Chp-11: Various Interludes
Chp-11: Various Interludes
Captain Ife Veers
Minda System, Ugean Orbit, Arquitens-Class Command Cruiser Rationale
As the crew rushed about the bridge, communicating orders, coordinating the defense fleet, and all the other things a bridge crew does, Ife immersed herself in the noise. It sounded like success.
She had been devastated when she had been assigned to Minda. After all the hard work and discrimination she had faced, she was tossed into a backwater. Sure, the Empire didn't officially discriminate against women, and to most it is a ridiculous thing, but especially in the higher ranks women are not common, and often kept down by higher officers. Not only that, but interservice rivalries plagued her rise.
All because of her father. Maximilian Veers, now a General in the Imperial Army, had raised her to be a part of the machine. She had joined the Army's Youth program when she was young, but then her mother died. A rare disease caught while on vacation.
It broke her father. He threw himself into his work, and pushed her and her brother further into their programs. While her brother was pushed into the COMPNOR youth program, he also tried to push her further in the Army. At first, she hadn't cared, but then nepotism started happening. Scores that she knew were higher than she scored. Trainees throwing matches. It was insulting
Ife would be damned if she let all her hard work go to waste because her father was a General. So she transferred into the Navy. The only reason she even got in was because an Admiral caught wind and approved the transfer solely for the purpose of spiteing her father.
Once in the Navy, she faced the opposite of nepotism. She was looked down on for being the daughter of a General. The Empire was a competitive place, and those in higher ranks were often closer to politicians than military officers. That meant that there was constant scheming and political power moves both within and between the various branches of the military, and her fathers position made her the perfect target.
Despite all that, she had persevered. She would no matter what, carve out her own future. Prove, to the Empire and to herself, that she could succeed on her own efforts.
Her scores were top ten in her class, she consistently did very well in all her courses and exercises, and in the end she was assigned to Minda. It should have been an honour to be given a Captaincy right out of the Academy, but it was in reality an insult. Captaincy of an outdated clone-wars era Arquitens, in a backwater system, relegated to fighting smugglers and small-time pirates for the rest of her career.
Then the new governor came to power. Reforms started happening. Prospecting, expansion, new ships, and so much more. She had often found Accordia to be a bland city, and rarely left the Gauntletunless necessary, and yet now she actually enjoyed her shore leave. Not only that, but she had been given command of a far more advanced Arquitens-class Command Cruiser, from which she would command a much larger flotilla in the defense of the system.
She even found something in common with that cur Grant! Admittedly, tutoring the governor on starship command and flight wasn't something she thought she would find particularly interesting, but he was very attentive and studious, and it gave her a way to subtly one-up the Commander every now and again. Lesson planning with Kaela was a surprisingly relaxing task, and one of the only times they weren't shooting dirty looks and veiled insults at each other.
Life was finally looking up. Her career seemed to have a way up, after years of being stuck unmoving. If she did well enough, she might get noticed by the sector moff. Command of an ISD didn't look so far off.
Ife looks down at her PDA, scanning over the incoming stream of information. It seems like some smugglers thought they could sneak into Accordia. Not on her watch. She turned to her newest aide, and young girl who had just graduated from the militia academy. Her scores had been top-notch, and the fire in her eyes reminded her of herself.
"Align our movement vector, engage sublight engines, and make ready the ion cannons. I want them alive."
The aide saluted, then repeated the command across the deck. Ife received a collective response in return.
""""Yes Ma'am!""""
Ah. The sweet sound of command.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ebiam Fik
Minda System, Ugea, Shubeon, Roxatory Outskirts
Ebiam fiddled with the controls for a few seconds aiming to line the tracks as easily as possible. Once the computer beeped, he hit the correct sequence and watched the beams attach themselves to the supports.
He was some ten or so kilometers from Roxatory as an employee of the Imperial Construction Agency. He and his team were laying tracks for the new inter/intracontinental rail system.
"Three months," he grumbled. "Three frakking months of this mind-numbing work".
His co-pilot, Arkia, laughed. Her voice was scratchy, as if her throat was lined with sand.
"You complain now, but I've seen your face on payday. Like a kid seeing a sloop race for the first time."
"Well yeah, I love money" he grumbled, "it's just that this track laying is boring as hell"
She nodded. "Can't fault ya there. The worst part is the back and forth. We lay track for a week, then we get transferred back to apartment construction because it takes another two weeks for more track to arrive, then we lay track again. Wish they would just bring it all in one go."
"Same here" he muttered, already aligning the next track while she adjusted the settings and alerted the rail system. "But the budget is split between this, the militia academy, and the farming and apartment expansions. Also, I heard from one of the higher ups that they can't use all the space in the bulk freighters for tracks because then they wouldn't be able to store the fuel they buy for the MSDF."
The track was aligned, the buttons pressed, and another section added. Behind them, they could hear the second repulsorlift crane securing the tracks and ensuring they were functioning.
"Anyway's" Arkia said "How're your kids doing? Heard Hrax got into the MSDF."
A rare smile slid across Ebiam's face. "Heh, yeah. Her scores were so good, she was assigned as an aide to -get this- the Captain of the MSDF's command ship, the Rationale!"
Arkia whistled, a look of surprise etched across her face. "Your baby girl is up there with one of the head honchos? Captain Veers is one of the governor's advisors, right?"
"Not just that, she's in command of the entire MSDF! Hrax is going places I tell ya!"
"She sure is. But… how is Vulo taking it? He's pretty protective, isn't he?"
Ebiam sighed. "Yeah. I love him, I do. But Vulo has always been the overprotective sort. I think that once he realizes she's strong now, he'll be more supportive."
Arkia wiggled her eyebrows, the action causing her bright pink hair to almost sway from her safety cap. "Maybe you need to do something to…get him to loose-ouch! Come on!"
Ebiam retracted his hand, the nose flick of justice completed. "Me and my husband's sex life is perfectly normal and private. Thank you very much."
She whined, an odd sound to pair with her voice. "Fine. At least adopt another welp then. Kept him busy this long, right?"
Chuckling, he responded. "Maybe once JoJo is an adult. And has stopped calling people "Enemy stand users" and throwing rocks at them."
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Garrison Commander Kaela Grant
Minda System, Ugea, Accordia, Imperial Garrison Firing Range
Kaela was happy. Happier than she had been in a long time. Finally! She got a job that let her do what she did best.
The sound barrier shattered as she watched a solid chunk of metal accelerate down the repulsor rails of the weapon. It pierced the durasteel plating at the end, and went through
This beast of a turret was developed as a pet project by some of the R&D people on the side. It used many easy, conventionally sourced materials like the small repulsorlifts that lined the barrels, and leftover durasteel for the projectiles, and had been approved for limited research. While she was sure the governor saw the use in these, the fact was that many projects were being sponsored by him, and the budget as it was, didn't allow for much leeway, though she sorely wished it did.
They were calling it the RSTT-00(Repulsor Slug Thrower Turret ), and upon completion, multiple units would be fitted around key points of the capital as AA weapons, with others being sent to The Bore, as it was the most likely target for pirates not suicidal enough to attack the capital.
Projectiles fired from the RST-01 were shown to be able to pierce up to a quarter meter of durasteel. Not nearly enough to pierce warship armor, nor can it break through most deflector shields. However, the speed of the projectiles fired was faster than any blaster bolt. Combined with its power, it could destroy fighters in one shot. Two, if the deflector shields were strong enough. It could even tear through light freighters in a few shots. This was the perfect defense against pirates, which were the most likely enemy to be faced.
Kaelas excitement cooled, however, when the barrels of the weapon had to be removed. While small sized repulsor lifts could launch the projectiles faster than standard magnetic rail guns could, they both used a great deal of power, and were more delicate, leading to internal damage from overheating and recoil.
As the testing team took over the range, examining the turret for any further damage, Kaela left, having seen enough, and knowing she had paperwork to accomplish. Thankfully, that new terminal system R&D made was great for organization. That, and she had more aides and other number crunchers thanks to the better schooling system. Also meant more work for her, but she knew it would be worth it. At this rate of expansion, it wouldn't be long before she was burning the jungles of Minda 2 and engaging in some slaughter. She heard the beasties over there were particularly vicious, and she wanted to test that. Personally.
—--------------------------
Three hours later saw her in her quarters, gearing up for a private training session with Governor Mola. A month before the Mindan Raid, he had requested for after hours private training. Apparently, his schooling in the Academy had leaned more towards bureaucracy rather than self defense.
It excited her, to be honest. He had no real basis for combat, and so she could shape his fighting style herself. Guide him, with no pre-trained biases holding him back. It was like playing with clay.
Every other trooper she trained had been taught how to fight by Imperial Bootcamp. They, especially the standard Infantry, had been taught how to be effective cannon fodder instead of soldiers. It was pitiful, and both she and the clone teachers under her(who were very effective, and told good stories) spent half their time retraining troops to actually fight effectively.
But with the Governor? She could build him into the perfect killing machine, if only he didn't have all that work to do. So she resigned herself to making him a decent killing machine instead.
The sessions often covered a variety of topics. They started with hand to hand, then went onto blaster training, gear safety, and ended with vehicle handling. Occasionally, Captain Veers volunteered to teach the Governor how to fly. For a career officer, Kaela had been surprised at how skilled Veers was in fighters and other lighter ships. She was then immediately angry at that smug smile Veers would shoot her when the Governor wasn't looking.
Before she could descend into an internal tirade about her sworn enemy officer, her PDA dinged with a notification.
Sighing, she composed herself, picked up her gear(she always kept special made training gear in her quarters) and left for the emptied training center.
If nothing else, this was the highlight of her week.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zyx Mola
Nar Shaddaa
No sound came from the creeping of her feet, or the drawing of her blade.
As Zyx silently prowled through the room, she focused on the target ahead of her. A pantoran, dressed in fine silks, laying in an expensive chair, clearly just having gotten out of his bath..
Readying her blade, Zyx stepped to the side of the bookshelf. Her pitch black bodysuit allowed her to blend in perfectly, but it was really the stealth field generator around her waist that did the heavy lifting.
She pointed her weapon, its thin, almost invisible blade reflecting a mere modicum of light. As soon as the button on the handle was pressed, the blade shot out, extending the remaining distance between her and the pantoran.
Perfectly positioned as she was, the blade nicked the man so lightly he didn't even feel it.
Her current objective accomplished, she backed away, before slinking off into the darkness, heading towards her exit point. As she dodged guards and security cameras alike, not wanting to rely on the generator more than she had to, she marveled at the ingenuity of her plan.
That man, Hlira was a rich weapons dealer, and was here on Nar Shaddaa to meet with one of the Hutts, and negotiate a deal to supply ion and proton torpedoes to the Hutts. The one he was meeting with was Prattu. He was a collector, like many Hutts, and enjoyed collecting rare beasts and animals from across the galaxy.
His most favored pet was a Qakuh, a rare creature found on what can only be called a death world. Said world was under Imperial control, with which he named Cheeskar Killie, which roughly translated to Betrayer Killer. Great pet name, very nice taste in beasts, bad choice for Hlira.
You see, Prattu had trained his pet very well, and liked to scare newcomers by showing it off. If they displeased him, his pet got a little treat. If not, nothing happened. It was a classic.
The very tip of her blade had been covered in miniscule amount of a pheromone produced only by male Qakuh when they were challenging another to a battle for a mate. And considering the incredible sense of smell the creatures have, it was very likely that come tomorrow, when Hlira enters Prattus chambers, Cheeskar Killie is going to have himself a nice little snack.
Leaving the spot of torpedo supplier open. Conveniently, there was another supplier petitioning for the position tomorrow. Who just so happens to be an Imperial Agent.
Make no mistake, the Hutts and the Empire had come to an understanding, and the Hutts were allowed mostly free reign of their space, so long as they didn't frakk things up. But having infiltrators within their ranks was always a benefit to the Empire, so MI had sent Zyx to insure that it all went according to plan.
Arriving back at her hideout, she decloaked and took a breather, before beginning her report. As she typed, she noticed the files she had requested. A series of memos detailing the going ons of the Minda system, where her dear younger brother had been sent off to.
She had read through them all, and was surprised. Las had actually done something good, for once. Minda's economy was increasing, with colonists from nearby systems steadily flowing in, and a stream of resources steadily flowing out.
From what she could tell from the admittedly sparse reports(they weren't going to send an agent out on just her request, after all), he was actually trying to accomplish the goal Mother had set on his shoulders.
Zyx had expected to be tracking him down as he fled by this point, but they were almost seven months in and he was making a legitimate attempt. That… didn't sound like Las. She loved her brother, truly, but she also knew that he was lazy, prone to argument, and jumped from hobby to hobby, leaving one as soon as he had to put in the work to get good.
So for him to be actively working to improve the system was a surprise. Either the threat of service in the army was that bad, or someone was backing him.
Regardless, she had accrued much leave that she never used, and decided that she might as well check in on her little brother, and whoever might be pulling his strings.
Even if there wasn't anyone, it would be fun to poke around the system. Might be something interesting to find.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi there folks. Decided to try a full barrage of alt POVs. Wanted to try and slow things down and take a look at Minda from higher ups and groundlevel folks. I also finally got around to introducing the second sister! Zyx is going to be interesting to write, and will most certainly play quite the role in the story going forward.
Also, I wasn't able to find that much on MI(Military Intelligence) stealth tech, and just went with something basic I found on Wookieepedia. Though the blade Zyx used was an original idea. Meant to be less of a blade and more of a way to apply poison directly onto the skin or into the blood with minimal chance of detection, though it can be used as an incredible deadly whip/sword combo. Not shown here, obviously.
As always, feedback, tips, lore tidbits, and general commentary is appreciated.
Thanks for reading!