ME: Time for a little headcanon of mine. May or may not be a bit AU depending on Season 2; probably the former, but overall canon compliant with Season 1.
Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, Regional Governor of the Outer Rim, was not a happy man.
He had to deal with the incompetence exhibited by the Lothal Sector Command; in spite of both Brigadier General Kallus of the Imperial Security Bureau and a Pau'an High Inquisitor (for whatever reason, Vader had neglected to provide him with a name and the Utapaun hadn't been forthcoming with his colleagues on Lothal, even if Tarkin himself didn't care to learn his name), the latter of whom was responsible for coordinating operations of the Imperial Inquisition in the Outer Rim, the local rebel terrorists had continually evaded capture or death. As a result, Tarkin had been sent in by order of His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Sheev Palpatine, himself, distracting him from both governance of his domain and the Death Star.
Because of this, the Eriaduan official did not hesitate to verbally reprimand Planetary Minister Maketh Tua (who, to be fair, was not a military governor like himself or Arihnda Pryce, who had spent far too much time off-world and delegated her responsibilies to the point of it being borderline dereliction of duty), the Inquisitor, and Agent Kallus in front of an assembly of troops for their incompetence. He was outright grateful for the existence of the inept Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel in command of the local Imperial Academy (a junior institution that only trained cadets for a year before they went on to senior ones), Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko and Taskmaster Myles Grint, because their executions were senior enough to warn the main three Lothalian Imperials he was concerned with but low enough to be disposable. In fact, rather than have them court-martialed and executed in a traditional manner (hanging, decapitation, a firing squad, etc), he had specifically ordered the Inquisitor to do it to drive it home for the Pau'an agent.
Unfortunately, even though he had successfully captured the leader of the Lothal cell, his trap had enabled them to air anti-Imperial propaganda beyond even the Lothal system and cost the Empire the tower they had broadcasted it from. Worse, the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Sovereign (he had temporarily transferred his flag from the Executrix for security reasons) had been lost after the rebels had infiltrated the ship and escaped with their leader, Kanan Jarrus (confirmed via DNA analysis to be a former Padawan named Caleb Dume, apprentice of the late Jedi Master Depa Billaba); the Inquisitor was undoubtedly dead now as well, and all of this would be blamed on Tarkin. The only bright side was the fact the rebels had gotten reinforcements, which confirmed the existence of a wider network-at the cost of an opportunity to finally destroy the Lothalian cell.
"Sir," the scanning officer said, "we've detected an ISD in hyperspace. It should revert to real space in t-minus thirty seconds."
"Thank you, Lieutenant," Tarkin replied. Not giving at least the illusion of courtesy would make the men and women of the Executrix question his capabilities, and he couldn't have that. Not now.
As promised, in less than half a minute another Star Destroyer exited hyperspace.
"Sir..." A pregnant pause. "Governor Tarkin, sir, it appears the Star Destroyer is the Devastator."
"Lord Tion's flagship?" Tion was a Rear Admiral and member of the House of Tion, a noble family that was allied with Tarkin's own (albeit non-aristocratic while still elite) kin and controlled the Tion Hegemony, a sector in the Outer Rim (in fact, the head of the House was the local Moff).
"Yes, sir," the young woman at the station replied. The real question, however, was why had the Emperor sent him of all people to the Mustafar system.
"Grand Moff, we're receiving a transmission from the Devastator now," said the Lieutenant in charge of communications, this one a young male officer who looked about the same age as the female one.
"Put it through, Lieutenant," he ordered.
The holoprojector displayed the freshly promoted Captain Jhared Montferrat, a man with brown hair and gray eyes Tion had mentioned earlier.
"Grand Moff Tarkin, sir," the Captain began, "Lord Tion requests permission to board your flagship. He will come via shuttle, Governor."
"Very well, Captain," Tarkin answered. "Thank you for informing me of this, Lord Tion may depart immediately. Tarkin out."
The Grand Moff immediately headed for the hangar bay, escorted by a pair of his personal Stormtrooper guards. Various sailors toiled away, while Imperial Navy troopers (responsible for policing and defending vessels alongside the Stormtrooper Corps of the Imperial Army) watched over their noncombatant counterparts.
Uniquely enough, Tarkin reflected, apart from his personal bodyguards no Army personnel served aboard the Executrix. Not even a single walker was aboard, by order of the Emperor-officially it was due to scarce resources and the lack of need for Tarkin's flagship to perform planetary assaults, but more likely it was to minimize his own power base.
No, my Emperor; I will NOT be foolish enough to betray you without even the Death Star complete.
Eventually a Lambda-class shuttle came into view. Regardless of whether or not Tion supported his doctrine, he would always travel in style.
The ramp lowered. Tion came down.
"Greetings, my friend-."
Tarkin stopped speaking the moment he heard the mechanical breathing of a respirator.
"Hello, Governor Tarkin."
The voice was feminine, but no sane man would want to hear it. It belonged to Barriss Offee, a Mirialan High Inquisitor.
Lady Offee (or, to the more foolish, "Lady Vader") was Lord Vader's top and most favored lieutenant. Unlike the rest of the Jedi (and Vader, who he suspected was Anakin Skywalker but didn't dare ask to confirm), she already had exposed herself as a traitor during the second year of the Clone Wars by bombing the Temple, now the Imperial Palace. She confessed after framing Ahsoka Tano, Skywalker's Padawan, and was sentenced to life imprisonment (similar to Separatist war criminal Foreman Wat Tambor of the Techno Union, who was able to escape but executed after the war-rumor was it was Lord Vader himself who killed him). After Order 66, her records were purged and she became one of the founding members of the Imperial Inquisition.
"Lady Offee," he greeted in return, confident his status would keep Vader's lackey at bay. "Lord Vader, I sent a report-."
Vader interrupted with a, "Details of your incompetence do not interest me, Governor Tarkin. They infuriate me and our Emperor."
A mobile holoprojector like the one used by the Neimoidian Viceroy Nute Gunray came into view. "I agree, Lord Vader. Governor, your blunders have cost us troops, an expensive ship, and an Inquisitor. Lord Vader, I'm sure you and our good friend Lady Offee will punish Tarkin in my steed. Isn't that right, my friend?"
"Yes, my Master," Vader replied.
Just as he said that, Offee raised her right hand and smacked Tarkin's left cheek.
The Governor was infuriated, more by her audacity than anything else (though it did sting). How dare some pet of Vader strike me-.
Suddenly he found himself choking. Vader was now squeezing his throat with the Force, and Tarkin could not stop him at all.
Just when the Regional Governor felt all was over, Palpatine said, "Release him, Lord Vader."
"As you wish, my master."
The hologram disappeared, and Tarkin glared at Vader as he began to breathe normally again. "My actions were performed to the best of my ability, Lord Vader."
"Not good enough then, Tarkin. Am I right, Lady Offee?"
Tarkin didn't even bother listening to her answer; he just glanced at Tion, who was shocked beyond belief.
"Sergeant, see to it that the Governor is taken to the medbay before confining him to his quarters. Until further notice, he has no authority for the duration of our voyage to Lothal."
"Yes, Lord Vader," was the response. Tarkin recognized the voice; a clone, more specifically one of Jango Fett. The remaining veterans of the 501st Legion had been treated for their accelerated aging, as had the younger clones bred during the last years of the Republic. Though now clones were now bred via Spaarti technology-grossly inferior to the Kaminoan method, albeit much more practical, due to differing growth cycles-a training regimen instituted by Vader's direct command made them just as effective, if not more so, than the ones who had served in the Grand Army of the Republic before it became the Imperial Army.
He was not looking forward to this partnership.
ME: A/N: I'm thinking of writing my own version of Season 2 after "The Siege of Lothal" premieres online on June 20, 2015. It'll be somewhat similar to RVB's style of writing/dialogue; profane due to the nature of the cast and setting, humorous at times but dangerously serious the others. Should I continue this?