, gentlemen, you would've never agreed to come here had I mentioned the Council. I know how worthless their previous proposals were, but I assure you that this one is a solution we developed together. This is a solution that all of you will find...most satisfactory."
Sensing something horribly off about the entire situation, Michael gets up from his seat and positions himself by the room's exit, though stops short of leaving. Neither Corvus, Michael's brothers, or any of the guards present choose to comment on this. Corvus and Micheal exchange a brief look.
Thatcher Aborshine: "This meeting better be worth our time, Lance. We didn't come here to receive another pathetic offer by those sniveling worms on Council. If this solution is as satisfactory as you claim, and a plan you were truly involved in making, then get to the point."
Lance Corvus: "Of course, Thatcher. You and the others have waited long enough."
The initial part of this section of the recording is damaged, though the final stages of the conversation are preserved.
Lance Corvus: "And that's why, gentlemen, only one man deserves to be Emperor now..."
Corvus gives his men seated beside him a knowing look. The Aborshines and their guards look at each other in confusion.
Jacob Aborshine: "Huh? Who?
Lance Corvus: "Your individual power bases are too entrenched, too powerful, and too corrupt for the Empire to survive. Forces loyal to each of you clash in the streets, ready to completely destroy each other once one of you is declared Emperor. You may not see the damage that has been done, but I do. As I said, only one man deserves to be Emperor now."
Michael's eyes widen as he realizes what's about to happen.
Thatcher Aborshine: "Corvus..."
Michael Aborshine: "NO!"
Lance Corvus: "My solution is to kill you all."
The Attack[]
Before anyone else can react, the lights in the room dim, the signal Corvus had planned to initiate the attack. Corvus' men jump from their seats and, with their guns already drawn, open fire on the siblings. Corvus drops to the floor and is shielded by his men as the Aborshine guards return fire. Several more security troops enter the room and proceed to overwhelm the Aborshines. Thatcher is killed by a bullet to the head, both Jacob and Nicholas are shot multiple times in the torso, and Zach is stabbed to death with a combat knife. None of them were able pull out their own weapons in time. After the remaining guards are dealt with, Corvus rises from the floor and notices Michael is nowhere to be seen.
Captain Vallo: "Are you alright, Grand Marshall?"
Lance Corvus: "Yes. Good work, Captain. You and your men have done well, but where's Michael?"
Captain Vallo: "He ran out as soon as the shooting started. I've got troops stationed at all the exits, sir, just as you ordered. He won't be getting far."
Lance Corvus: "Michael is evidently far more capable then his brothers. He's armed and NOT to be underestimated. I'm putting the entire Palace on lockdown until he is disposed of. Destroy the security recordings and-"
Corvus is distracted when he notices one of the Aborshine siblings is still alive. Vallo salutes and heads out to kill Michael personally, while Corvus confronts the surviving sibling.
Nicholas Aborshine: "L-Lance...you complete and utter f-fool. Y-you don't know what you've...done. They'll never a-accept you as E-Emperor."
Lance Corvus: "Then they'll be made to accept me, just like they would've been forced to accept one of you. That's the Imperial way, is it not?"
Nicholas Aborshine: "By killing us...you've k-killed y-yourself. The Council has its own agenda. You may think...that you're on e-equal footing with t-them, but you're just a...figurehead. You're not fit to be a t-true Emperor and they're...g-going to realize tha-."
Nicholas' life is ended by a bullet to the head as this part of the recording degrades into static.
Michael's Escape[]
Warning symbols are placed above the entrance to the Restricted Zone
Using his personal communicator, Captain Vallo is able to connect to the Marshal’s Palace’s PA system and make an announcement.
Captain Vallo: “Attention all units, this is Captain Vallo! There is a dangerous individual loose within the sub-level. I repeat, there is a dangerous individual loose within the sub-level. Use lethal force. Don’t let him escape!”
From approximately 10:05-10:32 p.m. Micheal Aborshine is seen running through the halls of the sub-level with his pistol drawn. Micheal, a member of the Order of Aborshine and trained in close-quarters combat, is perfectly capable of defending himself. After killing four troopers and evading others, Michael stumbles across the entrance to the sub-level’s Restricted Zone. Only the highest ranking Imperial figures and “approved” military personnel were allowed access to said zone. Ironically, Michael himself and his siblings had never been there, with only a vague understanding of what went on inside. He opens the entrance and enters the Restricted Zone, followed by Vallo and several troopers.
Captain Vallo: “Attention all units, the target has entered the Restricted Zone! I repeat, the target has entered the Restricted Zone! Exercise extreme caution!”
Pursuit into the Restricted Zone[]
Automated Warning System: “You have entered the Restricted Zone. The sensitive materials/projects that can be found in this area are only allowed to be accessed by approved military personnel, government officials, and researchers. If you aren’t an approved individual, leave immediately. Failure to comply will result in dire consequences.”
At 10:33 p.m. Michael Aborshine is seen entering the Restricted Zo-
…
Michael shoots the security camera positioned above the entrance and makes a mental note to destroy any other cameras he saw. He knows Vallo and his troopers weren’t far behind, and he wants to slow down his pursuers as much as possible. As he ran through the halls of the Restricted Zone, Michael encounters several researchers/scientists who react in shock and fear at the firstborn son of William Aborshine storming past them. He runs past various testing chambers, research labs, and other facilities all dedicated to a number of top-secret Imperial projects.
After shooting four more troopers and navigating the Restricted Zone for nearly 16 minutes, Michael finds himself in a series of chambers located near the heart of the Zone. While the first two chambers are unassuming, Michael notices something off about the third one. Strange equipment is placed throughout the room and a large screen is placed on the wall. On the screen is…Michael himself, though a different Michael that looks over a decade older, giving a speech in an impossibly-futuristic version of Imperial Center. Michael, very confused, picks up a document left on one of the room’s desks. It reads:
[ PROJECT: VALLANCHOR
PHASE: ALPHA
DESCRIPTION OF EVENT: Michael Aborshine’s State of the Empire speech, February 12, 2035
DATE ACQUIRED: July 10, ██
METHOD OF CAPTURE: ██
STATUS: Complete
ADDITIONAL NOTES/INFORMATION: ██ ]
Michael had never even remotely heard of anything resembling whatever “Project Vallanchor” is supposed to be. The sound of distant footsteps closing in prompts Michael to exit the room and move into the fourth chamber, using some of the strange equipment to barricade the door behind him. In the fourth chamber, Michael discovers another screen showing another event. On the screen is a news report of William Aborshine’s death, but the year is wrong, showing 2049 instead of 2023. Is that how long his father would’ve lived had he not been assassinated? In the background, behind the news reporter, is the same futuristic looking Imperial Center. What’s going on? On a desk is another document. It reads:
[ PROJECT: VALLANCHOR
PHASE: DELTA
DESCRIPTION OF EVENT: The Imperial News Network reports on Emperor Aborshine’s death, March 31, 2049.
METHOD OF CAPTURE: ██
STATUS: Ongoing
ADDITIONAL NOTES/INFORMATION: It happened far sooner than what was displayed ]
RECOVERED: May 2, 2021. METHOD OF CAPTURE: [REDACTED].
Feeling even more confused, Michael leaves the room and finds himself in a hallway leading to the fifth chamber. On the wall was a map of a much larger American Empire, one that, in addition to controlling all of the current Empire’s territory, possessed all of South America, Oceania, and Antarctica. It owned parts of Africa as well. Michael presses forward and opens the door to the fifth chamber.
Inside the fifth chamber, a long table sat in the center of the room with a body bag on top. Micheal cautiously approaches the body and notices yet another document. It reads:
[ PROJECT: VALLANCHOR
PHASE: OMEGA
IDENTIFICATION: ██
METHOD OF CAPTURE: ██
DATE OF DEATH: October 4, 2110
STATUS: Complete
ADDITIONAL NOTES/INFORMATION: It didn’t matter in the end. The next in line fell. ]
Unsure of the exact reason why himself, Michael chooses to open the body bag and view the corpse inside. Though shocked beyond belief, he knows who it is. It looks old, very old, but still recognizable to an extent. He recognizes the face despite the changes old age and death had inflicted upon it. The face’s features, his face’s features. The corpse is Michael Aborshine’s. Just then, a scientist enters the room and gasps upon seeing Michael. Before he can escape, Michael leaps forward and knocks the scientist to the floor. He then proceeds to hold him at gunpoint.
Micheal Aborshine: “You know EXACTLY who I am. Tell me what Project Vallanchor is!”
Culmination[]
The interrogation commences.
Imperial Scientist: “Ok! OK! W-when your father built this p-place, he found something underground. It was a r-r-rift.”
Michael Aborshine: “A rift?”
Imperial Scientist: “Yes! Or a p-portal or something I’m not too sure. Please I haven’t been here that long I-“
Michael moves his pistol closer to the scientist’s head.
Imperial Scientist: “Wait! WAIT! I haven’t been f-filled in on all the d-details yet. All I know is that t-they reverse engineered something that came out of that rift, and now they’ve spent the last few decades interacting with…something. All in the name of some goal I don’t k-know of yet. I became a part of this whole thing very recently. Please, I-“
Michael knocks the scientist out with a single swipe from his pistol. He could hear footsteps closing in and he knew he had to cut the interrogation short. He exits the rooms and into a series of hallways, then passing through a number of other chambers before encountering what appears to be a command center of some kind. He kills several troopers stationed inside before holding another scientist at gunpoint.
Michael Aborshine: “What’s the purpose of Project Vallanchor? What have you been accessing? SPEAK!”
Head Imperial Scientist: “Our g-goal is to-“
Before the scientist could finish, Captain Vallo and his men burst in to the room, firing on both individuals. Aborshine fires back before running in the opposite direction out of the command center, but not before getting his left arm grazed by a bullet. After exiting the command center, Michael finds himself on a series of catwalks within a massive hollowed out chamber. Beneath the catwalks is it. Oval-shaped and glowing various colors while emitting sparks of what appears to be electricity. The rift. The portal. The key to whatever Project Vallanchor’s purpose is.
Lance Corvus: “Congratulations, Michael, for making it this far.”
Michael looks up to a higher catwalk to see Lance Corvus staring down at him. He then looks back to see Vallo and his men emerge from the command center. He’s outnumbered and outgunned with no cover. He won’t be able to make it to the other side of the chamber without being shot in the back. It seems like he really won’t make it out or find out what Project Vallanchor is all about. Micheal looks down at the rift, then up at the smug Corvus, then down at the rift again. He smirks. Rather than give Corvus the satisfaction of killing him, Michael decides that he will find out the secrets that lay within the rift, and by extension Project Vallanchor’s purpose, firsthand. Before Corvus’ men can open fire, Michael quickly leaps over the edge of the catwalk and falls down into the rift, seemingly committing suicide.
As he enters the rift, Michael Aborshine is transported into a void of bright colors and shapes of all kinds. He sees it now. He sees the rise and fall of an American Empire he never knew. One similar yet so different. He views his counterpart’s death. He sees other timelines and other American Empires, rising and falling at different dates. In every instance, the Empire collapses, no matter what. His father had foreseen his own death and the Empire’s end. Surely he had looked into the rift. Micheal then figures out what Project Vallanchor’s purpose is: to find a way to prevent the collapse. To reverse the collapse. The Empire has been accessing other timelines in an attempt to find one where the Empire doesn’t collapse, one where it rules indefinitely and even conquers the world, then replicate said conditions in the main timeline.
Michael then sees it. Something he knows Lance hasn’t. The very thing that would lead to the Empire’s final collapse and end of Project Vallanchor. Michael sees Corvus’ ascension to the throne and subsequent assassination at the hands of the Imperial Intelligence and Enforcement Bureau. Corvus won’t see it coming. If anything, he’ll expect the Council to betray him at some point, but not the IIEB. Michael laughs to himself while still tumbling through the rift. Corvus will die, the Empire will fragment, and the rift will close. He sees the destroyed interior of the Imperial Palace, hundreds of Corvus incarnations getting vaporized in fiery explosions.
Suddenly, Micheal is flung from the rift and onto a patch of grass atop a hill. After taking a moment to gather himself, Michael looks into the distance and sees the skyline of Imperial Center. Thankfully for him he’s still in the main timeline. He knows now how to reverse the collapse: build a new Empire from the ground up. Let the old one fragment and die. Such a simple solution. In the end, a new Empire will be built and Michael will be proclaimed its one true Emperor. The plan begins immediately.