Battle of Tatooine

Draneir looked at Admiral Tryo, they were on a holographic call. Before them laid reports from the scouting parties they had sent out in advance of the battle. The Hutt fleet was large, much larger than either of them had expected. Yet the Imperial fleet still outnumbered them. Numerical superiority was always a powerful advantage and both admirals were glad to have it on their side.

"I am worried about these 10 Dreadnoughts," Said Draneir as he looked at the images of the enemy fleet, most of the fleet's ships were a smattering of different corvettes and in that sea of corvettes the menacing image of 10 ships that would be designated as Dreadnoughts. Their capacities were unknown and that was the part that made these two men think hard about what would be the best strategy possible.

"I think we should get out of hyperspace just in front of them, using our numerical advantage and our superiority in destroyers. I am confident we could destroy most of their fleet before they escape. This also will give us the surprise factor"

Draneir's proposal went against most of the Imperial Doctrine, but almost no one followed it, providing mixed results of pure incompetence and pure genius in the field. Yet his proposal was dangerous, if they didn't know the Hutt's strategy and their weapons this battle was doomed to fail if they chose the wrong battle tactic.

"I think it is dangerous to put ourselves in such a situation, where we are forced into a close combat situation. I would prefer to travel at a safe distance from their fleet and see how they react in order to adapt ourselves, if they don't have any secret weapon then we advance at full speed in an X formation?"

"X formation sir?"

"Yes, it is good to keep all the sides of the formation protected while concentrating enough power in the front. I will take all the responsibilities if we do my plan. But I think is the best approach toward an unknown fleet with unknown combat capabilities"

Draneir thought about the strategy for some seconds before using the computer to simulate the situation. In the X formation the Imperial Destroyer would form an X, in the front of that formation would be the three SSDs supported by a big part of the support ships. Yet still, a lot of them would be deployed in the other parts of the X to be able to answer any menace.

"This formation is very slow, which could allow our enemy to escape"

"I think if the enemy runs away it could be considered our victory, due to how Degurechaff's strategy was explained to me, this is a battle where no side can retire, thus if we win this battle due to them running away or through military victory, our objectives would be completed and more importantly we would win the war against the Hutt"

Draneir understood the strategy of Tanya, and he understood that everyone believed in it. He also believed in it. But there was a small problem that no one thought about in his opinion.

"And what if they don't surrender?"

Tryo, an old admiral, raised his eyebrows. He seemed a stern but loving grandfather. If Draneir was told that he visits his grandsons and granddaughters every week he wouldn't doubt it for a second.

"What do you mean 'if they don't surrender?' If they lose the battle of Tatooine both on the planet and in space, they would surrender, it is the tacit agreement both sides have"

Draneir knew people sometimes just believed Tanya, he did it voluntarily but that didn't change that even she sometimes was over-optimistic.

"If they escape with their fleet unharmed then what stops them from returning? This is not about who wins the battle, but who loses most of its military assets in this battle. If we lose our fleet we will lose even if we win the battle, if they lose their fleet even if they win the battle we have won. That's why I am worried, with your tactic we are allowing the Hutts to prepare themselves; to fight us efficiently, or to flee"

The sensation of the sword in Draneir's belt reminded him of how Tanya wanted to deal with incompetence. He would make sure that before making a decision between them, they would take into account every possibility. Not only does this have to be a victory, but a victory on their terms. For what purpose has a victory if they lost most of their navy?

The old admiral started to stroke his beard, he looked with eagle eyes to Draneir, analyzing in his own terms the words that Draneir spoke. The sword hanging on his belt ensured he thought twice about any strategy.

"If they run away, we can reinforce Tatooine and when they try to come back we will attack them when the fleet assembles. The Imperial Army is the greatest army not only in quality but in quantity. Even if they run away, it is our victory, for this time we will prepare ourselves a defense of Tatooine with enough military resources. Also, the clones have pre-fabricated defenses that we will be dropping in Tatooine. Them running is a victory, not the great victory we want, but a victory in the end"

Draneir accommodated himself in the chair, as a way of showing his discomfort.

"How are we supposed to win a war if we don't search for decisive victories"

The old man raised his eyes. This admiral has been in the navy since the Republic era, fighting in the clone wars, fighting the remaining separatists after the declaration of the New Order, and fighting the rebel alliance. He was an experienced man in all things war-related.

"You are still young, but you will learn this, war is not won in decisive victories, war is won by the proper management of the resources you have. You are the right hand of Grand Moff Degurechaff, but contrary to her, you do not seem to be as skillful in the understanding of modern warfare. She created two task forces out of nowhere in a matter of days while the Moff Council took 2 months to build the same fleet. I will take the risk of not archiving a decisive victory with the purpose of avoiding casualties due to our lack of understanding of Hutt's strategies and weapons"

Contrary to the aggressive Draneir, who partly integrated tactics from Tanya. Tryo was a defensive admiral, someone who preferred to never archive decisive victories in the understanding that each soldier saved was a victory, that every spaceship that survived was an economic relief for the High Command.

Draneir wanted to continue defending his position for a more aggressive attack, appearing just in front of them or even in their formation and starting to destroy them with pure firepower. But he was indeed inexperienced. And he knew. He was here because he was Tanya's right hand. Not because he deserved the rank of Grand Admiral. He was no better than any other political commissar.

He was someone who didn't deserve the rank but got it for political reasons…

"If we take the conservative approach, I would like to use this time to properly deploy all our fighters and bombers. In case they surprise us with any of their tactics we could use our superiority in fighters and bombers to reach them before our main fleet does"

Tryon bowed his head a little to answer Draneir. Both men closed the holographic call and silence reigned in their offices.

"I am sorry Degurechaff, but I will not bring you the victory you want '' Draneir spoke the sentence with a mild melancholy. He was sure that the Hutts would escape the moment they saw the Imperial fleet. Making the battle of Tatooine a hellish battle that would last years if they don't act properly.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Max was in the hangars of the Perseverance, in front of him there were five Imperial pilots, and behind him was the propaganda group recording everything and taking photos of the hangar.

The journalists were not used to being able to actually see the military hardware of the Empire. Most of the time they would go to the battles after the battle had concluded. Only being able to take photos of some yet-to-be-removed dead bodies or the results of the battle. Here? They saw everything! TIE bombers, TIE fighters, the new model of droid-fighter! The type of hardware people knew existed through various well-drawn propaganda posters that have been published in the whole galaxy.

The excitement of the journalists was notable, even from far away. The military personnel at the opposite end of the hangar could see it clearly. And instead of ignoring them, they started to pose or move their hands to greet the journalists. This was the journalist's dream.

"Hello, dear pilots!" Shouted Max to the pilots in front of them. Selected personally by the leader of the Imperial Starfighter Corp (ISC) of the Perseverance. They were in the paper, the most loyal soldiers. Not that the ones left away were less loyal. It was just that Max asked specifically for the most sociable nationalists they could find.

"Hello, sir!" Answered the pilots in perfect discipline. But that was not what Max wanted. He wanted soldiers that the civilians could see and say that they were like me. People with hope, family, and feelings; but because of this war they have decided to do the greatest good to protect them. The first rule of propaganda is that the population is stupid and usually will not think about things they don't see. When they hear imperial soldiers dying in the news they probably just think that another of those nameless soldiers without face died. He wouldn't allow that! He had to make every person in the Empire remember that these soldiers had names, and lives, and were here to fight for their security.

"No, no, no. I don't need you all to be military professionals here, take off your helmets. I need you to be humans, smiling and being as honest as possible"

The helmets were rapidly taken off. Max felt uneasy with how easily they accepted orders. He would start questioning why he would be forced to take off his helmet. That's probably why his family never thought to put him in the armed forces. Clearly, he was problematic since he was a child.

Max saw the group again. human faces were everywhere. But he noticed how many of them had scars, and bionics, identifying all of them as veterans. He actually didn't know much about the ISC but this was the moment to make a sincere interview and then take the best shots for propaganda.

"Right, I will be asking some questions. Please answer honestly, there are no good or wrong answers. Only answers that the people will know throughout the galaxy or answers that will get no publicity"

The men nodded, all of them in the end, had never interacted with some propagandist before. This propagandist looked charismatic. The only people they knew who were so charismatic were the ISB officers who acted as political commissars in the past. Feeling both uneasy and calm. The group awaited the questions.

"Why did you join the ISC?" Max asked aloud.

The men waited until someone dared to speak.

"I joined because the rebel scum killed my father in one of their terrorist attacks 10 years ago" Answered the one on the right of all the five. He had a small beard and had instead of normal eyes, two robotics eyeballs that were almost as normal, but had a red iris each.

With a small movement of his hand, Max signaled one of the journalists to take a closer look for that pilot.

"I see, that's a very common thing in the Imperial Armed Forces (IAF). Have most of you lost family to the terrorist attacks of the rebels that now have created this so-called New Republic?"

Most of them agreed with a simple nod. Rebel terrorism had many forms throughout the galaxy, probably not even half the terrorist attacks were related to the rebel alliance. But the old propagandist of the Empire made sure to put all the terrorists under the same banner. Which actually worked pretty well. If you can make all the terrorist cells look like they were Saw Gerrera, no one would have sympathy for them.

"I lost all my family, in a bombing, 5 years ago. That's why I joined the ISC" said another guy, who had a multitude of scars on his face.

Truly, hate was what moved most people. When they lacked any other feeling. Hate would make them arise. When they lose all the motivation to fight. Hate will keep them moving.

But this was propaganda for civilians. He needed something other than hate. He needed a more important thing. Hope.

"I lost a family member to terrorism but I joined before that happened,"

Max signaled another journalist to lock on to this guy. The camera in the eyeballs recording all the interaction. He would personally edit everything and then release it. He will make all of the Empire see the IAF as what they are. Protectors of the Galaxy! Soldiers with names! Lives! Hopes! Dreams! People like them join the IAF to protect the civilians from the menaces of this galaxy!"

"Why did you join then?"

"I wanted to secure the galaxy. I lived on an outer-rim planet. Pirates raided our planet yearly during the Republic. But with the Empire, the planet stopped being attacked by the pirates. Later we discovered that the Imperial Navy (IN) destroyed those pirates for good. When I discovered it I wanted to participate in that. Being someone else there, protecting the peoples' rights to live a peaceful life in this cruel world,"

Max smiled.

"How did you get those scars?"

"Well, you mean the scars you can see or the scars that you can't see?"

The pilots laughed at this comment.

"The TIE fighter is a beast hard to tame, I have broken my neck five or six times, half my organs have been replaced, and cybernetics keep me going, all paid up by the Empire. I fight, fall, get up, and fight again for the Empire. No matter how my body suffers, I keep going. To make a more secure galaxy. Every snub destroyed is another child that will keep its parents, every rebel I kill is more of my compatriots surviving the following battles. The Empire is my home, the IAF my family, the Emperor my hope, and Degurechaff my revenge against the enemies of the Empire''

Max smiled. He knew that with some takes like this he could make the galaxy dance around Tanya's will. First, make them loyal to the Empire. Then say to them that Tanya is the Empire.

A small ringing sound moved his attention rapidly as he took out his holo-communicator and saw who was calling. The Committee for Imperial Reformation (CIR). Accepting the call he saw the leader of the CIR. An old man who lost most of his power in the Senate through several of the Emperor's political campaigns.

Tropoto smiled a little bit at Max.

"A long time,"

The Imperial pilots knew when not to fuck around their superiors so they kept themselves silent. Max's face showed indifference to his old boss and the leader of the reformist movement.

"What do you want?"

The man smiled a little bit.

"Soon, the battle of Tatooine will begin. We want to meet with Tanya Degurechaff the same day it happens so we can finally negotiate the status of the CIR inside her territory"

Max thought about it. Only small encounters where they shared information actually happened in the last weeks. Not much. Some gifts, sharing of ideas. Tanya showed interest in this group. She thought that this group could bring her great benefit. But never elaborated in which way.

Sometimes it was really hard to understand what that girl was thinking… he then remembered the golden eyes he saw the day before the speech.

Clearly, there was something off with Tanya. But it wasn't his job to find out what it actually was. A small laugh almost took him when he thought of an angel and put that image in Tanya. It was… scary.

"I will call Tanya to set the meeting. Good luck, and remember. If you fuck around, with her, you will definitely find out"

With that, the holocall ended. Smiling and moving his attention back to the pilots Max gave a charming smile.

"What about we return to the questioning? I am sure the Empire will love to see you all on the screen!"

Not like he will allow the Imperial Citizens to ignore the propaganda.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Draneir was recalculating the battle every hour on his personal computer. It was hard to guess what would happen if he didn't have the statistics or tactics of the enemy so he tried to play all possible routes. Maybe a more fighter-focused fleet, a more frigate-focused fleet. He might not know what his enemy will be. But he has to try to be able to be ready for any problem he might find.

His holocommunicator started to put out a musical tone. He felt a little bit confused but then he recognized it as the Imperial March. Their military "anthem". He didn't remember he changed the music of his holo-communicator. Taking it from his pocket he saw who was calling and, after recognizing the name, he immediately accepted the call.

In front of him, the hologram of Tanya appeared. She was in her own room, he saw her and, with a little melancholy, noticed the wine bottles open on the table, and the cup in her hand. He knew that her momentary cessation of drinking alcohol wouldn't last long. But he wished she didn't enter that spiral again. Now without him there she might overdo it. He felt it was wrong to leave Tanya's side.

"Tanya, are you okay?"

Calling her Tanya was wrong. But Tanya would never call him as his superior while being drunk. This was not the Grand Moff. This was Tanya Degurechaff, the best person in the galaxy.

"I am… doing well… and you? Is everything alright there?"

Tanya looked cute while drunk. Who would consider that this was -Tanya the Merciless- when she was such an adorable and compassionate person? Right, she might have killed millions of prisoners. But they, in the end, deserved it.

"Yes, I am preparing for the battle with the Hutts. I was doing some simulation to help myself in the future, in case something unexpected happens"

"See! This is what I meant with everything will be fine. When you were so worried about your promotion! It doesn't matter if you got your rank through nepotism. I do some type of bullshit. I call it meritocratic nepotism! I would never give you that rank if I believed you weren't worth it. But most of the captains or higher that I know never use the battle simulations when it's so helpful! Really Draneir. You have to work on your confidence a little bit more!"

Tanya may have been too drunk. She was never like this. Maybe she should visit a psychologist? No… if she visited one it would probably damage her public image. Max, for however much he hated him, had a very good point about making Tanya look as good as possible. And he couldn't imagine how much it would damage Tanya's image if she started to visit a psychologist.

"Thank you for so much trust. I will try not to fail you"

Tanya gave a big smile to Draneir.

"You have never failed me once. I trust you… you are the only one I can trust… Everyone is a possible traitor, everyone I see might want to kill me… I will admit. I haven't made very many friends these last few months. But how am I supposed to do that and at the same time change the galaxy for the better? Tell me Draneir. Am I the wrong one here? All the nationalization? The military expenses, the taxes, the everything"

It was true, at first the armed forces were very loyal to her, but she recently started to put her eyes on them, so now they were more neutral than anything. Counting the truly loyal people in the government could be done with the fingers of one hand. And two of those fingers would go to Draneir and Max.

"No, you are the right one here. The problem is that being right and trying to fix the wrong things means sometimes that you will fight against many people that benefit from the things being wrong"

Tanya laughed a little bit.

"Yes, I guess… it is difficult to fight against an entire corrupt system… fighting the rebels is easier than reforming the Empire…"

Tanya's sad face made Draneir realize that even for how perfect she was. She was the most human of everyone he knew. Maybe she should leave politics and join back in the Imperial Navy. She was far better in that era. And they also had a lot of time together.

"Anyway, I am sorry Draneir, for all this bullshittery. I know I shouldn't be calling you but it is just that I feel like everything is always going downhill and I cannot stop it... talking with you helps me"

Draneir smiled, and searching for something to improve her mood, he remembered Tanya's favorite tactic.

"Did you know, I was planning to use ramming into the battle in case we reach close combat? This beauty can support the ramming actions, you made sure to teach that lesson to me"

Draneir laughed a little bit artificially as he remembered how many times Tanya just decided to use her spaceship as a melee weapon and destroyed enemy ships by splitting them in half. The perseverance's hull was strong enough to even support such a tactic against other SSDs.

Tanya looked surprised at Draneir and then started to laugh loudly.

"Fuck them over! I want at least three good images of how you leave those fuckers!"

Tanya moved her fist up as a way to show how the Perseverance should engage in the ramming tactic against the Hutts.

"I will be sure to do it."

Tanya smiled and continued for some seconds until it slowly faded, and her face fell into its normal position.

"I know it sounds weird. But if you lose, say Midway, if you win say Veni Vidi Vici. I know it sounds strange, but I prefer it this way than you directly saying it to me… I will be in some negotiations with these reformist guys… Max made the meeting. And it will be happening as you fight. So I want to know if you won or lost but without them understanding it… does that make sense?"

"Yes, yes it does,"

He didn't understand why those words in particular. Midway or Veni Vidi Vici. But if she wanted him to use them he would just follow her desire.

"Anything more?"

"Yes, kill them all,"

With that, the hologram disappeared. Draneir could not understand what went through Tanya's head. But he knew she was fucked up. In the same way, he was fucked up. Life was not fair to any of them. And while she was in a better position she has also suffered a lot.

Draneir raised his hand to where his heart should be. The symbol of the rat tattooed against his will. Of a time when he was forced against his will.

"Considering where I am now, can I really pity myself?"

Seeing the simulation of the space battle again. Draneir pushed the -Resume- button, the battle resumed in front of him, calculating how the battle would go. Then he noticed the droid fighters. They really were pretty good and far cheaper than the TIE. And the most important thing. They didn't need a pilot. So if they crashed or were destroyed it didn't mean anything… they were just software on particularly deadly hardware…

Draneir paused the simulation and returned from the start. Writing some new orders he saw how the simulation went. In a matter of a few minutes, most of the enemy Dreadnoughts were considered effectively destroyed.

"How didn't I think about this before?"

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tanya examined the delegation in front of her, it was the CIR, the reformist party whose existence dates from the time of the Senate. But then they went into hiding once the Senate was dissolved. As shocking as it was for the Core and the elites of the Empire. For Tanya, it was something that just happened and she ignored it. Of course, she understood the political relevance of a millennia era of institutions just disappearing and how everyone felt that it was the moment when the Empire became totalitarian.

But it's not like she cared. For her, every senator could be dead and that wouldn't have changed her life, her decisions, or her situation right now. She didn't care about them, because they, in the past, were part of the Senate.

But because this could be the support she was searching for.

Veteran bureaucrats, political experts and loyal reformists. She might not like them or care about them. But she couldn't advance more in her idea of a reformed Empire without people backing her.

This just seemed like the right opportunity at the right moment.

If she won on Tatooine and gained the loyalty of these reformists, she could start her civil reform of the Empire. Take out all the imperial bureaus. Reform it into proper ministries with a proper civil administration outside of the old ways of the Empire. Create a bureaucracy loyal to her and to her style of thinking.

Of course, she couldn't just hope that they would follow her without receiving anything back. And as this man, leader of the CIR, stood up, she couldn't wait for him to start giving her the political bullshit all the politicians like to give. And as if she was given providence. The following sentences were just political bullshit.

"I am pleased to meet you, I hear many names for you, Tanya the Merciless, Tanya the Crazy, Tanya the Hedonist. But these usually came from the so-called True Imperials and Rebels of the New Republic. The people have another name for you. Tanya the Restorer, the reason the Empire was created was for the people. To bring order to a galaxy without control, to bring stability to a galaxy without hope, to bring security and peace to a galaxy in war. But that dream failed when the Emperor died six months ago… since then the only person in the galaxy that has restored those ideals is you and the people appreciate that. And it is for that reason that I come here to you. To reform this Empire to greatness in cooperation with you. The most successful Moff in our short history"

Tanya felt the temptation to tell him to fuck off, to laugh at him and keep her path alone. But she was, in fact, for much she didn't like to admit. Fucked up. And soon someone would try to kill her. The rebels, the true imperials… or the troops and administration that is in theory loyal to her. She needed a system behind her. She needed to create a political party and an establishment that would support her.

"Knowing that I am loved by the people is definitely a pleasure. But you didn't come here for what they called me in the streets, but for my power. As you said, I am the most successful Moff in our history. And you are here because of that. Economic security as I am stabilizing the economy in the sector, military supremacy as I am the one that has defeated the New Republic in my territory, and reformism, as I am called the Reformist for a reason. But I believe you are mistaken about something. If you believe I am a pitiful person who needs your help to improve the galaxy, you are mistaken. You actually give me nothing of value so far as I know. So tell me. Why do I have to accept this meeting and why do you consider our union beneficial?"

Tropoto, as leader of the CIR, felt that Tanya was testing him, playing with him in a discussion that would define how the CIR and Tanya would work together. He not only had to put the value of the CIR on the table, but also secure a position of power to the CIR.

Honestly, he hated her, the idea of the military being in power sickened him. The military had to only stay in military matters, and the civilian government in civilian matters. But it was not like the CIR could survive without a big Moff's support, and she was the only active reformist who opposed the Central government. So for as much as he hated the military controlling the government, he had to just accept it.

"The CIR is led by ex-senate members who are highly respected politicians and bureaucrats. We have ruled throughout this galaxy for years and we know how to establish galactic-wide organizations, without even counting on contacts and our political alliances like our close relationship with the Kuat Drive Yards between millions of galactic-wide companies both in the civilian sector and military sector. Our numbers also include billions of bureaucrats, investors, and military men and women. They would declare their immediate loyalty to you in case we exit this meeting room with an alliance and cooperation established"

While Tropoto and Tanya were the two main figures talking in this meeting. From both sides, there were extra personnel. On Tropotos' side an alien, a semi-human, and two humans were observing the exchange, showing clear worry.

On Tanya's side, there was the leader of the Army and the Navy, together with four Death Troopers.

Tanya's delegation was less diplomatic, but that didn't mean anything to Tropoto. He survived the Empire purges, and he wasn't going to be scared by those fancy-looking military men who were only there to show off.

"The military can ensure the rightful cooperation of the administrative branches of my sector. While it is undoubted that your cooperation would help a lot to the sector, you overestimate the value of your so-called loyalty"

Cassio Tagge glared intensely at the ex-senators. He had the sword in his belt under this new order of Degurechaff and he felt like the so-expected loyalty that Degurechaff had was maybe a little bit misleading. More if she kept doing this type of action. But it was not his job to humiliate Degurechaff in front of anyone.

He wouldn't dare to try to humiliate her. That would be a death sentence.

"The army at the moment is expanding in great numbers and we can start to set up garrisons in any type of civilian bureaucracy in case of necessity. The loyalty of the bureaucratic apparatus is not something that we actually require" Said Cassio, as a way to support Degurechaffs argument.

The truth was, that he was a supporter of the CIR. But Degurechaff had prepared this "scripted conversation" for hours, where they would be playing a "ping pong game" where both sides would slowly show all their cards and from there start the actual negotiations.

"The army can enforce submission, but not loyalty. Point a gun at a bureaucrat and he might not denounce when he finds irregularities, gain their support and you will slowly create an establishment where the Empire can become the foundation from which you can enforce your will."

"Who has said anything about ruling the Empire? Tanya is just the Grand Moff of a Super Sector '' Interfered the head of the IN, Garrik Trier.

A rather comical smile appeared on the mouths of everyone present, even Tanya laughed a little bit.

"Considering how incompetent the central government is, I don't doubt that this sector will become what is left of the Empire," Said Tropoto as a way to save the situation, he knew the people in front of them didn't care about his theoretical mistake. But he had to keep the appearances up.

"That's a rather sad thought for our future. But I would be lying if I didn't think the same way" Answered Tanya. "But answer me, you give me all this in theory, but what do you want in specific? Is not like I can just you know… restore the Senate on Coruscant"

The reformists were pro-senate. Which means they searched for something similar to a constitutional monarchy in opposition to an absolutist monarchy. This made them highly unpopular among the most monarchist supporters, but highly popular with the most moderate people and old guard from the Republic era.

"The political goals of the CIR are clear as the sky of this planet. Restore the Senate or an institution similar to it, reform the Empire, and find a new Emperor to take the leadership of the Empire. But this dream came to be destroyed when the True Imperials started to hunt us. What we ask is for you to join the CIR, restore the senate at least in your territory, implement civil reforms, and compromise to a coordinated line of action in change for our absolute support"

Tanya raised her eyebrows, the real negotiations will start here… Looking at the hour she realized that in a mere minute, the battle of Tatooine would start.

"I can create… a personal Senate for the CIR, in my territory, that would become the legislative branch of the Empire. In exchange, not only would I require the complete loyalty of the CIR, but also the leadership of the CIR."

"Are you referring to joining the CIR?" Asked Tropoto. As if he didn't ask seconds ago for her to join the CIR.

"Exactly, I would join your political formation and I would become its indisputable leader, you would be vice-president of the CIR and to any big decision of the CIR both of us should agree. But when related to my supersector, we might discuss, we might argue, we might make compromises. But I have absolute power. My reforms will not be crippled and stopped because the CIR doesn't share my vision"

"You are giving too little, for how much we are giving you"

Tanya put a small smile, this will require a lot of discussion. But in the end, in her past life, she was HR manager, if she was good at something. It was in winning discussions with people. It didn't matter, her subordinates, her bosses, employees that had to be fired. She never lost a discussion, argument, or a negotiation.

------------

An hour has passed since the negotiations began, the discussion went hard, and at some point, it almost escalated to violence. But finally, they agreed on something.

A one-system party with the CIR at its head.

Tanya would become the leader of the CIR

The CIR has the right to veto Tanya's reforms that she doesn't declare "Of utmost importance"

Tanya would create a constitution with the CIR for the Supersector

A representative of the CIR (Not Tanya) had to be in every state-relevant meeting

The Military would be banned from any political decision

All economic and Social ministries that would be created in the future would be given to CIR members, and Tanya could appoint anyone she desired.

The Judicial Power would remain independent.

It was, among many other things, what was discussed and agreed on. It really was a tiring conversation for both sides, but at least it didn't take days like other negotiations sometimes took.

Suddenly, a hologram appeared on the table. It was Draneir in his Grand Admirals uniform. Tanya gulped for a second and waited for what he had to say. The negotiations could be completely useless if he said that he lost, but the negotiations could be a little bit more in her favor if he said that they won.

"Post Battle Report…"

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Draneir kept his gaze straight, they were mere seconds from entering into real space. These last years had been a complete disaster for the Empire, and they were about to end this. Not only by following Tanya's victories but by showing that Tanya is not the only one who can achieve victories. This is the most important thing and Tanya made sure he knew it.

She is going to rule the Empire, she can't be in every battle, she can't be controlling all the communications. The Empire's military had to work without her at the head because the galaxy was simply too big for her to be everywhere at the same time.

If they win here, it will mean that Tanya will trust at least a little bit more in the navy, if they won here the Hutts would probably retire from the Supersector, if they won here maybe he wasn't the scum he always believed himself to be.

Draneir adjusted his Grand Admiral's uniform with fear.

He was and always will be scum, he doesn't have the inherited nobility of Tanya, he doesn't have the pride of being a career officer, and he doesn't have the right to be here.

He escalated through ranks with trickery, he was poor, and he didn't have other options if he wanted a better future.

And now, ironically, instead of having a better future, he is fighting to create one.

The shouting of the Bridge Staff took Draneir's thoughts outside of himself. It was no moment to think about him, but time to win this battle.

"We are leaving hyperspace! TIE fighters ready to be deployed, TIE bombers ready to be deployed!"

Draneir was second in command, but that didn't mean he didn't have a job to do in this battle. While the admiral had to give all the orders, Draneir had to be sure that they were communicated and followed.

The blue space of Hyperspace faded away as they entered real space, the millions of stars illuminating the dark galaxy, the two suns of Tatooine, and the desert planet of Tatooine welcomed him.

"BATTLE STATIONS, GRAND MOFF DEGURECHAFF EXPECTS A VICTORY TODAY AND WE ARE GOING TO BRING IT!" Shouted Draneir.

The alarms of battle started to sound throughout all the Imperial ships.

The Imperial X formation advanced toward the planet, an impenetrable formation that didn't matter from where it was attacked; it had enough power to repel any attack. That it was slow was only the price to pay in exchange for the security.

It was soon that the Hutt formation could be seen, they were in a simple line, but this line was scarring, they were reinforced and now had 20 ships that seemed dreadnoughts, and the sensors detected over 200 support ships, while the Empire did not know the firepower of the Hutt spaceships it seemed like it favored the enemy.

The menacing swarm of fighters, support ships and ISD advanced following the three SSDs leading the formation, behind this formation was the clone fleet that, due to coordination problems, couldn't be integrated into the formation.

Admiral Tryo looked with wizened eyes to the Hutt fleet as the SSD advanced, he felt that something was wrong, while the Imperial fleet was moving; the Hutt weren't moving, staying in combat formation. Were they waiting for the Imperials to attack them? But that would be stupid, when a battle is started and the enemy has starfighter supremacy, you have to get closer to the enemy so they cannot use their fighter supremacy.

Was this a trap for his fleet, or for his starfighters?

"Admiral Tryo to all the ships, I do not permit to send the starfighters to the battle, keep the formation tight, I suspect an ambush"

The air was tense in all the ships as the communications were adjusted in Draneir's ship in order to properly communicate in time.

"There is an accumulation of energy in the Hutt's Dreadnoughts!"

Tryor moved his head to see the staffman who communicated that, looking down at the man he saw that he was in charge of information analysis.

"They are preparing the shields?"

"I don't know what it is Sir, just that they are accumulating a lot and it is constantly increasing"

Tryor turned his judging gaze to the rest of the staff of the bridge, to see if anyone had any answer; going into a battle with zero knowledge of what your enemy had was madness, but the situation didn't allow for another option.

"Should we move all the energy to the shields?" asked the staff in charge of handling the shields of the spaceship.

"Yes, it will be for the best, for now, divert all energy possible to the shields"

They should be fine, according to what Tryo knew no weapon could shoot to such distances aside from the Death Star. The distance between the Hutt fleet and the Imperial fleet was simply too big to shoot anything.

"The accumulation has surpassed any metric that we have registered so far!"

Tyro moved closer to the window and saw from it the two suns, the planet, and something so far away that he couldn't see what it was. But the sensors said to him that it was the Hutt fleet.

"The Hutts have a technology unknown to us… prepare for-"

"Incoming fire!" Shouted the man of information analysis. "30 seconds for impact! They are aiming at all of us!"

Tryo saw how 20 beams of something green appeared from the hutt formation, rapidly approaching his spaceship. Then he realized his mistake. The X formation was weak against long-range attacks. The Hutts have specialized their space battle doctrine to long-range battles.

He just doomed the entire battle.

"Admiral Tryo here to all the Imperial vessels. Break down the X formation and disperse into high-mobile groups. To all the Clone vessels, enter hyperspace and come back when I or another officer gives you permission."

In mere seconds, as the beams approached, the entire fleet started to disperse itself. The helmsman of the Assertor did all he could do to try to move the Assertor away from the laser beams. All the lateral and inferior engines at full power trying to move upright the ship. But the assertor was not an agile spaceship. It was too heavy to dodge this type of attack. And as the helmsman tried his best. Tryo cleaned his uniform as he could, watching how one of the laser beams was going to hit directly at the bridge.

"Grand Admiral Draneir, I wish you good luck."

Two seconds passed and the main bridge of the assertor was completely obliterated. The shields at maximum power couldn't defend the assertor bridge from destruction. At the Bellator right to the Assertor, Draneir saw how the most powerful spaceship they had was disabled by several hits.

The adrenaline rushing through his veins and the complete mess of the communications felt like time stopped for Draneir. The Empire had a deficiency, when the main admiral or leader of a battle died, the rest of the navy retreated in low morale and organization. Was this going to happen to this fleet? Was this going to be Tanya's first defeat? When he was Grand Admiral? When he was now dealing with this battle?

Was he going to be so fucking ungrateful as to fucking allow this?

"Grand Admiral Draneir to all the Imperial Vessels! I am taking on the leadership of this fleet and we will continue the mission. Keep dispersing and I want full speed toward the Hutt formation. I want all the TIE fighters and Bombers to attack the Hutt fleet NOW!"

Was he destroying the entirety of his own aerial force? Maybe, but it was the only thing he could do. He had to trust each spaceship TIE coordinator and each pilot to make the right decisions in the attack on the Hutt fleet.

"I want direct communications with the Vaders Wrath!"

In mere seconds, a hologram appeared of the captain of the spaceship.

"Captain Uril in Secondary Bridge." Answered the man as he saluted Draneir.

"Your spaceship does not have the capacity to dodge the enemy's long-range attacks. I order you to retreat to hyperspace"

"Understood sir" Answered the old man, saluting the military again. The hologram disappeared and the Vader's Wrath started to leave the battle.

"Information analysis! I want you to count how many seconds pass from the first shot they fire to the next one!"

"Understood sir!"

Draneir acted as he could, repeating what Tanya did in desperate situations. The Tri-Fighters could not be used until they were closer. That was the downside of the droid fighters, if they left the area of control of their home spaceship they would go rogue.

He could only wait and hope for the TIE fighters and bombers to do as much damage as possible while they were still approaching.

"Sir, the clone auxiliary fleet has effectively entered hyperspace"

One could say many things about the clones, but they followed orders. He would prefer leading 100 idiots who followed orders than 100 geniuses who couldn't follow a basic order.

Draneir turned around and turned to the woman who was the Captain of the ship. She was one of his old, in theory, friends.

"From now on take command of this ship. I am going to try to reorganize the fleet"

Walking off from the bridge, he saw how the Perseverance staff was just used to this type of dead or victory situation. Tanya always screamed victory or death in each battle. Even the most cowardly of the staff of this spaceship learned courage after one year of serving with her. But could he do that? He was standing on her shoulders. He couldn't teach anyone courage.

He was just a useless person.

Taking out his own thoughts, he finally approached the central room of the bridge. He pressed some buttons and the imperial formation so far appeared in front of him. The fleet had low morale, but the coordination was still effective. Calculating the distance in half an hour they should be in combat distance with the Hutt fleet. That was too much time, they would be lucky if they could not shoot again until they were in combat distance.

"Here Grand Admiral Draneir to every officer. We are entering in V formation into battle, ISD and support ships, take the flanks of the Bellators and prepare for new orders"

He was fucked up, and all the battle was. He slammed a blow to the table in frustration. Tanya always raised the mood of the troop with high-motivation speeches. But he couldn't do something like that. You needed talent to motivate your troops.

The only thing he could do for now, was to try to keep the fleet joining. Things couldn't get any worse.

"The Hutt dreadnoughts are accumulating energy again!" someone shouted.

Draneir remembered how Tanya always talked about someone called Murphy. He felt that he should insult him, but he knew he couldn't afford to waste time. Returning to the bridge Draneir saw all the staff working as hard as they could.

"Has Vader's Wrath evacuated yet?" He asked the Captain, the black-haired girl shook her head.

"Sir, they are still preparing for it, they will enter hyperspace in a minute"

Draneir felt relieved, it was 30 seconds until impact, without counting the seconds needed to prepare the weapons. But that meant that they probably would aim at him or the other Bellator.

Slowly counting the seconds in his head, as the formation was going at full speed and forming a V. Draneir then saw the 20 beams appearing again.

"They will Impact the Vader's Wrath!"

Instead of trying to harm all the SSD they were aiming to destroy the Assertor. They were probably thinking in the long term, or they were greedy enough to risk the battle to take down the Vader's Wrath.

"15, 16, 17"

Draneir counted the seconds.

"24, 25, 26"

The Assertor was going to be destroyed and nothing could be done, the laser beams passed near the Perseverance.

"29"

The moment he said that number, the Assertor entered Hyperspace, disappearing from sight and the laser beams failed to take it down.

Draneir almost fell to the ground, he thought for a second they were going to lose the Assertor, the loss of an SSD was disastrous for Tanya's military might.

"Thanks to Degurechaff" He said in a huff before focusing on the battle again. Such long-range shots require pinpoint accuracy.

"I want the Inertial Dampeners at maximum energy now! Perseverance and Negotiator will begin to randomly deteriorate. The priority is to dodge enemy attacks while the main combat force approaches the fight!"

"Yes, Grand Admiral!" was shouted both over comms and on the bridge.

If they specialized in long range combat it would require very precise calculations done by computer to even accurately shoot. If his SSDs could become impossible to track and predict where it would be in the next few minutes. The possibilities of survival greatly increased.

"If the Hutts want to take down Tanya Degurechaff's SSDs, then they'll have to pray to their god. Because I'm not going to let them get any damn shots off!"

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TIE fighters and bombers arrived at the close combat. Prioritizing shooting down the Dreadnought, the bombers attempted to shoot the torpedoes. However anti-aircraft fire from the support ships and the dreadnought itself forced many to retreat before they could even hit the spaceships.

Hutt fighters emerged from the Dreadnoughts, attempting to counter the Empire's air superiority, however, it quickly turned into a massacre for them. The Imperial fighters were faster, more agile, had more firepower, and more importantly.

Every pilot was an equivalent to an ace due to the harsh Imperial training.

Tioret, an Imperial pilot who had been trained from the age of 18 to be the best of the best, saw five enemy fighters behind him. He had never seen such a model in his life. Yet he was an Empire pilot. He had only two choices. Victory or death.

Forcing the fighter to slow down drastically and feeling the G-force destroying his body, he quickly brought his interceptor to a halt as the enemy fighters flew past him avoiding hitting the interceptor.

"IT NEVER FAILS!" he shouted with an unhinged laugh as he increased speed again, firing at the fighters that tried to shoot him down, within seconds one was downed and the remaining four scattered to avoid allowing Tioret the ability to kill them all. However, two of the scattered fighters were quickly shot down by two TIE-Figthers.

Turning almost 90 degrees, Tioret changed course and flew quickly through the enemy support ships. Anti-aircraft fire grazed his ship, but his ship was too fast for the disorganized anti-aircraft fire to bring it down. In a matter of ten seconds, he managed to get back behind one of the fighters, knocking it down and causing it to crash into a support ship.

"Grand Admiral's orders. Shoot down the Dreadnoughts ASAP."

Tioret changed course and looked closely and carefully at the enemy dreadnoughts. They were rectangular and elongated, with the bridge integrated into the structure instead of overhanging as was the Empire's tradition. They also had several turbo laser cannons on the sides, at the front having a mega-cannon which was probably what brought down the Assertor.

Tioret attempted to fire at the small laser turrets on the side of the dreadnought, however the shield stopped the shots. Taking a quick glance at the bombers, it didn't take long to realize that the bombers were not going to decide the course of this battle. There was too much flak.

Tioret circled the Dreadnought from behind, trying to make a second pass to destroy as many anti-aircraft guns as he could. As he watched the 20 giant lasers were fired again. Zooming in on a small screen, he saw the Bellator at which those shots seemed to be aimed.

"What… the... fuck?"

As if it were a starfighter instead of an SSD, the Bellator lifted its nose and began to lower its altitude as it circled. They were going too fast, too agile. So this is the fearsome agility of a Bellator? It was fascinating.

Concentrating again on the battle after his small distraction of less than a second. Tioret shot as many anti-aircraft guns as he could. But the shields protected him.

"Damn it."

--------

Captain Kir watched in awe as the Bellator to his left nimbly and impressively dodged the 20 shots. The Perseverance had survived the attack. Hope was partially restored within him.

"How many minutes to combat range!" shouted the Captain to the bridge staff.

"Fifteen minutes sir."

The Captain felt impatient as he watched the two Bellators move as if a drunk was driving them. To survive the long-range attacks moving like this was necessary, however, he would end up losing efficiency the closer they got.

"How much G-force is the crew of the Perseverance subjected to?

"1000 G-force, the Inertial Dampeners are at their limit, if they fail at any time the entire crew will die instantly. And that's not to mention that the Perseverance's gravitational engine is overheating excessively."

The Grand Admiral had turned the two SSDs into galactic-sized blender to ensure their survival in this battle…

"May the force be with them" He said quickly as he looked forward again, most of the bombers had already returned after taking a lot of damage without doing any significant damage. Air superiority had not been the advantage they had hoped for.

"We're in range to use the Tri-fighters!" shouted the starfighter controller.

"Send in the Tri-Figthers. Follow the Grand Admiral's plan!"

The Grand Admiral was mad, yet his strategies at least seemed to make sense.

Where did he read it? And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music. Was this Grand Admiral crazy? Or was he simply able to improvise with such efficiency that it seemed to be madness.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tioret was suffering from the G-force as he outmaneuvered many enemy fighters. They kept coming out and although they were bad they were persistent. Tioret gritted his teeth as hard as he could as he felt his neck break a little bit. This was the suffering of being the elite of the elite. Soon he would need implants to keep fighting.

That was if he didn't die today.

Releasing the controls his interceptor began to spin out of control, leaving behind the fighters that were harassing him and causing him to feel the blood drain from his nose.

"I got you motherfuckers!"

Taking control of the interceptor again, Tioret stabilized the interceptor and began firing behind the enemy fighters, taking them down easily with accurate shots.

"Long live the Empire motherfuckers!"

Raising the nose of the interceptor and stepping out of the combat zone to get a breather Tioret looked behind him, most of the bombers had withdrawn and only the fighters were left doing sustained damage to the enemy fleet as they waited for the main fleet to arrive.

"Incoming allies," said a woman's voice. Tioret looked at his integrated radar and saw lines of hundreds of droid ships approaching. While they were very good at fighter combat. Tioret doubted they would do any good. Although fresh reinforcements never hurt but now that he thought about it.

Why were they moving in lines?

Maneuvering to get back to the battlefield after taking a breather. Tioret put on top speed and watched as the ships grew in size the closer he got and soon saw the Tri-Figthers up close.

"Are those... bombs?"

Each Tri-Fighter had 10 bombs attached to them.

In less than 10 seconds the first Tri-Figther hit a dreadnought, exploding but not dropping the shield. However, there were hundreds of them. Like a horde of man-eating insects, the Tri-Figthers began to crash steadily into the Dreadnought.

"The enemy's shields are down! To all starfighters, ATTACK!" shouted command.

The Dreadnoughts even after giving up their shields were constantly harassed by explosions, on the command bridge, in the turbo lasers, and on their main frontal weapon.

"Avenge our Emperor!" shouted one pilot, breaking the communications rule, but no one cared. Like a second horde of man-eating insects, TIEs of all types swooped down on the enemy Dreadnoughts.

"Long live the Empire! Long live Degurechaff!' shouted Tioret in the excitement of the moment with open comms. This war cry is repeated by all the pilots. Forming a bloodcurdling war cry.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Draneir walked slowly across the bridge, seeing the entire enemy fleet destroyed in front of him, the Dreadnoughts destroyed after using all his Tri-Fighters as high-velocity bombs. Once the ISDs were allowed to work and were close to the enemy, in mere minutes the remaining space ships were neutralized. With very few escaping.

Draneir ran his hand over his chin. The TIE bomber was no longer effective for the modern requirements of space combat. They needed to update their starfighter fleet, not only the fighters, the bombers, everything. Only the interceptor was good enough to stay in service.

The captain of the Perseverance approached him from behind slowly.

"Grand Admiral."

"Yes?"' asked Draneir, turning around.

"We've all come close to dying, the Inertial Compensator would have broken down if we'd stayed a few minutes longer in the dodging maneuver."

Draneir just nodded and turned around again.

"Get the insertion Teams ready, we'll board the bastards. Also, inform the clones that they can come now, we have won the battle."

Turning on his personal holo-communicator. Draneir called out to Tanya, her hologram appearing for a second.

"Post battle report. Veni, vidi, vici."

Tanya just smiled, and closed the call. Draneir let a small tear slowly fall from his eyes. He has failed her. He brought her victory, but victory was expected. Yet he managed to almost lose an Assertor, he managed to lose a quarter of their bomber fleet, if the battle was some minutes longer all the crew of the Bellator would have died…

Tanya knew victory would come. He was sure of that. So he couldn't make himself feel happy with winning this battle. Because even if he won. He did not do it in the right terms.

He was… just a failure… A Coruscant Rat…

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Max followed closely behind the stormtrooper in front of him as the cameraman recorded the assault on the Hutts' main ship, where the enemy admiral was. He had a hard time convincing Draneir, but in exchange for a promise to be a little less of an asshole, he got his permission.

"Record everything, if you miss a relevant scene I'll personally shoot you,"' Max said, as he grabbed the cameraman by the head, guiding his head to show him what to record.

Inside the ship, it was like any other spaceship, narrow, and clean, with enough lights but insufficient at the same time. It didn't change much.

"'We surrender!" someone shouted. The stormtroopers stopped advancing and pointed to the front. Max forced the cameraman to expose himself more so he could film the scene. It was the first contact since they had entered the ship.

"Identify yourselves!" shouted the Stormtrooper known as Captain Red. He had red and blue painted on his armor. Unlike the rest of his company who had only blue painted on. Max was told it was a traditional thing. He was amused but he understood it. Tradition was more powerful than many weapons.

"Slave Captain 0893194" shouted the manly voice, as he stepped out. He had his hands raised and a pistol in his right hand.

"Drop the gun!"

Quickly, following his orders the slave dropped his pistol.

'Is there anyone else with you?'

'Yes!' shouted the slave "The garrison of 1000 slaves. We surrender!"

An awkward silence took place, Max noticed how the Stormtroopers seemed to be talking to each other however he heard nothing. Was this the famous private conversation the helmets were having? Sound suppressors and internal communications. The best way to keep conversations secret. It made sense.

"We accept your surrender, lead your troops to hangar 01, where a detachment of Navy Troopers will be waiting for you."

The Captain began to walk towards them with his hands in the air, behind him came more trooper-slaves who began to drop their weapons as they came out of cover. There seemed to be a hangar in front of them, which is where so many people were coming from. It didn't matter who the slave was, human or alien. They were all in rags, all had been carrying weapons that were considered rubbish, and all looked malnourished and battered. The cameraman took this moment of almost deathly silence to record the faces of each of the slaves. Despair and terror in them as they surrendered.

Max was already salivating at the thought of being able to use these images.

Two hours later, the raid operation began again. From what little Max heard on the comms. The slaves had mutinied and refused to continue fighting on all the spaceships being boarded. Surrendering en masse. Draneir had issued a public warning that any execution or mistreatment of the slaves would be punishable by death.

However, Max doubted that such a threat was needed. In the two-hour lull in the operation, the Stormtroopers seemed quite horrified by what they had seen.

"Remember soldiers, you are on the right side of history!" shouted Max, as the soldiers advanced. The advance stopped completely and some Stormtroopers looked at Max.

"We were always on the right side of history," replied the company leader. "Come on, let's move forward!"

The formation began to move, soon reaching the empty hangar, moving from cover to cover. Each platoon of Stormtroopers soon reached the end of the hangar. Large doors stood in their way. They blew them up with explosives and as the doors came down the platoons began to move in. It was a magnificent sight. Hundreds of meters of fancy folders, gold, diamonds, all kinds of precious minerals. Great trophies on every wall.

The lack of defense by elite troops made the Stormtroopers paranoid. They slowly made their way through the room until they came to something resembling a throne. There, a fat Hutt surrounded by slaves serving him gazed contemplatively at the Stormtroopers.

"Slaves are so useless," he said as if he had expected this. "I surrender."

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Draneir looked ahead of him at the green space slug. The slaves around him were serving him alcohol and food. The trophies and decorations in the room implied great wealth. He also noticed ancient and modern weapons on small shelves.

"Well, since I have surrendered, I would like to negotiate how I will be treated until I am returned to the Hutt."

As the slug spoke, Draneir walked over to one of the shelves, looking over each weapon until he picked one of interest to him. He began to look at how it worked, and when he pressed a button a laser came out and stood still.

"O, Grand Admiral, you have a great eye, that is one of my most prized possessions, a lightsaber from a Jedi who died for meddling in matters that were none of his business. I can give it to you as a token of good faith from admiral to admiral."

Draneir brandished it a little and approached the Hutt.

"Please continue, I'm sorry to interrupt you"

The Hutt laughed and had a slave bring him a huge piece of meat, which he consumed in one bite.

"I want to settle at the Erma Hotel. I've heard it's one of the best hotels for allergens in Eriadu, I also want a guarantee that crazy Degurechaff won't turn me into soap like she did with our diplomatic envoy. I can give you a lot of credits just for guaranteeing me that, then... I can make you even richer for every extra help you give me while I'm a prisoner."

Behind him, about ten meters away, was the first company of the 501st who looked on in disgust as the conversation unfolded. Max however was silent, recording everything, or rather forcing the cameraman to record everything.

"I think there's been a misunderstanding here, Admiral... what's your name?"

The Hutt looked with a surprised face at Draneir.

'Aarrba, I am Admiral Aarrba.'

"Right, so the misunderstanding, Admiral Aarrba. Is that if the Grand Moff Degurechaff sends me, it's not to negotiate. It is to kill."

With a flick of the laser sword, he cut off Admiral Hutt's head, the laser sword slicing through the fat of his body like a hot knife cutting through butter. The Hutt's head slowly slid to the ground.

"No one who insults Degurechaff in my presence can think he will maintain his right to live," he said, as he turned off the lightsaber and put it in his pocket. After a few seconds of tension, he turned to the Captain of First Company.

"Free all slaves, and prepare to transport these ships to Eriadu. I will soon travel to the planet to ensure that the Hutt forces on the planet are destroyed."

"At your command Grand Admiral Draneir" He said, giving a military salute.

The first company moved the slaves from the room outside, leaving only Max, Draneir, and the cameraman. However, this was short-lived as Max waved his hand at the cameraman to leave.

As he left, both men looked at each other.

"You know, I like you," Max said to Draneir.

"The feeling is not mutual," Draneir replied, to which Max could only let out a big laugh.

"I could make you the greatest hero of the Empire. I have the power of propaganda on my side. In the next few weeks, I will change the galaxy forever. Do you want to be a hero?"

"I don't deserve to be one" answered Draneir, as he closed as he squinted his eyes.

Max smiled slightly. He was a propagandist, but that was not the only thing he was. He was another player in this eternal fight for survival and climbing ladders.

"You know, I have studied your past a little. There were some rumors that you… used your expertise in some matters to ensure enough money to survive and to enter the Imperial Academy of Coruscant"

Draneir slowly walked to Max, taking each step in silence while Max just smiled, watching him.

"Information is power, my dear Draneir, I have contacts in Coruscant, I can make your dark past of being a Coruscant Rat and later a male prostitute disappear to ensure you never find yourself with any problem. I really wonder, did being a child sex slave teach you enough to ensure your future in the Imperial Navy?"

Draneir approached Max enough to be face to face. Max was shorter than Draneir and he had to look up to him.

"Oh… you seem angry"

Draneir used his strong arm to take Max's neck and raise him. Max tried with all his force to abandon the grip that Draneir had over his neck. But he never succeeded. Draneir slowly walked until he pushed Max back into one of the walls.

"I wonder, Max, will you ever learn to shut up?"

Using his other fist, he punched Max's stomach, the first punch, the second punch. In a matter of seconds, Max was crying as he tried to separate himself from Dranier. But Draneir's grip was so strong that Max for a moment thought that Draneir was a monster in the form of a human.

"Will… you… kill me?" Asked Max as he felt that after every punch he was closer to dying.

Max saw Draneir's eyes, they were brown but they almost had their own light. He was both excited by this but also scared to death. Max perversion and Max's rationality are confronted about how to feel about this situation. With a last punch, Draneir allowed Max to finally leave his grip. Max fell to the floor and started coughing hard while a liquid was wetting his pants. He pissed himself.

"I know I am a Coruscant Rat, I know I don't have the right to be happy, I know I shouldn't be here. I don't need a fucking gay scumbag like you reminding me. More after your fucking kind ruined me and abused me in your fucking rich perversions!"

Draneir kicked Max who was on all fours trying to breath, putting him back on the floor and making Max see the roof of the room that was very tall.

Max laughed then.

"Do… not worry…"

Max tried to incorporate himself but he couldn't, he had an erection that Draneir saw with disgust. "You and I have very much…" He coughed for many seconds before he could even talk again. "Have very much in common. I just… wanted to try… be friendly"

"If you want to be friendly, then learn one lesson I have tried to force on you but you seem to ignore. Shut up and do your job. I don't need you to fucking tell me the scum I am, I don't need you to remember my past, I don't need you to be my friend or anything else than just the propagandist of Degurechaff"

Max laughed.

"Fine, whatever. I guess I have been wrong about you all this time. You are just a crybaby who doesn't accept the help of anyone because you think they will harm you."

Draneir stepped on Max's stomach.

"Correct, I only need Degurechaff in order to survive. No one else can make me feel normal or happy. And though I don't deserve to feel normal or happy, I will work for her as long as I am a useful tool. Accepting my destined death the day I am no longer useful for the only worthy person in this galaxy"