Hastening the Inevitable

The fifth annual Firmus Piett Legacy Scholarship Fundraising Event had been a smashing success by all accounts. Admiral Kraken beamed with pride while walking down the corridor leading to the main hangar bay aboard the Empress Tarkin class Space Station, for he had reason to believe that he was a big part of why everything went so well. The last couple of years had seen a gradual decline in attendance and funds for the scholarship awarded to intelligent and ambitious young students to attend the prestigious Anaxes War College, in large part due to reversals suffered by the Empire against the meddling Alliance. Yet this year saw a sold out venue aboard the orbital station, featuring a flyby by one of the most prestigious Star Destroyers left in Imperial service along with the opportunity to shake hands and have a short conversation with the "Subjugator of Sullust" himself; Park Kraken.


During the course of the ceremony he had shaken hands and endured conversations with a wide variety of individuals ranging from the beautiful to the bountiful and boastful. By the end of it all he was quite ready to retire to his personal cabin following a nice meal, however he had barely made it into the corridor when his private comlink started buzzing for his attention.


"Kraken," he said while in spite of his annoyance at the latest intrusion keeping his voice cool and calm.


"Watch Officer Nalvira here, we've received a priority transmission from a Doctor Drestra on Ord Mirit and you're one of only two sufficient ranking officers in system with the authorized clearance," came the young sounding female voice from Anaxes Orbital Control.


"What is the Urgency and Priority attached to the message?" Kraken asked as his curiosity was now piqued. The only other official with such an adequate level of clearance was most likely the local sector Moff that had also attended the fundraiser.


"Urgency is listed as High and Priority is listed as None," she said, bringing Kraken to a halt with an expression of confusion coming over his face. High Urgency yet No Priority?


"No Priority?" he asked for confirmation, this time with a little annoyance making its way into his tone.


"That's what it says Admiral, Priority Zero," the Watch Officer replied.


Kraken's eyes widened as a chill raced up the back of his spine. 'No Priority' and 'Priority Zero' had very different definitions within certain echelons of Imperial High Command.


"Send the message to my personal data pad," Kraken replied before switching channels, "Lieutenant Tavanne, come in over."


"Tavanne reporting in Admiral," replied a crisper and a tad older female voice versus the junior watch officer, his second in command aboard the Suppressor.


"Recall all relevant craft and bring the ship about for the outer gravity well while programming a course for Ord Mirit. I want us in hyperspace within fifteen minutes," he ordered while quickening his pace to that of a fast walk. Such an urgent matter coming in from a Doctor could only mean one of a very few things and none of them would be pleasant to deal with.

In the past year, Elarys Amarank had mostly done contract work for specific events, especially on Imperial Center. It suited her not only because it was where she hoped to build her career, save for some other projects which would support the future of the Empire and its younger generations. After finishing her work for the nonprofit Neran's, with the new Museum of Fine Arts' featured artists, she had had prospects but nothing immediate.

When a former university professor contacted her because they needed someone for the fifth annual Firmus Piett Legacy Scholarship Fundraising Event, she had jumped on the opportunity. One of the logistic professionals had needed to bail out for personal reasons, and with her experience she was a solid substitute. She had joined the team rather last minute but had found her footing easily and helped ensure that the few speakers presented without any issue, as it was an important part of the event besides the ceremony and social mingling aspects.

A sold out event wasn't that common even for worthy causes such as this one's. Elarys was proud of having been able to support it. Besides being a new experience to add to her portfolio, education was a cause very dear to her heart, including as a former member of the Sub-Adult group.

She was finishing to help the crew close everything down after the guests and speakers had departed. This behind the scene type of work had always suited her. She loved supporting others but had no real desire to be center stage, which was quite ironic given who she had recently started dating.

After bidding her goodbyes, she headed back towards the quarters she was staying at aboard the station, and pulled out her datapad, smiling. She reread Lise's latest message and would respond shortly. Their evening at the chamber music recital had been lovely and they had agreed to meet again when she returned to the imperial capital. She looked forward to it!

The moment she reached her quarters, her comlink beeped to indicated a priority message. Frowning she checked what it was and she didn't know what to think of it. Since her addition had been very close to the actual event, she had traveled to the station aboard a military shuttle that was heading there as well. And said shuttle was suddenly scheduled to leave and she was told to present herself at the appropriate hangar fifteen minutes later or would have to be rescheduled at an unknown time.

She guessed that she'd just be dropped somewhere to change ships; but whichever happened it was more practical to stay on schedule. She confirmed she would be there on time. Without hesitation, she quickly changed for practical clothing and put her light luggage together before making her way towards the docking bay.

Atrapes had gone too far this time! Blast that man and whatever hell he spawned from. She was a busy woman and had no time for fundraisers, shaking hands, and kissing babies. But no, Atrapes insisted. They needed an Imperial Knight there. It was good for morale and was a good recruitment tool for future Imperial Knight cadets. Look, this is what you might aspire to if you are the right kind of special. But why me? Surely Baastian or Vissica would be better fits. They are much more recognizable and famous. No. They were busy, he said. And I'm not?! I'm fighting a civil war on Corellia! It will still be there when you get back, he said. The nerve of that man! He even had the audacity to say it was a well deserved break and that I should take the time to relax. Never! This was more stressful than any battlefield I had ever encountered. I was not good with people, and he knew it. The snake.

Everything was over finally, and Alexia was first to slink back to the Suppressor; her personal ride back to her next connecting ship that would return her to Corellia, and her war. It was hardly the first time she had been shuttled around like this, but it was annoying to not have her own personal Destroyer or guard at her disposal. All her rage and no where to release it. All she had was strict orders to place nice, do the right thing, and not ruffle Admiral Kraken's feathers. The man was a war hero, or something. She might have known that if she had grown up an Imperial citizen. Maybe she did know that, but it was lost behind her conditioning. It was impossible to know what she had lost when Atrapes had saved her, and she would consider it a cost worth paying regardless.

She had hardly made it back to her quarters before the comm system overhead bleeped out the call to return to stations. It was far too aggressive a call for what amounted to parade duty. Something was up, and it looked like she was along for the ride. It was looking like she would be delayed from returning to Corellia. Perfect. She had no station to attend so she began the long trek toward the bridge. Park Kraken was an admiral, a soldier of the highest order, but she was an Imperial Knight, and that held a different kind of weight. Perhaps she could be of use. Anything. It would be better than rotting in her quarters until whatever this was blew over.

Alexia stalked the corridors and turbolifts of the Suppressor, her blue battlescarred armor gleaming with fresh polish against the matte black of her robes underneath. The telltale lightsabre bounced against her thigh. Her pale skin stood out against the dark hues of her uniform, and the deep purple bags under her eyes and cracked scars at the edges of her mouth stood out on the pale field of her face.

His personal Lambda class Shuttle, Tyranny's Threshold, did indeed departed the station as quickly scheduled with the Admiral aboard. As the brightly lit station disappeared from view to be replaced with the atmospheric glow of Anaxes beyond, Kraken found himself less than pleased at the presence of civilians aboard the shuttle.


While certainly he knew who they were and that they had accompanied him to the system to begin with, it had been for a civilian function with little to no threat for combat being present. Here they were running into an unknown situation with both eyes open and ready for combat at every potential turn. His steely eyes bore particularly into the young lass fidgeting in her seat before glancing around to address all of them.


"We'll be departing the system immediately upon returning to the Suppressor and heading into an unknown situation with unknown dangers and must be ready for any potential scenario. Your presence was an oversight and you should have been reassigned to a different craft for departure from the station at a later time. Regardless of fault for this oversight, you'll have little choice but to be sequestered aboard the Suppressor until such a time that your safe departure from this situation can be guaranteed with minimal risk to your safety," stated Kraken as a slight buzz filled the cabin of the shuttle, caused by the twin ion engines of a pair of TIE Fighters now pacing the shuttle, pilots from Nightwing Squadron that would be escorting them back to the Star Destroyer that was now an expanding ball of light in the distance.


The shuttle had barely settled into the hangar bay before the Destroyer jumped into hyperspace, its occupants hardly having had the chance to undo their safety restraints before being pushed softly back into their seats as the view of Anaxes was replaced by the star lines of accelerated travel.

Used to imperial efficiency, Elarys followed directions and took a seat aboard the shuttle, after placing her light pack in the overhead compartment. She spared a few looks around, taking in the people who were traveling with her. She noticed the Admiral's presence soon enough and had recognized him from the earlier event. She also saw the woman with the battle-scarred armor and the lightsaber at her side. While she had worked with military personnel before, she wondered why in the galaxy she was aboard this shuttle. She knew her own value but she wasn't naive and knew they operated in vastly different lines of work, even tied together with undying loyalty to their Empress.

She felt herself fidgeting a bit but straightened up as soon as the Admiral explained what was up. There had definitely been a mix-up for her transfer aboard the shuttle, but she would just roll with the punches.

"Yes, sir," she replied respectfully. "I'll stay out of the way unless my skills may prove useful to your crew."

She didn't expect that she would be needed but she nevertheless wanted to mention that she was willing to assist if necessary. How she could help was unknown but at least the offer was out there. As soon as they landed aboard the star destroyer, she felt the hit of hyperspace right on cue when she reached to unfasten herself.

The young brunette waited until they could actually get up to do so. She made sure to let the Admiral and all military personnel depart first. Quickly adjusting the straps of her backpack onto her shoulders, she climbed down the boarding ramp and made her way towards the exit of the large hangar, guessing someone may point her to where she should remain for the duration of the unexpected mission.

So laser focused he was on the current crisis that the words of the others aboard the shuttle barely registered upon his ears as he and his escort departed the craft, including one woman saying something to the effect about the service of her skills or some sort.

Instead, he was greeted by Major Deverus, the burly orange haired Corellian that served as the Hangar Boss for the Suppressor, keeping the myriad of warcraft based in her cavernous holds in great operating shape and efficiency.

"Major Deverus, did any companies from the 233rd Battalion make it back onboard?" asked Kraken as the Major saluted the returning Admiral.

"No sir, they were too far deployed to be recalled in time."

"Good, normally I would prefer their presence but, in this instance, it will allow us the convenience of housing our unintended visitors in their empty barracks," Kraken replied gruffly, the statement also carrying with it an order.

As the Major moved to deal with the remaining occupants of the shuttle Kraken held up a hand to halt his security guard at the entrance to the turbolift that would carry him up to the bridge. After checking to make sure the tube was empty, he took off while entering his secret passcode to bring up the message from Imperial High Command concerning his mission.

There was an attached file to go with his mission orders, a holo message with a woman in a lab coat that looked quite haggard. One could easily tell that she was stressed out, something that was confirmed in her tone when she started speaking.

"To anyone in Imperial High Command, this is Doctor Evanira Glast of Protoway Biomedical, we need help on the planet of..."