Commodore Rivejer Tullius
Selling off the Escapade was supposed to be a simple affair. After all, it was a bizarre alien ship - certainly there was someone in the galaxy interested in it? If only for the pure academic value it held? Where I had erred was not secretly fearing there would be no interest in it, but rather in the variety of forms that interest would take.
It was a couple days after my meeting with Harand and the ascension of Captain Milgern that I was informed of an incoming call to the Glorious. Having moved my office to the Battlecruiser, I had all calls or communications rerouted to the ship. Beyond inter-fleet communications, there was rarely anything of note. The Admiralty, after receiving my report and the data recorded from the fleet, had made few inquiries as to the events leading up to the battle of N'zoth. I could not claim to understand the minds of my superiors, nor was I particularly interested in trying. Let them deal with that mess; the less I thought about it the less time I needed to spend awake at night.
The message was simple enough, a courteous request to meet and discuss the Escapade after the overtures I had made to sell the ship. It was the sender that concerned me, a representative from the Imperial Military Department of Advanced Weapons Research. The IMDAWR were the research arm of Imperial Intelligence, based on public information in any case. The organisation was an arm of an already clandestine group, so I took any reports on their purpose or activities with a pound of salt. Still, as the first to approach, I decided to accept their request and arrange a time aboard the Glorious.
While I had been exonerated of any wrongdoing - or at least had my charges swept aside for now - I would no more trust the I-I than I would any other security organisation at this point. On my new ship, surrounded by the large security force transferred over from the Conqueror and joined by my cadre of elite bodyguards - I would not take chances with intelligence stooges.
All the more foolish I appeared then when the meeting was attended by a wizened older man and his young assistant, taking notes with a datapad. The IMDAWR representative was a soft spoken, but almost whimsical man who seemed not at all what I expected of an I-I operative. We spoke briefly on the Glorious, but his sole concern was seeing the Ssi-Ruuk warship for himself. From the moment we stepped foot aboard, he was like a child in a sweets shop. Commander Thawne had greeted us, serving as the guide across the vessel. He knew more about it than anyone else, having been commanding the ship since Bakura. It had been a hard-fought adventure and Thawne had proven himself competent. A pweck had joined us alongside one of the protocol droids, but if the presence of the alien upset the representative he did not show it.
We wandered from the bridge to a few of the gun decks to the engines. The man seemed fascinated by it all, never focusing on any one aspect of the ship but rather exploring it all with enthusiastic interest.
"Fascinating… Truly fascinating…" The man murmured, a hand running along the smooth hull of a Ssi-Ruuk droid starfighter, Thawne having just finished his explanation of the Ssi-Ruuk 'entechment' practices. The absurdity of ritualistic sacrifice to power droids still set a deep discomfort in my stomach, but I pushed my distaste aside to focus on the representative.
He turned again, eyes drifting over the remainder of the hangar bay - studying the many droids with an eager expression - before facing me.
"The Department would be very interested in this vessel. We shall be in touch soon, I think."
I smiled, hands folding behind my back.
"That is good to hear." I would be glad to see the last of this ship. From how Thawne let out a soft breath, I suspected he was the same.
That initial meeting opened the proverbial flood gates. Despite being in the heart of Kuati space, it was Rendili StarDrive that came next. A salesman, followed by a cohort of experts covering a variety of knowledge bases, had made overtures to explore the ship as well. It was from them that I got a better idea of what they found interesting about the Escapade, more willing to freely speak with me or Thawne than the Imperial Intelligence representative. To one group, it was the different types of automation used by the Ssi-Ruuk. To others, the array of massive ion cannons that circled the vessel's hull like spokes on a wheel. One admitted he was a professor from some Rendili college, here to ascertain the cultural and religious aspects of this new species. Rendili was eager to draw every last credit they could out of the ship. Before the businessman had left, he made an offer.
Without Nereus present, I was unwilling to move forward with the offer. However, I was stunned by the amount - being higher than I expected. The Rendili representative stressed to contact him after considering the offer, then left as suddenly as he appeared. I was barely allowed a few hours reprieve before the IMDAWR called to make an offer of their own - mildly higher than the one made by Rendili. It became clear to me that both of them were aware of the reports I submitted to the Admiralty and at the very least Imperial Intelligence was listening in on potential buyers.
The Imperial Research Division and finally Kuat Drive Yards made their own inquiries, all eager to get their hands on the alien ship first. It was a bizarre sort of bidding war and I was quite happy to pass it off to Nereus. The old Governor set to work and a few days after that he informed me the ship had been sold. All potential buyers put up a good fight, but someone had let slip to KDY how much interest the ship was being shown and so the company wielded its considerable finances to push the others out. The government organisations were limited by budget in the chaotic Empire and Rendili appeared less eager to enter an aggressive bidding war against Kuat.
The matter was solved far sooner than I expected, but favorably enough that I was quite pleased with the outcome. Commander Thawne began the process of offloading the refugees and travelers, but with freshly replenished coffers I made way for the surplus yards once again.
The dull hum of my shuttle was the only sound in its bay, yet the silence of its occupants was deafening all the same. Rius Harand sat beside me, his pale face thunderous with annoyance. Across from us was Wyatdrew Matread, the wizened old officer stroking his moustache while glaring daggers at Harand. My financial advisor - not Nereus this time but one of the staff he had rapidly collected - sat in the cockpit, eager to be far from the tension between the two officers. While both seemed to suspect that the other was working to circumvent them, that knowledge being put out in the open removed any need to hide their distaste.
This was my fault, I knew. I had been too disconnected from my staff, so focused on my own issues to notice this brewing discontent. It had culminated in the debate over tactics and ships, but I suspected it was something deeper still. I would need to form my own naval intelligence network or commissariat just to keep track of it all.
"I can not allow my oldest, chiefest subordinates to tear into each other like this." I said to them, wanting to fill the silence and at least turn those glares away from each other for a time. "With the new crew we will inevitably be recruiting, it sets a bad example."
"Sir." Harand all but growled, but turned his eyes aside all the same.
"Commodore." Matread grunted, but he did the same.
Pleased with this outcome, I leaned back in my seat and tapped idle notes into my knees, enjoying the brief peace for the rest of the trip.
We were greeted by the same official that had sold me the Glorious, his vibrant personality still on full display. He began to try and upsell me on some of the more expensive ships - Gladiators or even Victory Star Destroyers. Unfortunately for him, I had already set my mind on a certain group of ships. I had taken to heart some of what Harand's report had said and I found myself more in agreement with him than I was Matread. A core of multirole Cruisers would benefit the fleet far more than increasing our fighter output - I need only look at the casualty reports for the fighter corps to see that. I was no fool; upgrading our fighters - introducing more expensive but advanced craft - would mitigate those issues. It was for that reason that I fielded gunboats like the Skipray, but the cost of upkeep was tremendous. Nereus did not seem keen on the idea and he had become my buffer for the soundness of any purchases I needed to make.
We moved through the station until we arrived at the Vindicator-Class Heavy Cruisers. Their general shape was familiar to anyone that had seen a Star Destroyer, despite being designed by Sienar Fleet Systems rather than Kuat Drive Yards: an arrowhead configuration with a conning tower at the rear. The vessel was thin and comparatively streamlined - not meant to transport additional crew or ground forces. It was a Cruiser first and foremost, more so than an Imperial-Class Star Destroyer. In my mind, the fighters they could carry would be enough to act on interception duty for this fleet, but I knew that answer would not please Matread.
Each vessel was meticulously maintained. Even as surplus ships, Kuat would never allow anything in poor condition to be sold by them. Five were selected, the purchase approved by my economic assistant courtesy of Escapade's sale.
"The turbolasers will provide adequate fire support for the Glorious." Harand justified my purchase with a self-satisfied tone. It matched with the thunderous expression displayed by Matread. Unfortunately, I was not playing favorites today… Completely. I was not completely playing favorites. However, Matread's desire for carriers rankled me. Perhaps it was merely the simplicity of my approach to combat, but fragile carriers meant something I needed to defend in the heat of battle.
With my plans to address my tactics, perhaps this could have been addressed…
Still, Matread had inadvertently provided me with the perfect opportunity. He was an old guard officer, obsessed with the Grand Army of the Republic and believing those to be the finest days of the Navy. So as we turned the corner, I saw a boyish joy I had not seen on his face in all our time together.
"Here she is, the Lionheart. One of the first of her class to reach production. An earlier, Phase One model, but she still has it where it counts." The administrator announced, gesturing out the viewscreen.
Nearly twelve-hundred meters in length, following the typical Kuati approach to Capital ship design - a wedge with the bridge at the aft. This one was different, though - being quite a bit thinner relative to its contemporary Star Destroyers and most of its interior space dominated by a large dorsal hangar bay. The most stand-out feature, though, was its twin bridge design: one acting as the command bridge while the other was dedicated toward fighter command. This feature was shared by some other ships of the time, though it was thankfully abandoned in future designs.
The Venator-Class Star Destroyer.
What a piece of junk!
This was the ship that won the Clone Wars, or so men like Matread liked to claim. In my opinion, that distinction belonged to the Acclamator family of ships. The Venator was an attempt by Kuat Drive Yards to create a ship that did everything okay, but nothing great. A multirole they called it, but I believed the truth was that they wanted to try and take as much business as possible from the Republic mainstays like Rendili or Corellia. Especially by modern standards, but even at the time, the Venator was a very fragile ship. It was underarmed for its size, especially given how late into the war it appeared. It was perhaps a peer for the Separatist Providence, but was inevitably outclassed as a Cruiser by the Victory line and later the Imperator and Tector. Thus, it was left as a backline support - a role more adequately filled by the Victory I-Class Star Destroyer or even ships like the Gladiator - or a Carrier. The Venator was too expensive to be a backline Carrier and too fragile to be a frontline Cruiser.
Perhaps I was biased, but even a cursory glance at the ship told me it would not be galavanting along like the Vindicator-Class Heavy Cruisers in their wolfpacks. Though in my unique position, its ability to supplement the Glorious' firepower could prove useful. It would also keep Matread pleased and be somewhere to store extra fighters given the decline in our total capacity. I'd still not been convinced of a dedicated and independent fighter force.
When its purchase was finalised, I stopped the group and spoke to Matread.
"I will be transferring you over to the Lionheart the moment it is ready. I will need a full list of fighters needed for the fleet, with copies sent to Captain Nereus." I said, lifting my datapad and making some notes for myself.
"You are putting me in command of the Venator?" Matread asked, sounding less hopeful by the thought and more confused. Credit where it was due, Matread had always voiced that he was too old now to jockey for promotion. He was a pilot first and second to that a fighter commander. He had no interest in the busy work of commanding a Cruiser, nor would I force it upon him.
"No. It will act as the command ship for the fighters, but I will be putting someone else in command. On that note, Commander Harand." The man perked up at my voice. "You are being transferred to the Intrepid to take command of it and the Steadfast. I have yet to file the request, but you will be promoted to Captain to mark this increased authority. Both of you will select your chosen successors for your current positions on the Conqueror and forward them to me."
If Matread was bemused by his transfer, Harand was downright horrified. It was somewhat expected: the man had always worked more as a subordinate to me than as an independent officer. However, if I were going to commit to delegating authority and allowing my forces to operate outside my direct oversight - and more importantly, beyond merely firepower supplementation - then it would need to be people I could rely upon.
He would do fine, I wagered.
"Sir-" Harand started, but I wasn't done. I held up my datapad, effectively silencing him.
"Also, this entire dance with the fleet acquisitions. I have allowed this to fall out of my control, which ends today. We must cooperate as a single, unified machine - that is what saw us survive everything after Endor and that will see us survive whatever comes next. You two will meet and prepare potential strategies that could be employed in a mixed approach between your schools of thought. If you must bicker amongst yourselves, do not work me into your conflicts."
My words seemed to have an effect, as both men appeared more like put-out children than veteran officers. I knew the fault lay in my command style, the most obvious reason being my handling of Screold's ascension and position. I had used her to protect my position and play ship politics and so they believed doing the same was necessary to justify their positions. That was the only instance that came to mind, but I was certain there was more.
However, the matter seemed finished - at least for now. I would need to keep a close eye on these two, which somewhat ran contrary to my stated goal of giving them more freedom.
Commander Thawne was a haggard looking man, his grooming standards seeming to have slipped somewhat as of late. I would not begrudge him that - he had been placed under far more strain than a man of his station should have been. Between managing the undermanned Escapade, leading it into battle and now dealing with the arduous task of offloading its passengers. Still, his voice carried none of his clear exhaustion.
"Welcome aboard, Commodore." He greeted me with a salute. We were in the Escapade's bridge, its alien architecture clashing with the Imperial hardware brought in. A large communication array dominated the center of the room, making it feel smaller and more claustrophobic.
"Commander. Your reports indicate that the offloading process is well underway. No issues have arisen among the passengers? I've been led to believe that they have become quite restless in these last few months."
"They are eager to leave, sir - and we are eager to see them off." Thawne offered, his thin-lipped smile betraying his relief more than his words. "Those few that wish to stay with the fleet are being processed, though the majority are disembarking; as you have seen."
"Evidently." I agreed, before moving the topic forward. "And what of the Escapade's more permanent residents?"
The fate of the pweck had been an issue pushed to the back of my mind until recently, the alien species being largely docile and unbothered by the multitudes of humans and near-humans. Even in the chaos that had slowly gripped the Escapade, few of the pwecks were caught in the crossfire. A scant few had perished, certainly, with the most recent a week ago, but largely they were left to their own devices.
"They don't say as much, but I suspect they will be glad to see the last of the refugees." Thawne admitted freely.
"And I am sure you will be glad to see the last of them." I joked and again Thawne offered a wan smile, though that one was somehow even less enthusiastic than the first. I fought back a frown - Thawne really must be tired. I continued on. "You have conducted yourself well despite the circumstances I forced you into, Commander Thawne. You were ill-prepared for the issues you would face here and yet you have succeeded where a scant few would be able. With the sale of this ship, you will be freed for new duties. As such, I would like to offer you the Captaincy of the Lionheart - a new vessel being added to the fleet."
Really, I had no idea how good Thawne was as a Commander. His time on the Conqueror had been spent as a lower officer and the Escapade had not been in an engagement until the very end of the N'zoth debacle. Still, he had at least proven to be level-headed under pressure and he was someone I felt I could trust to command the old Battlecarrier. Some might criticise how frivolous I was over these last few days with promotions, but it was my fleet! I can promote who I want.
Surprise flashed openly across Thawne's face at the offer, coalescing in a momentary splutter before he remembered himself.
"I would be honoured, sir." The man accepted, straightening his back as all exhaustion seemed to be chased from his features. I allowed a smirk of my own at his renewed enthusiasm.
"Don't be too honoured, it's a Venator. I have not yet figured out a place for the ship in my plans, but you will be responsible for ensuring its survival. It is fragile, so I expect you to approach it with care."
"I will not fail, sir."
I hope not. I thought as I took the other man's hand and shook, That ship was damn expensive.
A Commodore never rests. At least, I didn't. Unfortunately, my tireless work with KDY and its surplus yard - where I was now recognised by the staff on sight - was not finished. Work on the Glorious was temperamental and required constant oversight; I needed to be present at every step or else surprises might jump out that I didn't know about. There were still some ships I wished to add to my fleet and with the Navy being far too stingy to assign me more, the surplus yard was my continued source. Fortunately, Nereus had been tightening control over the budget and was increasingly against the idea of buying more ships. While the Navy had finally decided to pick up paying wages again, most of my crew were still unpaid for the last two months. I was forced to address some of the backpay, though I desired to deal with it all lest I be faced with a real mutiny, so some aspects of the fleet remained unupgraded. In some cases, like the overgunned D-type Lancer-Class Frigates, no longer really needed upgrades since they could more than keep pace with the Glorious on its best day. Already, the cost of rearming the twin pair of Victory I-Class Star Destroyers was expensive as-is - and unlikely to be fulfilled completely. Cutting corners and using cheaper munitions may be the only option moving forward, even if I supplemented the missile output with the assault proton torpedo tubes on the Glorious. A fourth D-type Lancer joined the fleet, if for no other reason than to supplement the loss of the Diligence back at N'zoth. Four Lancers would need to suffice for now. However, no matter how tight Nereus tried to make our belt, there was one type of ship I refused to leave Kuat without.
A Scout.
Being forced to rely on slow and expensive ships like the Victory-Class Star Destroyers had proven the necessity of a dedicated scout or exploration vessel. Ships like the Vigil-Class Corvette would be able additions to my new fleet. What was more, that type of ship had the means to protect itself.
Unfortunately, the surplus yards were devoid of the mini Star Destroyer, or any other ship that could be easily converted. The Aquitens-Class Light Cruiser could fulfill that role, but those sold at the surplus yards were outfitted for patrols or combat. Their sensor suites suffered for that, which made them useless. However, in my years serving the ORSF I had become familiar with another organisation that had a fleet of vessels with powerful sensors, was rife with corruption and had members with few qualms about hiring themselves out.
The Imperial Exploration Corps. Every Moff wanted to get their hands on a mineral-rich, undiscovered world. More importantly, they did not want the Empire to know about it. So, the IEC was brought in to explore those vast expanses between stars in the hopes of finding something and then losing reports before they could be made to their superiors. I knew their games, as the further one got from the Core the more pervasive that corruption became.
It was for that reason I found myself on Kuat proper, meeting with one Captain Tessarion Calox, or 'von Calox' as he so insisted to be called.
"Thank you for meeting with me, Captain Calox."
"Von Calox, Commodore, please." The jovial man corrected, his tone light as he leaned back in his seat. We were meeting in a lounge, patrons giving us a wide berth thanks to my towering guards. This was far from the most professional of environments, but Calox - von Calox - had come highly recommended from the IEC. He had apparently braved Hutt Space and the wild places well beyond civilised space.
"Yes, quite. Captain von Calox, as per my last communication, I would like to hire your services into my fleet."
"The Stargazer isn't a warship, Commodore." Calox said, swirling his amber drink in one hand as he stared at it, bored.
"I am not expecting you to fight." I correct quickly. "Merely scout; pathfind. My fleet is without a fast ship with powerful sensors, a role you can more than adequately fill."
The Stargazer, based on reports filed by the IEC, was a Surveyor-Class Reconnaissance Frigate. They were purpose-built explorers and scouts for Outer Rim fleets, where major hyperspace lanes were few and far between. While comparatively less well-armed compared to the ships they were based on, a Surveyor could ease the strain off my fleet and put us at far less risk. I would only need to hire his services for a few months anyway.
"What's the destination?" Calox asked after a time, sitting up straighter and setting his glass down.
"Ciutric."
"Remind me?"
"It's on the Veragi Trade Route, close to Axxila." I explained, offering my datapad with a map. He refused it with a raised hand.
"I know the route. It's also well-travelled, for most of the stretch anyway. What do you need a guide for?"
"You are as aware as I am of the present state of the Empire." I said, my voice taking on an annoyed drawl. "And its current ability to police its hyperlanes."
I could not explain that I was paranoid about ambushes or being dragged into conflicts that did not concern me, nor was I eager to recount my story up to my arrival in the Core. Still, given how out of the way Ciutric was and the amount Nereus had approved to pay Calox, the explorer and his ship were hired on for a three month stint.
Unofficially, of course. As far as the IEC was concerned or cared, he was just going off to do his job.