Gravan Prime
Imperial fortress world - on the Alliance frontier




Sheets of rain peeled across the tarmac adjacent to Moff Gerrij's palace, casting the already brutalist Imperial architecture in cool tones that deepened its shadows. Those shadows retreated under the approach lamps of a landing Lambda shuttle, whose severe angled wings drew up against the main aileron as it descended. Repulsor engine wash blew standing water free from the landing site, into swollen gutters at the periphery. Unaffected by the buffeting, two rows of three stormtroopers each stood at parade rest, while a visibly-chagrined officer fussed with the high collar of his raincoat, trying to keep the gusting rain from running down his neck.

The gangplank lowered with an unappreciated slowness, the whine of servomechanisms barely a whisper behind the rainfall. A peel of thunder swallowed the rest of the din entirely before purring back into the clouds. In the relative passing quiet, two silhouettes stepped out into the rain. One was attired similarly to the greeting officer, in a regulation rain-resistant officer's overcoat. The other was unmistakably alien, a shape that walked in a low crouch on all fours until clearing the egress, where it seemed to roll upwards into a tall, slinking figure.


"Colonel Hartten." The creature spoke in an unexpectedly-feminine voice, with a low and slightly raspy register. It, perhaps she, also had a distinctly coreward accent, which seemed unusual to Harrten, given his own prejudices and experiences. The whole of the unlikely encounter put the Colonel decidedly off-balance.

"I, ahem, are you the Inspector? We're expecting..."

"Introductions can be handled later, I do not wish to dawdle outside in the rain."

The alien gestured, and the Imperial Army Captain next to her provided a code cylinder. Harrten gestured for a trooper, who approached with a shiny black R3 droid. The code cylinder was inserted, producing a pattern of affirmative beeps. The Colonel understood the unsaid meaning - his guest had high upper echelon clearance. That, in combination with the prominent metallic cylinder he could now see clasped to the alien's back in a scabbard could only mean one thing.

She was an Imperial Knight.

Attracting the attention of the ISB was uncomfortable enough. This was possibly worse. But no matter how bad it was, Colonel Harrten didn't want to air this matter out in the open any more than his uninvited guest did. He nodded, sending a few heavy drips of water down the brim of his cap.

"Of course." He crisply extended a gloved hand to the door. "This way."