Colonel Kael Sallan walked through the halls of the Huntress with heavy thuds, his gaze focused on the datapad in his hands. Yet he remained aware of his surroundings, avoiding collisions with passing Stormtroopers.
The man wore three blue squares and three red squares on his plaque patch, displayed on his green-gray Imperial uniform. He was in charge of the 337th Division, consisting of close to 7,000 Stormtroopers.
Spread throughout the dozens of ships in the 132-1 Squadron, led by Captain Aaron Rysell.
The Imperial hierarchy was strange, and inefficient would be the words that came to Kael's mind as he walked through the corridors. He was a Colonel of the Imperial Army, equivalent to a Commodore in the Imperial Navy.
Three ranks above Captain, which was where his superior officer currently found himself.
Yet, Captain Aaron commanded the 1st Squadron of a Moff's fleet. It was an honor almost unheard of within the Galactic Empire, and traditionally.
The naval commanding officer had executive command when it came to his fleet. And since the Stormtroopers were part of the 1st Squadron, so was Colonel Kael.
But Kael would be lying if he loathed his commanding officer, for although Kael himself was 43 years old, he respected the younger, 22-year-old commanding officer.
The man was responsible for extinguishing one-third of the Rebel Fleet, and if Kael remembered correctly, both Fleet Admiral Roran Darr and Vice Admiral Cor Killian, now Moff and Fleet Admiral, had received ceremonial promotions witnessed by the Emperor himself.
Unlike Aaron, who had isolated himself temporarily from the social rings, Kael had remained an active member, and he had heard whispers of the swift rise to power which the pair had seen.
In less than two months since the Battle of Datar, they had somehow gained the political acumen and economic groundwork to initiate a complete rework of the planets in the Tian Cluster.
The Tian Cluster had flourished during the Separatist Crisis, as the cluster was centered around Raxus, the capital of the Confederacy, and due to the various corporations in the Confederacy.
Well, if Kael remembered correctly, the core of the Confederacy had seen rapid industrialization and the establishment of thousands of factories.
Sadly though, according to the Coruscant HoloRadio, Raxus had fallen into poverty, as the Techno Union and Trade Federation owned most of those factories. And with the fall of both corporations, all factories shut down.
Yet now, Moff Roran had forcibly taken all the factories, creating the Tian Federation owned by him. And the Tian Cluster had seen the immediate boon of thousands of factories, giving work to the millions of unemployed across the worlds.
The nearby ex-separatist inhabitants had seen the work opportunities and flocked to Raxus and the nearby Tian Cluster worlds.
They were expanding rapidly, and Kael knew it was only a matter of time before their expansion threatened the Core Worlds, which would be followed by God knows what.
That's when Kael rounded a corner and came upon his own chambers.
His position was not one without work; he had to organize all the different levels of organization within the fleet. Each ship had its own designated Stormtrooper detachment, and Kael had to introduce the appropriate officers to the appropriate-sized detachments.
Though lucky, Major Catcher had taken charge of the Stormtrooper detachment of the Huntress, alongside taking an active role in supporting Kael, for which the man was grateful.
Major Catcher, for all his skill and competence, had never been assigned the level of education required to effectively manage close to 7,000 operatives, and even if he was, he'd have preferred not to, for it included a lot of auxiliary and backline work, which the Major dreaded.
...
In another part of the ship, two individuals could be seen lying in bed together. Long blonde locks fell over the chest of a dark-haired individual, as they lay nearly naked, with the exception of a few cloths covering the bare necessities.
"So, Princess. What are our mission parameters?" Aaron asked, as his fingers ran through the loose hair of Hannah, who had her head resting on his chest.
The "Princess" groaned slightly before turning her deep-blue eyes toward Aaron. "We are to eradicate a Rebel cell known as The Black Vow. Luthan Devarra has been identified as their leader."
"I've heard about them. Aren't they non-affiliated with the Rebel Alliance?" Aaron asked, and Hannah nodded. "They were once suspected of coordinating with Mon Mothma's cell, but following their suicide bombing on Christophsis, all contact was assumed to be cut. Yet, they remain a problem."
She leaned forward slightly, capturing Aaron's mouth in a kiss. His arms began wandering across her body, spanking her lightly on the bottom, and as they both pulled away—
"Any indication on their numbers?" Aaron said with a wry smile, and Hannah groaned again.
"An Imperial Intelligence spy reported the transfer of a single MC75 cruiser to this cell, which most likely serves as their command ship. There are also multiple battle logs from that area, though the last transmission we receive every time is a request for aid at the very start. Then everything goes quiet — perhaps long-range jamming," she replied, and Aaron nodded. It was a viable possibility for them to use a long-range jammer.
"Though ISB suspects multiple stolen Imperial hardware — a pair of Quasar carriers and Arquitens-class ships have disappeared in the system over the years, and unlike other ambushes, we never found their wrecks."
Hannah finished, though by now it was clear she had other desires in mind.
"We can continue this later," she said, as she slowly lifted the cloth covering her most vital parts, encapsulating Aaron in her charm.
"I suppose we do," he said, as he abruptly stood up. He threw her on her back as he towered over her. Their eyes met, and the night was filled with pleasure.
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