Chaos I
-
Admiral Shara Vaere draws on nearly three decades of military experience and clamps down hard on the yawning void of terror opening up in front of her.
She needs a plan.
She needs
time to plan.
She needs to move. Needs to move. Needs to move. Needs to move
fast.
She's an Imperial Admiral for fucks' sake, she needs to TAKE CONTROL of the situation.
There has to be someone who can take control of the Empire. There's a- there's a fucking structure to it. She needs to regroup her people and figure out where to do from there.
She looks down as a new communique comes in, Admiral Versio (Stuck up prick, doesn't take no for an answer, the filing cabinet in her mind informs her) being the last man out on
Eviscerator, covering the evacuation of a special operations group from the surface of Endor's sanctuary moon.
She needs to make a command decision. And she does.
She spins on her heels, striding briskly towards the aft of
Indefatigable's bridge, her Captain Lessam nearly left behind by her sudden action, "Captain Lessam, we need to keep this information Need To Know for now. Inform the squadron that we are pulling out. Secure the ship for hyperspace."
"Aye ma'am. Destination?" he says crisply, relief evident on his features.
"Chandrila. I'm regrouping the fleet."
"Yes ma'am."
She's already at the communications alcove, a mustachioed young officer with haunted eyes looking up at her, "Ma'am!" he snaps out hastily as his superior's superior's superior focuses all of her very formidable attention on him.
Vaere smiles sympathetically at the man, his obvious shock at the gesture covering up the small amount of time she takes to hunt through her mental map of the fleet and pull out a name for the rangy blonde-haired man, "Officer Nimean, you're only six months out of Anaxes, yes?"
The junior officer's mouth gapes just long enough for it to cause him embarrassment, this isn't what he'd been expecting. In the Empire, sometimes the messengers
are shot.
But not in Vaere's fleet. Everyone knew that in Vaere's squadrons, Navy respects Navy. (Especially if the Admiral could find some
really spicy blackmail.)
"I would expect that you're very familiar with the Imperial Naval Code then Mr. Nimean?"
"Uh, Yes Ma'am-"
Shara holds up her hand in a casual manner, "Right now, I'm concerned with the second and third lines." then she gestures for the blonde haired young man to proceed
"Ma'am, 'I will obey my superiors' and 'I will never shirk my duties', Ma'am."
"Good, officers like us, Academy men and women," she gestures between herself Nimean and Lessam, "we stick together, we see to the interests of the Navy and the Empire."
Nimean nods seriously, the fear in his eyes starting to recede.
"These are extraordinary times Officer, you have a vital task to prevent panic from spreading throughout the fleet before your superiors can address the issue. I am giving you a direct order that no mention of anything at all related to the matter of Endor and subsequent related topics are to be discussed with anyone except myself and Captain Lessam."
"Aye, Ma'am"
"And that all communications regarding the matter should be forwarded to myself and the Captain until such time as I give you further orders on the matter."
"Aye, Ma'am"
"And one final order, I want you to instruct the entire on duty encryption section to remain in their compartments until I can speak with them directly… Terror," she speaks from personal experience, "is a contagious affliction, and we do not need any infectious conditions spreading across the fleet. Navy looks out for Navy."
"Yes Ma'am", says Nimean, smartly, shoulders relaxed for the first time in the entire conversation.
As she turns to leave Officer Nimean to carry out her orders, she gestures Captain Lessam closer, "Instruct the rest of the squadron to maintain a complete communications blackout.
Nothing gets on and off those ships except via
Indefatigable, and I will ensure that
Indefatigable herself is airtight. We need to get ahead of this infection before it consumes us."
Lessam takes a half breath and nods, "Of course Admiral…" a worry creeps across the man's plain features and into his voice, "Ma'am, we can't keep this a secret forever. Are there any other instructions I can pass along?"
Vaere frowns, "Let them know I'll be addressing the fleet when we arrive at Chandrila. But our main priority is to lock down before things get out of hand." she gestures with both hands in a direct show of finality, "I need to ensure that we have complete control of the situation which is why I'm also recalling the other squadron elements to Chandrila."
"Alert Vice Admiral-"
[ ] "-Harst that we're regrouping the fleet at Chandrila."
Admiral Vaere, in her capacity as the commander of one Bormea Sector's superiority fleets commanded more than just the squadron centered around
Indefatigable. She also commanded a number of other units that had been spread out to isolate Chandrila at the Emperor's behest.
The largest independent element, sitting on the Perlimian Hyperlane between Corulag and Chandrila is commanded by Vice Admiral Khar Harst aboard his
Tector-Class flagship
Archer. The rest of the Vice Admiral's squadron is primarily heavy line elements, more heavy units like a pair of
Victory-class Star Destroyers.
Harst is a harsh and disciplined man, a former engineer, and loyal to Vaere after then-Lieutenant Vaere saved the career of her ship's engineer from an unscrupulous smear campaign that attempted to frame him for poor ship maintenance.
Once the various fleet elements are reassembled in Chandrila she can figure out what to do next.
[ ] "-Seles that we're regrouping the fleet at Chandrila."
Admiral Vaere, in her capacity as the commander of one Bormea Sector's superiority fleets commanded more than just the squadron centered around
Indefatigable. She also commanded a number of other units that had been spread out to isolate Chandrila at the Emperor's behest.
The largest independent element, sitting on the Perlimian Hyperlane between Corulag and Chandrila is commanded by Vice Admiral Nala Seles aboard her
Imperial-class flagship
Invictus. The rest of the Vice Admiral's squadron being comprised of strikecraft heavy elements like
Quasar Fire Light Carriers and a pair of strikecraft heavy
Vindicator variants.
Seles is something of an easily excitable daredevil, a former TIE pilot, and loyal to Vaere after then-Captain Vaere saved her vessel's wing commander from accusations levelled by jealous former paramours.
Once the various fleet elements are reassembled in Chandrila she can figure out what to do next.
[ ] "-Barre that we're regrouping the fleet at Chandrila."
Admiral Vaere, in her capacity as the commander of one Bormea Sector's superiority fleets commanded more than just the squadron centered around
Indefatigable. She also commanded a number of other units that had been spread out to isolate Chandrila at the Emperor's behest.
The largest independent element, sitting on the Perlimian Hyperlane between Corulag and Chandrila is commanded by Vice Admiral Tarrid Barre aboard his
Imperial-class flagship
Pyre. The rest of his squadron consisting of lighter elements like
Raiders and
Surveyor reconnaissance frigates.
A taciturn and reserved man, Barre is loyal to Vaere because she oversaw his transfer into line operations after he suffered nearly career ending injuries acting as a Naval Infantry liaison during the suppression of Operation Domino.
Once the various fleet elements are reassembled in Chandrila she can figure out what to do next.
A/N said:
Oh boy, I can't wait to get to Chandrila, I'm certain that everything on that Rebel sympathetic core world will be completely normal after news of the rebel victory at Endor arrives.
