Author's Note: Well, I really never thought I would be writing again on Fanfiction to be honest, however; I realized that the reality of writing and authorship, more or less is a difficult and very rare field that one could excel and make a living off of. Perhaps, after some practice, and motivation, and more editing of my manuscript, one day I might be able to have the guts and luck to have it published, however; I've turned my view to more realistic expectations, and coming back to FanFiction for something new, I thought would be a nice place to restart and just give something for people to read, enjoy, and immerse themselves into a world that an author can create. Therefore, I say with an unsure heart yet happy exposition that I have returned to write an idea I've been thinking about for quite some time. So, whether you are new readers, or perhaps some previous readers that are surprised to see me again, I hope you enjoy this new story that I have brought you all today. (ADDED INFORMATION: THIS STORY IS A BLEND BETWEEN LEGENDS AND CANON INFORMATION, SO IN A WAY, IT'S CUSTOM LORE/STORY)
The Empire always told me back in the Academy… that in order for a simple cadet to make his way into the ranks of the Empire, they had to be determined, driven, and always put their best effort to make sure the Empire comes out on-top. Hell, I still remember that day not too long ago where I was a yearning young adult trying to think of a way to make his way in the galaxy, whether it was a small investment of some holo-books here, or the small expenditure there. I do not feel very comfortable about talking about my family, however; my father always expected that I would be a very important person someday, despite me not adhering to most of my father's principles, or my mother's morals. At the young age I was, I was more or less unconcerned by the common trifles that plagued society, whether it was status, or money, or many of those commonplace idiocrasies. I always found my opinion to be more on the bounds of self-improvement, knowledge, and having a sense to put myself first, but…I suppose there is more or less one way to cut a bantha.
However; back on topic, my first day at the Imperial Academy on Corulag was a day of dread, yet excitement for me. I do not understand the reason why I was anxious or excited considering how so few actually get through the academy and get in a position underneath an admiral of some high up in the ranks. In-fact, I was even more so surprised that my father somehow arranged for me to end up on Corulag, instead of the Imperial Academy on Eridau, considering I lived there for most of my life, but I suppose that is the benefit of my father being a representative for the planet's senator. Therefore, I had an edge already above most of the cadets at the academy, but of course, not to mention it comes without its disadvantages. As I was lined up with the other cadets that day in the front of the Imperial Academy, we were meet by an instructor by the name of Behlmus Clad. His name earned a few giggles and other remarks from some of the cadets, and this comes without saying that he didn't punish the little jokers for their sense of humour.
Instructor Clad, as he preferred to be addressed by us, asked us some first-hand questions of our basic knowledge of the empire, however; I kept to myself to observe the multiple cadets; mainly on how they reacted, spoke, moved around, or talking to their 'new' friends. It seemed most of the cadets here thought this was some boarding school that their parents sent them to, due to their status or position in the Imperial Hierarchy; I wasn't impressed to say the least. Eventually, after Instructor Clad had been satisfied by the answers to his questions, we began to walk towards the inner workings of the academy. The main courtyard consisted of a lot of gardens, and a massive crystal fountain in the middle of it, while the entire courtyard was surrounded by the unmistakable AT-ST's, and new military innovations of the Empire. After a brief tour of the outside, we made our way to the entrance of the facility and entered the grey and black interior.
Imperial Flags, propaganda, slogans, luxury furniture and the like made up the entire lobby of the Academy. If I was to say that the lobby didn't make your first thoughts of the Academy impressionable would be a down right lie, taking into account the courtyard also. Clad seemed to observing most of the cadets, and eventually his eyes landed on me for a split second. I could feel the condescending eyes glance over me, as I glanced back towards him with a passive yet apathetic gaze. His eyes then continued to scan the group before eventually he ordered us into formation again, and for us to follow him to the main training facility and our chambers. Along the way, I was able to see multiple rooms, consisting of anything from simple mess halls, to state of the art target ranges and armouries. Eventually, we came to some large room that held multiple bunk beds, footlockers, along with tables and chairs and some sort of game table.
"Back into Formation, Cadets!" barked Instructor Clad.
We all snapped into the uniformal square of thirty or so of us, and directed out attention to the man in-front of us.
"Now, these will be yours quarters until the day you graduate. There will be no need for assigning you bunks, I'm sure you all can work out something on your own. As for today's agenda, I want you all to know that we don't do formally start training you into the next generation of Imperial Officers until tomorrow. So, I suggest you make friends and form bonds with your fellow cadets so that this year long process will not be an 'inconvenience.'"
The Instructor took a split second to look over everyone before stating that dinner will be served in two hours, and after that, the cadets have two hours in recreational time before it would be lights out. He then took his leave from the room, while everyone remained in the formation, which is until the blast door closed behind us. After that, everyone seemed to break off onto their own, a group of three average heighted cadets went over to the bunks on the very end side of the room, large groups seemed to congregate near the tables and chairs, and then the remainders, namely me and four others, went to the furthest bunks and decided to place our belongings and take possession of our bunks.
The first person to approach me that day was about a minute after I was done placing my belongings into the footlocker, and taking a second to relax on my new bunk. The cadet looked at least eighteen years old like myself, blonde haired, and fair skinned, and chose the bunk right next to mine. I also observed that he seemed to be quite nervous to be here, yet had the disposition and ability to at least approach people and socialize.
"So, which system are you from? It takes quite a lot to be sent to the top academy in the Imperial academic system, so whose legs did you pull to get here?"
I took a second to arise from my lying down position, and look him straight in the eye.
"Eridau. As for how I got here, I didn't pull any legs, or strings; I got here just by applying and having my father sign the application."
My response seemed to please him, at least for that very second before his attitude seemed to change to a somewhat defensive aura.
"Hmm…I think you are lying to me, but…I suppose everyone has to keep their own ways of how they got here to themselves. My name is Laride Entolli. Perhaps you have heard that last name?"
At that point, I automatically knew what type of person he was, and that I would probably not enjoy his company, or his ideals, however; I went along with it, considering I have to make some friends while at this academy, or at least in the hopes of graduating and being placed under someone.
"Who hasn't heard of the Entolli Family from Dantoine? They are artisan nobles that have had a long history of bloodshed and rivalry with the Sudentol family, no?"
I seemed to have earned some unexpected response from him, considering I actually knew who the Entolli family was, so he couldn't fabricate some classic and corny, 'Oh, you haven't heard of them? Well they are this…family' and the like.
"I wasn't aware that many people paid attention to the problems of Dantoine, especially those from the core systems, or mid rim, but I am glad to know that I know someone here that actually seems to give a womp rats behind about other systems."
After that point, my new friend and I began to just converse about the basics about why we signed up for this, or in his case, why his father signed him up and used as much gravitas and power he had to send him here, while I just lied that my father sent in a generous 'contribution' to the headmaster of the academy, upon the event that I was accepted. To be honest, it wasn't that far stretch of a story either, considering there have been rumors in the past that I have read about the headmaster taking bribes from rich Coruscant and Byss families. It also seemed quite likely that Laride could be an easy person to manipulate and use to usher forth my ascendency in the class.
By the time that the dinner reminder had sounded through-out the academy, the thirty or so cadets that I had counted that came in with me, soon became a couple hundred from the multiple instructors that are a part of the academy. The food of the academy was something I was going to have to get used to, compared to my mother's delicious homemade meals. It was also around this time that I was getting a little home-sick due to the fact that my previous thought about homemade meals brought me back to my peaceful and studious life on Eridau. Just then, Laride got my attention and began to talk about some of the female cadets that were sitting two tables away from me.
In all honesty, I never really understood the reason why some men just obsess over the bodies or looks of women, or the reason many people do anything for any reason to obtain just a simple goal. This being quite an excellent example of what I mean, considering how Laride was practically fawning over this brunette haired female that was sitting with a red haired and blonde haired female. Annoyingly, I say there for the next twenty minutes listening to what he was going to do, and some scheme on how he was going have her in his hand by graduation. I kind of felt bad for him to be fair, considering the female was probably here for an even more noble reason than probably ninety-five percent of the academy was.
After dinner however, I didn't really want to talk with Laride as he had drained me of most of my energy for those past two hours and I used the excuse that I was tired from the two day voyage to Corulag and just wanted some actual sleep. So without much more than that, I put on some pajamas that I had packed neatly inside my footlocker, and pulled the covers over my torso, and tried to go to sleep despite all the buzzing and chatter that had surrounded the entire room. It seem redundant going to sleep that early in the long run, considering for the next two hours I just feigned sleeping until finally the lights in the room went out and everyone slowly rescinded into their beds and the somber grounds of sleep.
The next morning was the real eye-opener to how the academy was for me, and how the next year would be a complete and utter drag in the morning. Each morning they would play a loud annoying tribunal song that would reminiscent of some military boot camp wake-up call. Upon everyone going to the front of the bunk beds, and standing in an attentive stance for the Instructor, he would walk down the middle of the large room looking at all of us, before he would tell us that we were getting our combat and relaxed cadet fatigues. Multiple Stormtroopers brought in the fatigues, and laid them on everyone's footlockers before the Instructor continued on how we were to meet up in Training Room Four in exactly ten minutes, with our combat fatigues on, or else we would suffer the consequences of being late.
I was within the Training Room in less than five minutes, and I realized that only four people were there with me out of the rest of the cadets. I took into account who these four people were, and remembered their faces, considering I made the assumption they took this seriously. A few minutes passed by and most of the cadets slowly poured in, until the ten minutes were up, and the Instructor told us to get into formation. By the end of him counting out loud the amount of people that were in the room, he yelled in utter disappointed that only twenty out of the thirty cadets were here. As if comically on cue, the other ten cadets seem to walk into the training room, laughing about some stupid joke or story that one of them was talking about, and I wasn't too surprised to see that Laride was a part of the group.
"Cadets Entolli, Maern, Leriks, Osteinren, and company! How dare you arrive two minutes late to the training room, despite my specific orders! I told you what would happen if you were, and now I will stipulate your punishment!"
My impression of the Instructor being a little bit of a push over seemed to disappear when we watched the ten cadets get on the floor, and practice a rigorous set of pushups, sit-ups, and other routine exercises while the rest of us watched. By the conclusion of their punishment, the Instructor then began to tell us the real orientation of what he will expect to see by the end of the training and nearing graduation.
"Some of you may be concerned, and you should all have a right to be concerned, considering only ten of you will leave this academy through graduation. The rest of you will face expulsion upon failure or any inefficiencies or lack of improvement through-out the entire year. Your daily routine will consist of actual classes to teach you how to be a competent lieutenant, or captain, or perhaps an admiral someday, while you will also practice combat, firearm training, and many other specialist fields."
The Instructor continued to talk about the multiple hoops we would have to hop through in-order to graduate the academy, before after the ending of the hour; he finally stated we would begin training. To little surprise, considering the training room was transformed for firearm training with ranges, and racks of low-energy, training E-11's. He wanted to see who had a decent hand at accuracy and expertise in using an E-11, and I smiled slightly considering I used to go hunting with all types of rifles with my father. Instructor Clad told us all to pick up a single blaster cell and to load it into the rifle, and step up to a firing line booth. Out of the forty or so booths, some were spread out, and some were empty and devoid of any cadet.
Holographic Targets began to appear in-front of every booth and the instructor told us the basic mechanisms of the E-11, and told us how to operate it, for those who had never held a blaster before. It seemed like everyone in my class at the very least has held a blaster before, and could at least hold it upright. Upon the ending of his introduction to the blaster, he stated to shoot the targets as many times as you could in either the chest, or head area, and that whoever hits it the most with a single blaster cell will get a special privilege. Upon him giving the order to start, the targets began to move around and teleport from distance to distance. I also heard the grunts and moans of multiple fellow cadets as they kept shooting and got aggravated at the fact they kept missing.
I calculated every time a target would move, or go to a specific area or distance, due to the fact that I began to notice a pattern in the programming, thus ensuring that I will have a clear shot for every target. By the conclusion of my spent magazine, I had missed only nine out of the hundred shots to make it 'believable' and to make it seem I wasn't a complete show-off. The Instructor then gathered us into the formation again, upon depositing our E-11's back on the rack and read through his data pad for a good minute.
"It seems we have a tie for the two best cadets in shooting…quite uncommon, but congratulations Cadet Denan Aelruino, and Cadet Reylan Praxon."
Upon hearing my name called last, I immediately took a glance towards the other cadet that was already looking at me. It seemed that a rivalry had just been initiated between me and this other cadet at that very moment. The instructor then pushed us along to the classroom, where we were all given datapads and uploaded into the academy library to where we would have all the materials for our studies. We were then dismissed to breakfast before turning back to the first day of class which was mainly spent talking about the beginnings of the Galactic Republic, and the Naboo Crisis which by the conclusion of class at the end of the day, lead to the beginning of the Confederacy of Independent Systems.
As I made my way back to the bunks after the conclusion of dinner, I was pulled to the side by the same cadet that had been staring at me after the conclusion of the marksmanship test. He was just slightly shorter than me by probably half an inch, and he had brown cropped hair, and unforgettable green eyes.
"I must say, I didn't realize that I would actually have a challenge at this academy."
His attitude and tone was nothing short of brash and stuck-up, and I couldn't help but revel on the inside on how much I would enjoy this.
"I've trained for the past few years to ace this entire academy, so if you think you are going to be the ace of the class, you better be content with be second place. My father is an imperial officer, a high one on that, so I wouldn't get too excited, especially considering our lower-end 'rivals.'"
His made sure to annunciate the last word as much as he could with a very posh core world accent. I had absolutely no doubt that this person was probably some silver-spoon fed child that is either the son or heir to a very profitable organization, or perhaps a senator to one of the worlds. Probably for the former, considering I haven't ever heard the name Aelruino in the Imperial Senate. However; just as he was concluding the last of his threats, I simply look at him with a short smile and stated:
"Your status and your background mean nothing to me, and all you said were some empty threats, so if you don't mind, I'd prefer not be arguing to the likes of you."
However; as I made my way for the door, he quickly pushed his hands in-front of my way, and retorted, "Those weren't empty threats, if you don't back off, you will regret it."
"You know, I've meet people like you back on Eridau, guess what happened when push came to shove." I countered, before gesturing to his arm and asking apprehensively, "Do you mind?"
He placed his hand down, and I returned back to the bunks and decided to rest on my bunk, while reading over some books and material part of the academy's library before going to bed. One thought that never escaped me though while I prepared myself for sleep was how interesting this entire year at the academy is going to be with some stuck up brat trying to push me down to number two, it'll be laughable to say the least. By the time the lights went out, I placed the datapad in my footlocker, and placed the padlock back on it, and did the same routine as I always did, before shutting my eyes.
For the next six months while in the facility, our 'rivalry' wasn't really much of a show, considering I tried to seem at least above average without going above and beyond. It seemed to me that my 'above average' was his ceiling in experience, and it seemed we always tied in our ventures and competitions. The instructor quickly picked up on our rivalry also, and implored us to seek teamwork in each other, especially with the last month of the semester being based around team building activities and building trust with your cadets. By the end of the semester, fifteen cadets had been discharged for not keeping up, lacking in classroom grades, or lacking in the other criteria whether it was field combat and strategy, implementing successful decisions in simulations, and other tasks ranging from intelligence gathering and infiltration.
It was only after the first six months that things started pick up in heat, diversity, and challenges. At least, that was the case for most of the cadets, and the true caliber of the Corulag facility started to obviously start shining through. Two cadets dropped out due to the intensity, and by the third quarter in the year, there were only twelve cadets left, and the ten that would graduate were becoming more and more apparent, which lead to the bigger question of how one would rank in the graduation leaderboard. The most interesting events in my opinion, however; happened in the month twelve.
I had been keeping tabs on most of the cadets, and even more so on Denan Aelruino being he was the biggest threat to me. The minority of the cadets seemed to favor me, while easily eight of them secretly or prominently favored Denan over me, and I began to pick up on certain deals that were happening under the rug. Denan's father, which I later confirmed as the founder of the Aelruino Mining Company which was later Imperialized by the Empire, had some political ties to the Senate, and due to that, a lot of gravitas in the academy now. Denan made illegal transmissions to his father, trying to convince him to send some bribes to Instructor Clad, and to other cadets that he had named so that they could work for him while in the facility, and try to exploit and mess me up in the last month of training.
In-fact, I may have been given an expulsion due to one incident in the training room, where my E-11 malfunction and sent a power bolt that was way above its 'set' low energy parameter, and due to that, the instructor found out it had been modified to make a 'bigger' hit radius on the target, therefore, if it hadn't been for my previous and time and time again excellency in the academy, I may have been. However; I decided to ruin Denan with one swift stroke, and with the help of my four 'friends' and 'assets', I did just that by them copying a single transmission that was from Denan to his father, and then it 'suspiciously' turning up in the Instructor's main office.
Personally, I didn't feel real happy by winning the number one spot like that, especially considering I wanted to finish this as fairly as possible, but he forced my hand, and seemed to underestimate what I was capable of. By the end of training, and near the date of graduation, two cadets were shipped off that favored Denan, and three more were shipped back home due to 'disorderly conduct' that they had committed in the year of training there, so by the day of graduation, only seven of us were given us the new title of Navy Lieutenant. However; due to the nature that we graduated from Corulag, the top three of us were listed as Top Cadets, and were formally invited for a ball at the Imperial Palace at Coruscant.
While on the shuttle to Coruscant, I contacted my father being we were finally allowed to now, and told him the new, where he told me how exceptionally proud he was of me, and upon feigning some thanks to him, and telling him I couldn't do it 'without him,' I ended my transmission with sending 'love' back home. However; that wasn't of course before he told me that I'd be making some high up people in the Imperial Hierarchy at this ball, and that it'd be a good idea to talk to a Fleet Admiral or someone high up to perhaps have the chance to work with them, instead of being on a measly Tartan Patrol Cruiser, or working Cargo detail, or anything lowly for that matter.
Upon the arrival at the Imperial Palace, I couldn't help but be astounded by the sheer size of the Palace, and the elegance and beauty that had decorated its walls and entrance. If I thought the Corulag Royal Academy was something to be amazed by, this takes the prize for any human or alien marvel or wonder I have ever seen. The interior was equally as impressionable and marvelous as the outside, from the fine red carpets, the painted pillars that held up the entrance, and then the multiple works of arts that adorned the corridors and hallways on the inside, and the multiple amounts of rooms, workspace, and other classified areas through-out. Eventually, our 'guide' brought us to the main ball room, which was filled with tables with exquisite and interesting commodities ranging from delicacies from other races, to etiquette cuisine for human and other species' tastes.
Out of the entire room, there were only eleven or so cadets that I saw in their fresh lieutenant uniform like myself, decorated with a single code cylinder, fresh and crisp brown uniforms, and the rank plate with three red squares on top, and three blue squares on the bottom. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the ball, despite its apparent lack of the High Imperial Officer so far, however; three of the cadets were getting wasting on some Tarisian Ale, two of them were helping themselves to some of the food that was on the special platters on the table, and the rest were huddled in small groups, side from the cadet I was currently talking too.
However; in the long run, I kind of guessed what the problem was with the vacancy of the imperial officer, and that is probably due to the fact they are either caught up in a battle on the outer rim, or some battle anywhere in the galaxy, en-route via hyperspace, don't need another lieutenant to their crews, or they just didn't even bother to show up. But, it seems at least some people decided to show up, whether it was for the food set forth, or just to enjoy a ball or gander inside the Imperial Palace. Three admirals walked into the large room, along with two field commanders of a sort decorated with 'Commander' rank-plates, and a white-uniformed officer, who seemed to have some 'above everyone else' attitude. The ones that were flocked in the groups immediately rushed over to the admirals, and upon over hearing most of the requests and their backstories and their 'efficiencies,' the admirals probably saw past what they were, and kindly declined their requests. Upon that, most of the cadets left with a very sullen regard on their face, however; then there was just three of us, one still drunk from the Tarisian Ale, and the one I was still talking to, trying to not 'convey' much interest.
Eventually, the drunken one was told by the Emperor's Royal Guard to leave due to him collapsing on one of the food tables, utterly embarrassing himself and ruining his fresh uniform. However; the female cadet stated that she wanted to speak to some of the people, hoping that she might impress one of them or convince them that she would be able to get on-board one of their ships, or follow one of the field commanders into combat, so with a final goodbye, we parted ways, and I looked over the admirals conversing among themselves, until the cadet approached, the two field commanders helping themselves to what was left of the food table, and then finally seeing the white uniformed officer, staring directly at me. I decided I might as well start with him first, considering he was staring directly at me, and it seemed right off the bat he was interested in me.
"You didn't seem to be jumping for the opportunity to be a part of the higher ups…is there a reason why?"
His accent seemed to have a much different tone, compared to the ones that Noble-borne Grand Moffs or Admirals would have, and seem to deviate from the regular Imperial-adopted accent. I decided to take in his physical features a little more, from glancing at his slightly greying hair, to his bright-blue eyes, to his light complexion.
"Without meaning disrespect, I just wanted to feel out the other admirals, and officers like yourself to see who a good start would be…since you were staring at me, I went to you."
My answer seemed to convince him of my intents, and held out his black gloved hand and stated, "Well, I suppose I can applaud that. My name's Orsen Krennic."
I shook his hand firmly and nodded at him acknowledging at least a little respect towards him, before rescinding my hand. I took a second to look at his belt, to realize a rather odd looking officer's pistol, and would look back up to Krennic.
"Quite an unusual weapon choice there, but I can respect it assuming you know the benefits of the DT-29."
More or less, I was just trying to lull the white uniformed officer along, trying to keep the talk intellectual if anything, and away from the 'position' business as I see that as a lack of character. Not to mention it shows to them that you are only concerned about that, rather than actually working with someone and hoping to be on board with someone.
"Ahh, the DT-29 is a personal choice, and I do know the benefits…it'll never over-heat, due to its six powered-shots, no matter how fast you shoot them. More or less though, I've just been interesting with their weapons."
We carried on the conversation about weapons, and military interests, before eventually one of the fleet admirals came along over to me, and decided to interrupt the conversation between me, and the now-known Director. I also caught in the side of my vision that the female cadet I was with was walking off with a Field Commander, and I smiled on the inside, assuming that meant she actually got a position alongside one.
"You must be the rather notable Reylan Praxon from the Corulag Royal Academy, no?"
I took my gaze from Director Krennic to the General who had the audacity to interrupt our conservation and scrutinized him for his 'overweight' physique, his black cropped hair, brown faded eyes, and his coarse and somewhat intrusive voice that wasn't attractive to the ears.
"That would depend on who is asking." I retorted back.
The Admiral seemed to be taken back by my somewhat hostile tone, and my slightly offensive phrase, however; I could already tell I wouldn't want to work with the Admiral. However; he didn't seem to get the hint until the Director began to bring up the fact that the Admiral interrupted his conversation with the lieutenant, and that he should be best on his way. The defeated admiral bowed his head and apologized for his intrusion, before he exited the imperial palace. The other field commander left with one of the admirals, and the other admiral, who much later I found out wasn't an admiral at all, but in-fact a General, walked over to the food table, before making his way over to Director Krennic and myself. Eventually, we stopped our conversation, so I could inquire what the admiral wanted.
I took a step towards the General, and held out my hand and stated my name and that it was a pleasure to meet him, and he exchanged the same pleasantries. The Admiral had light brown hair with some slightly long sideburns, brown eyes, and was about the same height as Krennic, side to side. His name was also a little prominent to me, considering I had heard about the man before me in a Holonet message, concerning a Cassio Tagge and a battle where he lost one of his star destroyers due to some Hammerhead corvettes and Y-Wings. I also believe if I remember that he was one of the heirs to the infamous TaggeCo mining company, and commanded a rather decent sized fleet in the outer-rim, but despite the fleet, he seemed to have the commonplace problems that every other admiral had to face, and that was the ever availing rebellion and its surpising numbers that seem to come out of nowhere.
The Director and Tagge seemed to know each other somewhat because they'd always talk back to each other here and there, between both of them asking me questions, and addressing some issue to do with a Project Stardust. Eventually, the Director said he would have to excuse himself and that he would remain in contact with me being he might have some use for me for a project in the future, thus leaving with the Admiral. He began to rant on about how he needs more competent officers in his star fleet due to the increasingly deadly attacks the Rebel Alliance has been committed against his fleet, and that I may be a good enough addition, assuming I'd be up for it.
He also praised my cadet record inside the training facility, and was wondering if I would be up for some shadow-work underneath one of his Captains on an old Acclamator-II assault ship that the Captain had command of, under Tagge. I said I would appreciate the offer and would gladly accept it, and upon that, he said he would add me to the fleet manifest, and that he will send a shuttle to one of the Shuttle Bays in the Senate Spaceport, and that I should enjoy the little downtime in the suites we were given on Coruscant, before dedicating to the fleet. He then shook my hand once more, before leaving the ballroom, and then I was left there with just the silent, yet slightly intimidating royal guard dressed in their full-body red cloak.
Upon exiting the Imperial Palace, I walked down the steps to the shuttle pad, where a taxi was awaiting me for my return to my accommodations. However; before I went into the taxi, I took a glance back around towards the Imperial Palace, to find a grey robed figure looking at me from the steps. Due to the distance, I couldn't exactly make out the facial features, but all I knew was he was male. Without a single second of delay, I hopped into the taxi, and retreated back to my accommodations, to enjoy a night of silence for the first time in a year, and to enjoy a little drink to commemorate my achievement of getting signed on board a fleet, and taking my first steps to the Imperial Hierarchy.
Upon crawling into my bed, I decided to myself that despite what happens, I am going to strive to get as high up in the imperial ranks as I can, be determined from this day forth to push myself for greatness, and to obliterate the rebellion threat to the empire, while also trying to push forward my knowledge and inner workings of the empire, and to push forth my influence. With that thought, I turned off the lamp with the little liquor in my system, and closed my eyes, thinking about how the future will play out from this point on…
