far_far_away | For the Empire

For the Empire

Who: Gilad Pellaeon and YOU
Where: See Prompts
When: Post Thrawn Campaign, end of the Vong War
What: Whatever prompts you to meet with the major player in the Remnant, and eventually its Supreme Commander. Have something you want? Message and we'll set up a top-level.
Warnings: Will add as needed

Prompt A - Bastion

He hated having an office. It smacked of becoming a useless politician. But it couldn't be helped. He had an entire fleet to care for now, and the entirety of the Remnant to protect. Sometimes you just had to sit down and do the paperwork, hateful though it was. Much of it was just signing things. Initialing others. He was fairly certain he could get a stamp for that, if he just asked the right way.

But that smacked of not doing his duty. And he'd been part of Imperial service long enough to be leery of anything that made it even slightly easy for plotting to occur. So he sighed, and re-dedicated himself to reading through a report on simplifying the delivery of foodstuffs to outlying commands.

He almost preferred combat.

Prompt B - An Imperial-class Star Destroyer

He stood near the bridge windows, watching a trio of Scimitar assault bombers carry out training maneuvers off the arrow-shaped bow of the Star Destroyer Partizan. He had great doubts about the validity of what they were about to do. Theoretically, according to the officials, this would inaugurate the Imperial III-class Star Destroyer. Quite frankly, it seemed much ado about nothing. The changes being proposed, to his mind, didn't warrant all the ridiculous pageantry that was being created for it.

Of course, half of it was propaganda. The perception, supposedly, was that the Star Destroyers were ageing, and this was a renovation of a 'classic' form. It made him, a man who remembered full well when they were brand-new, feel every single year of his age. But as far as he was concerned, these were common-sense improvements. And the reality was far more mundane, in any event. It could all be summed up as stripping out the now-empty spaces where, once upon a time, planetary assault forces would have been kept. The space now allowed re-alignment to install backup shield generators, a few more turbolaser stations, and - theoretically - an extra squadron of fighters.

Hardly worth the mountain of excited communiques and notices put out over it. But he would see it tested, and he would see what this supposed 'secret' improvement could do.

He sighed, looking at the absurdly young bridge crew around him. Not enough, that much was certain - it wouldn't be enough.

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Ben Solo was quick to offer his services to help defeat the Vong.

He had things to make up for, and he knows about the Vong's killing of Chewbacca and Anakin. That was enough to bring the eldest Solo sibling out of hiding. He's hunted the Vong where he found them, hoping to teach them some of the fear they've inflicted on the galaxy.

So the Vong had the opportunity to taste the anger of the man who was once Kylo Ren. Ben's no longer affiliated, officially, with anyone, but he's at his most skilled with Imperial craft. He's a menace at the controls of a TIE fighter. Anger and revenge aren't the tools of a Jedi, but Ben Solo is no Jedi. Those two things have served him well in his encounters with the invaders; encounters where he survived and they did not.

He worries that, even in the face of a greater threat, the New Republic and the Jedi Order would be reluctant to accept his help. So he chose to take his skills to the Imperial Remnant. While he is distant from his family by choice, he felt Anakin's death, and Chewbacca's. He cannot hope to stop the Yuuzhan Vong alone, but he won't see any more members of his family die.

He knows Pellaeon by reputation and by his achievements. While Ben doesn't put on the old helmet, he wears everything but, a way to signal his allegiances. In this part of space who he used to be might still carry some weight, and it was enough to get him an audience with the Supreme Commander. Ben - an expert pilot, a powerful Force-sensitive, and the last of the Knights of Ren - would be a useful ally to the Remnant in a desperate war.

He bows his head slightly in respect as he approaches. "Supreme Commander. My name is Ben Solo. I heard you have need of soldiers to help face the Yuuzhan Vong, and I've come to join you. I have a ship - my TIE, a Silencer model."

Edited 2020-10-11 02:16 (UTC)

He despises the Vong. For all their complexity, they just feel wrong. Like something that should never be, and shouldn't be there. But he believes the tide is turning, piece by piece. The will of an entire galaxy doesn't hurt - and he'd proven time and again they could be beaten.

But there were stories told about the Knights of Ren. He was wary of this one, Solo or not. The Empire had not done well of Force users, nor did he want to just go ahead and invite another one in. But he'd never insult the Solo family by refusing him an appointment. He refused to use the term 'audience.'

"I am well aware of who you are, Ben Solo, Knight of Ren." He looked up from his work, pushing it aside, gesturing at a seat opposite. "But why you're here is more mysterious."

"I am estranged from the rest of them, but I am still a Solo. While I may not be in a place where I can fight beside my family, I'd like to do my part for the war effort. And they've done something I can't forgive."

Ben knows little about the Vong besides what he's seen and felt, but that's given him little sympathy. He has lost most of his own taste for blood and death. But what they did to his little brother made it personal. Though he only rarely contacted his siblings, Ben loved Anakin in his gruff way and was horrified when he felt his death in the Force.

"The Vong murdered my younger brother Anakin, and they killed my father's copilot Chewbacca, who was family to me when I was young." Ben is quiet, but there's an undercurrent of anger. "Their deaths are what brought me out of hiding. I've watched long enough. I would like to help fight them in any way I can. The New Republic and the Jedi would never take a Knight of Ren, even one who has turned from the dark side, as an ally. So I came to you."

He nods, slowly.

"Sounds like a worthy reason for revenge. But you'll understand why I'm wary. Besides the fact that you somehow got your hands on a Silencer. Seinar wasn't supposed to even let any off the line yet."

He's not that impressed by the craft, either. It's like someone mated a TIE Scout and Interceptor to his mind. Give him Defenders any day. Lord knows he wishes he could afford more than the handful he's got.

"Angry force-users after revenge haven't exactly done well by the Empire."

It's honest. It's also a test of the man.

"Revenge isn't all I want. I've...spent too long on the sidelines. Afraid to join the galaxy in fighting the Vong because I'm worried about making things worse. And now two members of my family are dead. I'd like to make amends for that. I've got a lot to make up for."

Ben swallows hard, choosing his words carefully. He used to be proud of his heritage, of being Vader's grandson, but he recognizes that his trademark temper would be a liability in many ways. And he knows that the Empire has dealt with angry, troubled Force users before, even besides Vader. Though he's never met Kyp Durron himself, Ben knows about him and what he had done. Ben himself has his stint as the leader of a gang of Force-sensitive bandits and mercenaries.

As Pellaeon suspects, Ben didn't exactly obtain his ship through legitimate means. While the Knights of Ren were pirates who had no true loyalty to any government, unscrupulous Imperial officials had hired Ben - Kylo Ren in those days - and his Knights to attack New Republic installations and worlds. Their payment came in the form of rare artifacts, exclusive technology, and other treasures, and as the Knights' master Kylo had access to the best loot. Even after defecting he kept the Silencer as his personal ship.

"It's not about me, really. It's about helping the Remnant and the galaxy stop the Vong, so no more families are torn apart. That's all I ask - that I can help."

He's getting too old, he reflects. Too sentimental. There was a time he'd have been more hard-nosed about this. But after a lifetime of combat, reaching his end - he was perhaps kinder than he ought to be. He sighed, leaning back in his chair, putting down his stylus.

"Make me regret this, and there won't be anywhere in the galaxy you can hide," he said, quietly. "The Empire still has reach, and it still has its ways - even against the most powerful. And you had best promise me that I won't be getting a missive from Princess Organa-Solo, terrifically angry over the misapplication of her son."

He reached over to another part of his desk, picking up a datapad. "The Star Destroyer Aegis will be heading to the frontlines again soon. Her chief TIE officer was killed in her last engagement, and many of her replacements are green."

His eyes met the others', and there was nothing sentimental in what he said next. It was said with the voice of serious command.

"Make it otherwise."

"I'll see that you won't regret it." Ben stands straight. There's not anger in his voice now, but a note of iron. It's not angry, unstable Kylo Ren who's standing in front of the Supreme Commander. The young man is showing something of his mother's mettle. "Thank you, Commander." It's more than he deserves, he thinks, but now isn't the time for self-pity.

Ben hasn't talked to his mother in a long time. He's not sure if she knows that Kylo Ren, fallen Jedi apprentice and bandit leader, was the same person as her missing son under his trademark mask. No doubt the Imperials who bought Kylo's help to harass Leia's government enjoyed that juicy bit of irony.

The assignment is something he can easily adapt to. Ben's flown TIE Fighters before - he's a skilled pilot, and always preferred speedy craft to the Knights' personal ship, a former transport vessel called the Night Buzzard. He had used hit-and-run tactics as their leader - under his example the Knights were known for quick, devastating raids on the outskirts of the New Republic - and in many ways this would be a test of his skills as a commander and as a pilot.

"The Aegis, deceased chief TIE officer. I see. I'll be taking her place, then." He may not have had formal military training, but he didn't survive for years with the Knights of Ren without sharpening up. They were a ruthless crew who didn't tolerate weakness in their own, least of all their Master. He had to grow up fast among them to stay alive.

"I won't disappoint you."

"I am aware of your previous reputation," he responded, with a nod. "Clearly you have already made some improvements. But I do warn you that the days of treating our starfighter pilots as expendable has long since come and gone. I don't wany any Vaderist tendencies regarding discipline."

Ben didn't treat his Knights as expendable - they were a team, and every member brought a distinct combat style and weapons to the group. But the same couldn't be said for anyone else, Republic or Imperial, who crossed his path in a bad mood. The Knights preyed on whoever they liked and took whatever they wanted to. While they found themselves working for the Remnant's behalf, if unofficially, there was a reason why many of their battle-trophies were of Imperial origin.

And Kylo Ren was infamous on both sides for a reason. Ben nods solemnly.

"There won't be any of that, you have my word."

One day, when the war was over, then there would be time to deal with groups like that. They were, in the best of times, a nuisance. When the Empire had time to breathe, then groups like that would be dealt with.

Unlike the old Empire, under him such piratical elements wouldn't be dismissively tolerated.

But for now, it is all hands on deck, quite literally.

"Good," he replied. nodding. It would frankly be an exception to the rule with the darker Force users.

The Knights of Ren themselves had been dealt with. Ironically, Ben himself saw to that when they refused to let him leave, either out of betrayal or because they thought he'd turn informer. It was a mistake they didn't live to regret. However, he's sure there were other groups like them operating out there.

Ben wasn't even the Knights' first leader, and for all he knows they'd operated long before he took over - in keeping with tradition, the original Ren had died at his successor's blade.

Maybe, after the war was done and if he was still alive, he'd help hunt those gangs down as a way to atone for his actions as the leader of one of the worst ones. But for now there are the Vong to deal with, and the one good thing about his time with the Knights is that it taught Ben how to work with and command a team. Now he can put those skills to a better use.

"All right. When do I start?"

He would have been glad to hear that news, quite frankly. Though the names of such groups tended to get passed on to the next one. There was always another one.

As for the when...

"This is not a job interview, lad. Get in your fancy ship and get going. The deck officer will have co-ordinates."

He picked up his stylus again.

"The war waits for nobody," he added, for good measure.

Ben hopes the Knights won't come back, but there's always a risk the group could resurrect itself with new members and a new leader, so long as the stories survived.

But there are bigger problems now.

And - Remnant, Republic, former Knight of Ren - they're in it together.

"Very well." Ben nods solemnly. The Supreme Commander's right - there's no time to waste. The Vong won't be wasting time. "I'll be on my way to the ship, then."

He's flown that Silencer long enough to have a sense of its strengths and weaknesses in a dogfight.

"You have two weeks," he said, gruffly, looking up one more time. "To get them into shape. I'd give you more, but needs must. After that, you'll be joining us on a little cavalry raid into the Crothos sector."

It wouldn't be there, of course, but he'd not blurt out actual operational material that easily.

"We're going to do some damage to the Vong rear areas, send a little message about what it means to challenge the Empire. They're too used to fighting the Republic - we have a window of opportunity. And we're sending our little message with an SSD task group."

In the old days, this might not have meant that much - these days, with perhaps three such ships still available in the entire Remnant, it meant a lot.

"I will be commanding in person."

Two weeks. Ben makes note of the assignment. It won't be easy, but he likes a good challenge, and part of him likes the idea of teaching. At the very least he's experienced as a leader of small groups.

While Ap'lek the Hidden was the Knights' official strategist, with the job of sizing up possible targets and researching the kind of resistance they'd meet, Kylo had the job of maintaining discipline and leading the group into battle.

Training young Imperials in two weeks can't be harder than reining in the likes of Vicrul the Reaper, who liked to play with his food, and Trudgen the Hunter, who was known for taking personal "souvenirs" from victims he deemed worthy prey.

"Hitting them while they're busy with the Republic." Raids are what Ben's used to, and what he's best at. Striking an opponent hard and fast. This assignment could play to his strengths as a pilot.

That's what he did as a Knight - and now the old skills are aimed at a more deserving target.

They're all young to his eyes. From this one all the way up, and all the way down. How many of them remembered Endor? Hoth? How many even remembered Thrawn's campaigns, now?

But they needed that old brand of fire-eater, now more than ever. If this one could put some of that fire into his pilots...the risk was worth it.

"The Empire maintains the Deep Core routes. We can shift resources faster than the Republic." They had less of them, but you took the strategic advantages you could. "It also means the Vong can't effectively predict where we can strike. And, indeed, they'll be busy with another enemy. And while they are, we ravage and mine their supply lines."

The stealth mines aren't as good as Thrawn's cloaked mines - but there are a lot more of them. An SSD used to have space for multiple garrisons to be deployed during a campaign - it was staggering how many proton mines could be stored in them for deployment.

Ben himself was born after Hoth and Endor, so he himself knows relatively little of the Galactic Civil War and even moreso the Clone Wars that his grandfather served in as Anakin Skywalker. Nevertheless, between Ap'lek's spywork and his own research Ben had managed to keep tabs on more recent galactic events.

The Vong invasion took him by surprise, though, and not only because he had distanced himself from the larger galaxy.

"Good. So we'll both do damage and hit their supply route." Ben knows that control of supplies is a key tool to outmaneuvering an enemy and winning a war. Hitting the Vong in their resources is something he can do, and it's oddly appropriate that a former pirate is participating in the raid.

The more Ben hears of what he's being asked to do, the more he feels that this is familiar territory with a new enemy. There are tactics that are useful no matter who you're fighting, and choking off resources and supply lines is one of them.

He is quiet for a long moment, signing off on more orders, not restating the obvious.

"Have them ready in time," he repeated, simply. "Otherwise we'll be short one Star Destroyer not ready for action."

He leaves unsaid that this would be an issue.

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For the Empire

Prompt A

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