THE NEMESIS – OFFICERS MEETING ROOM.
First officer Soraan waited for Captain Natane to arrive. The meeting room was filled with senior officers mumbling low with each other. Then the door hissed open and everybody snapped out of their chairs.
"At ease." Captain Natane said and walked up to his seat. "Right. I suspect you all wonder what this is all about. We just recalled the crew from shore leave using emergency protocol yellow and immediately after, the Nemesis jumped into hyperspace."
Natane now had the complete attention from everyone in the room and he nodded to Commander Soraan to start the holoprojector. Immediately a holographic map of stars in the colonies region appeared with coordinates in yellow and a small red dot in the middle. "We have been ordered to immediately set course to these coordinates. There we will meet up with Lord Vader who is on an important mission, though its details are unknown to us. Our mission is to assist Lord Vader in every possible way." These were news that definitely took all the senior officers by complete surprise and the room was dead quiet. "Are there any questions?" Natane asked and looked out over his officers.
"Vader?" a voice said, unclear who it came from. "What could that mean?" "That we´re finished." another said.
Captain Natane had expected the reputation of Lord Vader's 'aggressive leadership' would make the officers feel insecure and perhaps even afraid, and the comment did not come as a surprise. So he continued with a snort.
"That´s just a bunch of rubbish and i don´t want any more talk of that kind. Do i make myself clear?"
A compact silence confirmed the order was understood.
"How many of you have even seen Lord Vader in reality?" he continued. Three hesitating hands went up.
"Well now?" he continued with a smile. "And yet you live?"
That brought some of them to laugh a bit and the tension in the room was lifted a little but not completely.
"Listen." he continued. "We are all officers in the imperial navy and Lord Vader is just about second in command of the armed forces only to the Emperor himself. The missions he commands in person usually are of the utter most importance so we will, to say the least, be where the action is. And so far things are very clear and very plain."
Then he smiled again. "But let us not pretend. The dark Lord has, to say the least, a unique personality and he is very good at..." he paused for a moment
"clearing out the officer's core." That brought down more laughs and once again the tension was lifted among the present.
"I have served under Lord Vader twice earlier so let me share some experiences that might be useful and i want you in turn to pass them along to the crew. Actually it´s very straightforward. Just do your duty. No more, no less. Don´t butter up to score some points for a fast promotion. He will kill you on the spot."
The room was very silent when Natane paused for a moment. "The last thing you will ever see is a red blade of pure energy cutting your head off or a black hand reaching out, squeezing your throat through the air. Don´t try to second guess him or try to figure out in advance what he wants from you. Just simply do what you are ordered to do. Lord Vader demands efficiency, loyalty and above all, results. He detests career hungry officers who try to play hero or sucking up for a fast promotion and thereby risking the mission." The officers looked uncertain at each other and Captain Natane continued.
"And one more thing. If you should talk directly to him, face to face so to speak, don´t be intimidated by his height for you will be looking up to him. Focus on a spot right between his eye lenses or your eyes will be all over that black helmet and your knees will get as week as on a freshly baked Ensign on his first day of duty." That brought some laughter in recognition and remembrance.
"Just listen to what his voice is saying and things will go well." Natane nodded and moved on.
"Now I want you to go back to your people and inform the officers. I would prefer as soon as possible to prevent any rumours from flying around. Make sure the crew is well trained and prepared for whatever tasks might be at hand. All routines and procedures must be well known and there must be no hesitation how to perform ones duties. That goes especially for the officers. Trust me. You don't want to receive an order from Lord Vader, not knowing how to perform it. Then you will die." Then he nodded again and ended the meeting.
"That will be all until we hear from Lord Vader. Wing Commander Edge and Colonel White remain; the rest of you are dismissed." The senior officers of the Nemesis stood up and left the room mumbling, leaving only three people.
"Well then gentlemen," Captain Natane started, facing the two identical Clone Commanders.
"You command the two parts of the Nemesis that I guarantee will notice Lord Vader's presence the most. Under normal circumstances it is the 501st legion that follow the Emperors Enforcer and have done so since the very birth of the Empire. The risk of misunderstandings between Lord Vader and his troops are minimal due to the long period of active duty they've had together. But this time he don't have the 501st behind him, he's got us, which bring with it some...concerns. To misunderstand this commander could be lethal"
The two officers facing Natane exchanged a quick look and Natane turned to the commander of the TIE Fighter Wing.
"Colonel Edge. Lord Vader is known to personally lead the fighters in battle so I want you to pick out a fighter right away and prepare to modify it for his size." Colonel Edge nodded.
"And," Natane continued "I also want you to pick out two pilots to be his wingmen if he should require it." Colonel Edge nodded again. "Finally I can only recommend as much time in the simulators as possible for all pilots. Preferably standard attack tactics and commands rather than fancy flying.
" Yes Captain." Colonel Edge said with a third nod.
"The same goes for you Edge," Natane continued now facing the Commander of the ships Stormtrooper Legion.
"Lord Vader could very likely do the ordering to the trooper commanders himself, and they will then have to pass the planning along down the lines. So there must be no hesitations regarding receiving orders, strategies or tactics." White nodded.
"It's also common for him to lead the ground troops in person so a review of standard assault procedures and tactics would be in place for you too." White nodded his face like stone.
Natane sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Look, it's not that I doubt your competence or your trooper's capabilities. I know you know how to do your job, have no doubt. But this time the pressure on your officers will be so much higher because Lord Vader gives a general order only once and then he expect it to be carried out without any further clarifications or explanations." Both his officers nodded.
"Dismissed." Natane said and the two officers in front of him simultaneous stood up, saluted and left the room without a word.
The Captain sat alone in the room for a while, tapping his fingers on the table. He knew the ship would soon be filled with activity, expectations and even fear in some parts of the mighty warship when the character of their mission would be revealed to the crew.
Personally he found Vader's leadership idiotic and almost childish. To kill commanders whenever something went wrong was counterproductive and obstructed the officers to think creative and take initiative. How would they ever learn from their mistakes end evolve?
But he would be very careful and not even think such things in the presence of the Dark Lord. On the contrary, he would do everything he could to make his mind blank and only think of the Empire, his duty and the glory of the Emperor.
He would probably be alright himself but his officers were a completely different matter, especially the non-clones aboard. They would most likely wet their pants the moment the black shape ordered something. He shook his head and rose from the chair. No use thinking if such things now. He had prepared his officers as best he could and he now had a ship to make ready.
THE NEMESIS - DOCKING BAY 12
Lieutenant Commander Arien Madaan stepped out on the gantry, high above the deck of hangar bay 12. Two rows of TIE Fighters hung suspended below him. He marched on to the fighter designated to him for this mission.
"Sir." the waiting flight engineer saluted when he approached. "Pre-start procedures are completed and all internal tests came out green." he said, still saluting. "The engines initial warm up is also completed and she is ready for pre-flight, sir."
Madaan returned the salute saying "Thank you Sergeant. I know she will be just as fine as always when you hand them over to us." and he reached forward and shook the sergeants hand.
"Thank you sir." The flight engineer answered smiling. "And i know she will need just as much maintenance as they always do when you return them to us."
Madaan chuckled at their informal formalities. It was a gesture of respect that most of the pilots showed towards the flight engineers. Their part in the Fighter Wing was perhaps not the most glamorous but sure not the least important. Without them, the entire flying circus would grind to a sudden halt.
Then Madaan turned around and took a step out from the gantry and down on the hull of the small fighter.
With experienced hands he lowered himself down into the cockpit with a series of moves that required a great deal of skill. A common rookie-blunder was to get too close to the edge in front of you, ripping the entire life-support system off and knocking the helmet in your face. But you only made that mistake once. Fractures on the nose were called a 'rookie-snout' and every pilot in the navy knew what had happened.
When Madaan was seated, he punched in his ID number. Stormtroopers excluded, TIE Pilots were the only troopers holding ID Numbers. It was intended to hammer in the concept of placing mission and Empire above oneself back in the days when non-clones began to enter the imperial fighters.
A good idea in itself but ID numbers soon proved to be almost impossible to use in reality. The non-clone pilots just flew a whole lot better using "real" names and call signs. But, the number every pilot was given was still used and Madaan watched as his number was verified. It came out green and it showed he was the right pilot in the right fighter at the right time. Other than for verification procedures the ID number was almost only used for ceremonial procedures. If you were called with your ID number you had either a promotion waiting (not very likely) or you were in serious trouble (more likely).
Then he attached the small cable connecting the ships systems to his helmet. The TIE Pilots helmet was a part of the cockpit itself and it would be very difficult to fly without it. Difficult, but not impossible, as some pilots had gotten first-hand experience in as the link sometimes was cut off. But that was very rare and Madaans view was filled with information from the helmets Heads Up Display, or HUD. Only now he gave the thumbs up to the flight engineer looking down at him from the hatch. The flight engineer nodded, saluted again, turned a switch and the hatch closed itself and sealed the cockpit completely with a muffled 'thud'.
Madaan flipped a few switches, watching as the diagnostic reports came back all green. All systems good to go.
"Fighter Command, this is Blue Leader reporting in for communications check, over." he called.
"Acknowledged Blue Lead." a voice answered over the helmets communications. "Estimated time to normal space 12 minutes, over."
"Copy that, Blue Lead out." Madaan ended.
He switched ComLink channel to the one designated for their patrol mission and called out.
"Blue squadron, this is Blue Leader. We are approximately 12 minutes to normal space. Report in."
"Blue Lead this is Blue 2 standing by." a voice answered. "Blue 3 standing by." another answered and quickly they all had reported in. And then it was just to wait.
Most of the time spent in the imperial armed forces was invested into waiting, no matter in which part of it you served. But Madaan did not complain. He was just where he wanted to be. He was the Commander of the Blue TIE Fighter squadron on the Imperial Star Destroyer Nemesis and he loved his job. It was more than just a job. It was a way of life, a dream come true, what he always wanted to do since he was just a kid.
He had applied to the Imperial Navy Academy just as so many other kids around the galaxy had done when the empire delicately began to allow non-clones into the ranks and he had quickly proved he had the right stuff for a fighter pilot. After the transfer to a Section for Pilot Training he had known this was where he truly belonged. He loved the Navy with its rules, traditions and way of life. In the beginning he and his natural born colleagues had died like flies in their fighters, but he had somehow survived and now, when the training had been changed completely, the non-clones did a lot better. Still, the clone pilot's only shook their heads at them and Madaan knew he would never be as good as them, but he had accepted it a long time ago.
TIE pilots were the best of the best of what the academy could produce but they were nothing compared to the clone pilots who were completely superior. Their knowledge and experience was...immense, and then some. Senior clone-pilots sometimes held classes with Madaan and his colleagues and once you´ve gotten used to their slightly arrogant manner (frell, they were the best after all and they sure knew it) you had a never ending source of information and know-how at your disposal.
Early on in his career, Madaan had been put in some all-clone squadrons and it was the worst and the best time he had ever experienced. It had been horrible and he was time and time again reminded of how he wasn´t good enough or could never uphold even nearly the same level of skill as the rest of them. Nobody said anything of course. On the contrary, the all encouraged him and helped him in every possible way, and he evolved as a pilot in ways he didn´t even thought possible. But inside of him, he knew he was the weakest link and the one everyone else had to help out. Frell! They even looked the same. A whole squadron of identical faces and then him, the one who didn´t fit in. Like a frellish mascot or something, for luck.
Then one day his squadron leader had taken him aside and told him he was good but they could not keep him in the squadron any longer. He would be transferred to a squadron only with non-clones. Madaan had held his face and nodded but inside him his world fell apart. It shouldn't have come as a surprise to him. He knew he wasn´t good enough and could not keep up with the rest and was only holding them back. But it still hurt. It hurt so incredible much. So, the last day, the whole squadron was lined up, 11 identical faces and him, the abnormal one. Again, the one who didn´t fit in.
The squadron leader held a short speech saying he had done what he could but there just was no way to keep him any longer and wished him the best of luck at his new post. Madaan almost could not keep his tears away but thanked them for this time and everything they had taught him. He also apologized if he had shamed them.
"Shamed us?" the squadron leader had interrupted. "What do you mean, 'shamed us'?" Madaan blinked, fighting the tears back and despite the lump in his throat he said "For not being good enough, for always falling behind, for always needing help in battle, for never learning your designation numbers and..."
"Son." the squadron leader interrupted again, putting a hand on Madaans shoulder. "Is that what you think this is? That i am throwing you out because i don´t want you flying with us?" He put his other hand on Madaans other shoulder, looking straight into his eyes, making Madaan feel like a small boy again and said "Haven´t anyone talked to you about this?" Madaan only shook his head and his commander bit his jaws together and for a moment got something furious in his eyes. But it quickly went away and he continued.
"Son, they are giving you your own command." When he saw that Madaan still didn´t understand he said. "You are being promoted to Squadron Leader of the Knife Squadron aboard the Spearhead." Madaan just stared at him.
"Me?" he said. "Squadron Leader? But i thought..." His, now ex Squadron Leader interrupted him again and shouted "Sword Squadron, teeen-hut!" The whole squadron immediately snapped to attention.
"We salute you." the commander continued and lifted his hand to his eyebrow before he added "Brother."
Madaan was pulled back to reality when the ComLink in his helmet crackled to life.
"1 minute to normal space." He called his fighters again.
"Ok Blues, this is it. Let´s make this one by the book now, Blue Lead out." Seconds that felt like minutes passed and then he felt how the gigantic warship underwent a faint vibration indicating they had come out of hyperspace. He braced for the jolt as the launch tractor grabbed his fighter and flung the tiny craft away from Hangar Bay 12 and out into the large Secondary Launch Bay.
Then, finally, Madaan could take control of the small spaceship, pushed the twin ion engines behind him to full and the fighter shot away from the hull of the Nemesis. The other fighters quickly formed up behind him and he called out "Blue Squadron, you all know your designated patrol vectors. Fan out." He watched on his computer screen how the squadron split up and flew away in different courses. "Ok, Roy, let´s go." he called to his wingman, laying in standard formation at his rear right. Then he turned the control yoke and swung his ship in a wide arch away from the Nemesis.
What nobody told you at the academy was that most of the glamorous life as a fighter pilot is spent in a TIE cockpit on dull patrol duty, just like this one. Madaan had flown hundreds, or was it thousands now, 'missions' like this one. Back and forth along designated flight vectors and patrol boundaries or as an escort to other ships. The hard part was to stay awake and alert hour after hour because suddenly the scene could change and lasers be fired. To prevent that he had introduced his own irregular communication checks to keep the squadron as alert as possible. It was common for inexperienced pilots to...
Suddenly a ship just jumped out of hyperspace in his patrol area. "Wonderful." he grunted to himself before switching on his ComLink.
"Blue 8, unidentified vessel at Five-three, Mark 1. Stay on my wing."
"Copy Lead." came the reply from his wingman. Madaan threw his fighter in a sharp turn, putting them on a course towards a Lambda Class Shuttle that wasn´t there only seconds ago. The shuttle held its course for a moment but then suddenly turned dead onto the Nemesis. Uh-oh, madaan thought.
"Blue 8, Keep calm and stand by." he called his wingman.
THE NEMESIS – MAIN BRIDGE – CREW PIT.
"Lambda Class Shuttle, we have you on our screen now, please identify." Commander Soraan was standing on the Command Walkway, looking down at the communications station in the Crew Pit and the young lieutenant at the console looked up on her nervously.
"Again." she said calmly. The bridge was strangely quiet and everyone could hear her words.
"Lambda Class Shuttle, this is the Imperial Star Destroyer Nemesis. You are flying in restricted space. Please identify." the lieutenant called again over the ComLink. "Call the fighters and have them move in on the shuttle." Soraan said to the officer standing at Starfighter Operations Console. "Yes sir." the officer answered and began executing the order. Then she turned to the young officer below her again.
"Phase 2, lieutenant." The communications officer nodded and began working the controls.
"Lambda Class Shuttle, this is an imperial warship. You are flying in restricted space. Identify yourself or you will be assumed hostile and fired upon."
Soraan made a sign with her head to the Defence and Weapons stations who nodded back. And the bridge was dead quiet again.
SPACE – TIE FIGHTER - BLUE LEADER.
Just my luck, Madaan thought when he received the order from Starfighter Command and flipped the ComLink switch.
"Blue 8 this is Blue Lead. Stay on my wing and watch our back for other hostiles, over."
"Copy Lead." Roy answered. Was that nervousness he heard in the speakers or was it just static?
Madaan moved his fighter and placed himself right behind the shuttle, locking the sights on the target. His laser cannons were already fully charged and it was now just a matter of waiting. A Lambda Class Shuttle could, in the hands of a skilful pilot, act as a fighter on its own. But against a TIE Fighter already placed in the kill zone most flying would be in vain.
THE NEMESIS – MAIN BRIDGE – CREW PIT.
"This is the shuttle of Lord Vader." An irritated voice was heard from the speakers of Communications station. "Stop this nonsense at once Nemesis and prepare for our arrival." Commander Soraan could hear the whole bridge letting out their breaths in relieve when she felt a light tap on her shoulder.
She turned her head and met the eyes of Captain Natane, shaking his head ever so slightly. For a moment, her otherwise crystal clear thoughts were in total confusion but then her training kicked in and she turned once again to the communications station.
"Again, lieutenant. Phase 3." The young officer gulped and said "But sir, it´s Lord Vader and..."
"Lieutenant!" Commander Soraan snapped with a sharp tone, making everyone jump. The young lieutenant had sweat on his forehead and gulped again but turned to his station and did his duty.
"Lambda Class shuttle, this is the Imperial Star Destroyer Nemesis. You have failed to identify yourself. You have 10 seconds to transmit a correct clearance code or we will open fire. There will be no second warning. Nemesis out." Soraan turned to the Weapons Station on the other side of the Crew Pit and the officer nodded, confirming the artillery was ready.
SPACE – TIE FIGHTER – BLUE LEADER
Frell! 10, 9... "Blue 8, this is Lead. How´s our backyard, over?" ...8... Madaan did not see anything on his tactical display but you never knew.
"All clear and no one´s there Lead." Ray answered. All nervousness, real or imagined was gone now and instead replaced by a cold resolution...6, 5...
THE NEMESIS – MAIN BRIDGE – CREW PIT.
...4..."Transmission commencing" was suddenly heard from the Communications Station below. Commander Soraan let her breath go only now realising she had held it. "The code checks out sir!" the Communications Officer gasped, who also had put his breathing on hold. "It checks out."
Soraan nodded and said "Carry on."
SPACE – TIE FIGHTER – BLUE LEADER
"Blue Lead this is the Nemesis. Stand down! I repeat, stand down!" a high-pitched voice yelled over the ComLink.
"Copy that Nemesis, standing down." Madaan answered and immediately broke the target lock on the shuttle.
"Blue 8, breaking left." he called and turned away from the shuttle.
THE NEMESIS – MAIN BRIDGE – CREW PIT.
"ST322 you are clear to proceed." the pale lieutenant at the Communications Station called to the shuttle.
"We are starting our approach." came the answer but by then Commander Soraan had already turned to Captain Natane.
"Captain, did we just almost open fire on Lord Vader's shuttle?"
Natane raised one eyebrow and answered "No Commander. We only followed Imperial Navy protocol."
Soraan just stared at him for a moment and then she suddenly realized. "By the book Captain?"
Natane nodded. "By the book Commander." Then he smiled. "Come, we have the Emperors Enforcer to welcome."
THE NEMESIS – HANGAR BAY 25
A short time later they stood in Hangar Bay 25, together with an honour guard, which was far too small if you asked Soraan, consisting of Stormtroopers and Officers, and when watching the Lambda shuttle slowly being lowered by the landing beam she asked the Captain "So it was only a test?"
Natane answered without his eyes leaving the shuttle "Like I said, we do our duty. No more, no less."
Soraan looked at her Captain with a little bit more respect than before. He knew, she thought. He knew all along something like this would happen. In spite of all the drills they had made and all the talk they had heard, none of them saw a thing like this coming. Then she shook her head and thought We are so farkled.
The shuttle had been lowered on the right side of the large Hangar Bay 25. In front of them two lines of Officers were positioned with their faces turned to their colleagues in front of them. Behind the lines of officers, to the right from the shuttle, two rows of Stormtroopers were placed in their shining white armour.
Before the shuttle had even touched the ground, Captain Natane stepped forward and began his march to the Shuttles entry ramp. His face was like carved in stone and just as the ramp hissed and started to open in a cloud of steam he stopped and put his hands on his back.
Just as he had predicted, Lord Vader had begun walking down the ramp before it was even lowered to the deck. Out of the clouds of steam the giant black shape appeared and his breathing device hissed with its mechanical sound, free of any indication of human characteristics.
"Lord Vader." Captain Natane started and turned to follow Vader who continued his resolute walk. "Welcome aboard the Nemesis. How may we serve?"
"I see you have your ship in excellent condition captain." the Dark Lord answered. "That is good. Set your course to the Warasolis system and take us there immediately. Then gather your senior officers for a briefing."
"Yes my Lord." Natane answered.
"And i will require one of your TIE Fighters to be modified according to my personal specifications."
Natane nodded. "As you wish my Lord. I will send an engineering team to you at once."
Commander Soraan closed her eyes and shook her head again, smiling this time. He had seen that coming as well she thought.
THE NEMESIS - OFFICERS MEETINGROOM
Lord Vader held his tactical briefing for the Senior Officers in the main conference room behind the bridge. The mission was not far off from Captain Natanes own guessing. The time factor was a key issue. That much he got from his little talk with the Emperor. As far as he could recall the Emperor had never before contacted a minor commanding officer in person so the mission must be of the highest importance. They had instantly left for their rendezvous with Vader, picked up the dark Lord and immediately set off to the Warasolis system so they were doubtless on a hunt for somebody, or something. But the prey of the hunt came as a total surprise.
"The prime objective of this mission is to capture and destroy the traitor and Jedi Knight Jorani." Lord Vader said. The female Jedi had somehow managed to slip through Vader's grip before on more than one occasion and Vader had made it very clear that the Jedi was not to be touched.
"The Jedi is mine." he said and there were no doubt what so ever what he meant. The role of the Nemesis was simply to make sure the Jedi was caught so Lord Vader could finish her off. No problem.
The Jedi Jorani had fled to Warasolis only a week earlier so there was no risk of any large scale uprising waiting for them. Quite the contrary actually. Warasolis was a friendly planet in the imperial family and the authorities would probably assist them in their search. So, all in all, they were in for a simple man hunt. Sounds simple enough but with a Jedi in the game you never knew just what might happen.
"Once we arrive on Warasolis" Vader continued "I want you to work together with the local authorities in setting up a patrol grid around the planet. I don´t want anything to slip through our net this time. Nemesis will coordinate all spaceflight in and out of the planet with the Warasoli Space Flight Control Center, located on the planet's surface here" a red dot lit up on the planet hologram. "and on two space stations placed in high orbit." two new dots lit up in orbit around the planet. "Warasolis don´t have a planetary shield or any regular military forces." Vader went on "But they do have the usual set up of security forces patrolling their space in small fighters and some older frigates to support them."
When Vader had finished his briefing and marched down to the hangar bays to instruct the engineers how he wished his TIE fighter to be modified, the next part of the briefing started. Now, the Senior Officers of the Nemesis in detail planned the different steps and strategies of the plan and what needed to be prepared. Such a detail was for instance to split the reconnaissance squadron, or White Squadron, and put a TIE/-rc in each and every one of the other squadrons since the patrol area would be quite large and difficult to cover. Two hours later they were finished and a battle plan was written and sent to the rest of the ship. Everyone was to know what to do, when and how. Captain Natane was proud of his crew who had shown proof of both professionalism and efficiency. They had also been quite observant in following Naval procedures.
When the Captain returned to the bridge, Vader was standing by the front viewports with his hands behind his back, facing the passing inferno of hyperspace light. He waved at tobee and made a discrete gesture of drinking a cup of caf. The droid immediately understood and trotted away.
Commander Soraan approached the Captain when she saw him and Natane asked if Vader had been standing there for long.
"Almost 45 minutes." the answer came, and then "He just stand there. Quiet. Not moving." The droid arrived and Natane took the cup offered to him. "Thanks tobee." Then he turned to his First Officer. "Just leave him alone. Run the ship as usual but don't pretend he isn't there. He very much is, and he hears every word we say."
THE NEMESIS – TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT – DROID WORKSHOP
'Vader', who cares anyway? Crewman Shiri Tayen thought when the work shift briefing was over. She certainly did not. She was standing on the lowest step of the lowest ladder in the imperial hierarchy. And he, if he even was a he, had long ago climbed up and left all the ladders behind him. He was second only to the Emperor himself or something. Shiri would probably not even know when he came aboard or when he left for that matter.
She was a Crewman from Medical and Science Assistance, Android Department, the lowest of the low. She was part of the invisible crew that didn´t really exist and was not a part of the 'real' crew of a battleship. But she did not care about all that either. She only had difficulties with some officers from the core worlds with their pompous egos. The ones who simply saw right through her and pretended she wasn´t even there were ok. That was the story of her life. They knew she had a function to fill and let her do her job as long as she kept out of their way. Fine.
But those who bragged on about their precious 'Acaaaademy' or how much better some core world was, they were the ones she just couldn´t get along with. She had never made it to the Academy. Not with her background from a poor family on some backwater planet. But, she had undergone the same intensive training and education as all the other recruits did at one of the many Navy Recruit Training facilities around the galaxy. Her ability to understand technical issues quickly sorted her out and she was put in specialist training which she actually got through. Or, any moron who could read a manual could pull it off. But it soon was very clear that far from all the morons could do just that. That wasn´t any problems for Shiri. Quite the opposite.
She had grown up in her parents repair shop where they repaired things for customers who could not afford to buy new ones, or sometimes not even in second or third hand. It was mostly droids they repaired, calibrated or upgraded with various modules and primeware. They erased memories, modified owner data removed or installed restraining bolts or did whatever needed to be done. They never asked any questions or kept any real records. Only a fake one for the controls from the authorities. That was why the customers kept coming and Shiri learned as a little girl how droids worked and she developed an ability to fix things. 'Fixie' was what they used to call her.
Anyway, she never quite understood how proud her parents were when she was accepted to join the Navy. They realised she had gotten a chance to a far better future than they ever could dream of. It was only later she knew how they felt and how much they had sacrificed for her to make it. Even her friends had looked up to her, but they would never say so of course. She had been given a ticket away from the bottomless pit of boredom and dead ends they called life. Shiri had passed her technical training with great results and droids had become her focus. She had wanted to go into cybernetics but for that to happen you needed to graduate as a Science Officer from the Academy and, well, that just wasn´t possible for her.
The two areas were the same if you asked her, but no one ever did of course. The same principals but where one of them was attached to a machine and the other in living tissue. The 'Medical' part of Medical and Science Assistance meant to give maintenance to cybernetic limbs that needed repairs or adjustment before being returned to the Medics again. And with all those thousands of Stormtroopers around there were always things to do. More than 40% of all Stormtroopers had some form of cybernetic limb put in. Everything from a finger to arms and legs. It was a dull, sometimes bloody, and an overall disliked business which the 'real' engineers didn´t want anything to do with. They wanted much more to pursue R & D or some other academic witchcraft. The actual 'doing' they gladly left to the likes of Crewman Tayen.
But Crewman Tayen didn´t mind at all, quite the other way around actually. It gave her an opportunity to test different types of cybernetics and she had implemented some of her own modifications and adjustments. It was all done in secret of course. It was strictly forbidden and if she got caught it was probably a one way ticket through the airlock. But none of her 'clients' as she preferred to think about them, had rated on her or even complained. On the contrary, many could swear their cybernetics felt a little bit more 'natural' after she had been allowed to 'try something out'. But, as said, it was strictly prohibited and she had to conduct her tests in secret. That meant late nights in the workshop when no one else was around.
Shiri, or Crewman Tayen as was her military name, liked the Navy. It had a rather simple order where everyone knew their place and had a function to fill even though it was insignificant like in her own case. Stated routines, food in her belly, a bed to sleep in and clothes on her body. She really didn´t have anything to complain about. That was why she did not care at all if the most notorious of the imperial Commanders where aboard the Nemesis and took them all out for some kind of Jedi hunt. It was not going to affect her anyway. Nothing of what the high Commanders with all their cylinders and coloured dots pinned to their chests did would mean anything to her. Droids needed to be repaired anyway.
She walked back to her workbench where an R4 astromech droid waited with a bunch of cables attached to it. She sighed and punched some buttons to start her simulation once more. It didn´t work this time either and it bothered her.
"Tayen!" a voice suddenly called. "Yes sir!" she answered with a reflex and stood up, turned to her Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Parthalan.
"Drop that R4. You just got a protocol droid in hangar bay 3 with a higher priority."
"Yes sir, i´m on my way." She answered and punched in a series of commands on her datapad. She waited for several seconds to make sure the right sub-routine would start at the precise right time.
"Today, Tayen!" Lieutenant Parthalan called impatiently.
"Yes sir! Right away sir!" Shiri answered again and saw her scheduled run get a ready status.
Later, during the ships nightshift, Shiri came back to the Workshop. Under the 'night' on board the Nemesis, the activity was on a much lower intensity and some of the not-so-very-critical operations were even shut down completely. The Droid Assistance Workshop was one of them and it was then Shiri could work with her secret cybernetics projects. She sat down by her workbench and pulled out a box looking like all the other boxes around her. She unlocked it and took out a whole cybernetic arm which she sat down on the bench surface.
Quickly she attached a number of wires and ran a few tests which did not give her the results she wanted. She stared at it for a moment but no flash of enlightenment came to her. Ok, she thought, do it again, do it right. She pulled out a tool and put its narrow tip to a measurement point. That made her datapad come to life and it began writing letters and diagrams very fast. She moved her tool to another point and watched the datapad again. Yes, that was also correct she thought. So why does this one flip out completely? The datapad began writing letters and drawing diagrams even faster this time and it was impossible to read all that came out on the screen. "Yes-yes, i know!" she said out loud and threw the tool down on the bench. Values like these are just not supposed to appear on a point like this! In particular when the other two show something completely different. It was something very wrong with this entire picture. She sighed and stood up. It was just as good to sneak out and grab a large cup of caf. This looked to be a long night.
Shiri sat up with a jerk. Druk! She had fallen asleep again. Quickly she looked at the time on her ComLink but there was no hurry. She was still off-duty and no one was missing her. All the lights in the workshop was off since no one was actually allowed to be here right now, but on the other hand she had 'manipulated' the security level here with a small sub-routine deep in the security system that looked completely innocent when it was automatically activated.
But the cameras overlooking the Workshop were actually rigged to show a recording she had made another night and she had turned off or modified some other things as well. It was the only way for her to secretly work on her 'projects' without anyone knowing what she was up to. But now it was time to save the test results, put her things away, restore the security to its normal level and catch a couple of hours sleep before she was back on duty. She stood up and tapped her datapad so she could...That was when the workshop doors slid open with a hiss. Instinctively she ducked under a workbench. Who was coming? She felt her heartbeat race like mad. This was strictly forbidden, but she had a backup story to pull. Forgot to charge the powerpac of the droid she fixed yesterday, or something like that.
"This way Lord Vader." she heard the voice of Lieutenant Parthalan say and the sound of footsteps was heard in the otherwise silent workshop.
"Here is our workshop for droids and cybernetics and you will find all the tools you..."
Then suddenly the steps stopped and it all went quiet. Shiris heart beat like the sound of TIE Bombers dropping their payload. She could hear a strange 'snap-hiss' sound followed by a low humming sound and a faint red glow could be seen on the wall.
"We are not alone Lieutenant." Vader's synthetic voice filled the entire room and she could physically feel his glance sweeping through the room, looking straight through any objects and then stare right at her. It felt like his eyes looked straight in to her head and she felt like a frightened little child, standing all alone in a corner of an empty galaxy while Vader turned her mind inside out. And then, he was gone.
"You know i can see you." he said. His voice filled the entire room again and Shiri was now scared for her life and close to panic. She slowly stood up and the scene she saw almost made her heart stop. Lieutenant Parthalan stood with his sidearm pointing at her. Some Stormtroopers took position in the rear and they too had their sights locked on her. But they were nothing compared to the Dark Lord himself. The controls on his breastplate glowed in the dark and together with the monotonous sound of his breathing they enhanced the feeling of non-human. In his right hand he held a short metal cylinder from which a beam of red plasma or some other kind of energy arose and in the red glow Vader looked like something picked out from a nightmare.
Shiris eyes almost popped out when she saw what he was holding. It was a weapon. She had heard of it when she was a little girl. Something only the Jedi were known to use. But to actually see one in reality was something she never dreamed of.
"A lightsabre!" she blurted out. "The most advanced weapon in the galaxy and at the same time the most simple and pure of all."
Vader then asked "You have seen one before?"
"No." Shiri answered. "Or, only in pictures. But i´ve read about them and i always wondered how to fabricate one." All the fear in Shiri was gone now and she had only eyes for the technical marvel in Vader's hand.
"The task is practically impossible without placing the parts in some kind of zero-gravity condition" the words just bubbled out of her "and that would still not do the trick because how would you then be able to get the crystal to..."
"Crewman Tayen!" lieutenant Parthalan shouted, who had snapped out from his previous shock. "Be quiet and report. What are you doing here?"
"Sir!" Shiri answered out of pure reflex. "I..." she turned to her workbench."...i mean, the arm, it...i was just trying something and..." She was interrupted by Parthalan and she immediately realised her tongue had slipped instead of keeping to her rehearsed story.
Lieutenant Parthaland raised his voice. "Trying something? I am beginning to understand what this is all about."
Then he stopped himself, frowned and looked up to the ceiling. "And why aren´t the lights coming on?" he asked and looked back at her. "What have you done to the lights?" Shiri hesitated but it was too late to turn back now.
"Sir, if the lights go on the status of the room is changed from passive to active, and thus changing the intrusion level of the workshop."
The Lieutenant looked at her with anger mixed with confusion written all over his face. "Yes?" Shiri swallowed and just flung herself out into explanation.
"If the workshop has the status of active but the security level...can´t change with it, the security system will take that as an intrusion attempt. The alarm will go off and guards will come running."
Lieutenant Parthalan shook his head. "Yes, yes. That´s all good and well but what the frell has that got to do with the lights?"
Shiri was getting irritated at the slow-minded officer. Did she have to spell it out for him? "Sir, i have changed the security level in this room so i can work without the cameras seeing it. The cameras are showing a recording and the motion sensors are so poorly calibrated an AT-ST could walk by without them knowing. Sir."
Vader turned off his weapon and stretched his other hand at the door. The moment after, all the lights in the room came on and the room was flooded with light. The Lieutenants eyes were like to empty holes, doubting what they saw as reality.
"Have you been manipulating the ships security systems?" He looked at Lord Vader and then back at shiri. "Crewman Tayen. You will now answer my question. What have you been doing here?"
Shiri took a deep breath and started talking. "Sir, like i said i was trying something on this prosthesis and..." But Parthalan interrupted again.
"Crewman Tayen! Have you without proper authorization been experimenting on that piece of cybernetics?" With his whole hand he pointed at the artificial arm behind her. Half of his outburst might be from the fact that what she had been doing (for quite some time) was strictly forbidden. The other half came from Lord Vaders precense, witnessing this embarrassment, any one could understand that. When it now was known she had 'experimented' on cybernetics that actually was a part of peoples bodies she was so Farkled and could expect Court martial. It felt like the black statue in front of her could see right through her pitiful little character and would probably immediately known if she lied. Court martial was better that the wrath of Lord Vader so the choice was easy; Confession.
"Sir, yes sir!" But then she quickly turned and grabbed the prosthesis behind her and the words just bubbled out again. "But i can explain. It´s this joint right here that causes problems for a lot of people and i have isolated the interference to this point, see? The Beta-II values are all within specifications on these two intersections here but on this one..." she was once again interrupted by Lieutenant Parthalan who now almost screamed in falsetto.
"Crewman Tayen! Shut up, and put that thing away immediately..."
The statue suddenly raised a black hand that silenced the Lieutenant. "Continue." he said.
Shiri looked at the black helmet, then at Lieutenant Parthalan and finally at the cybernetic prosthesis she held in her hands.
"Well, eh, sir..." she had lost herself and didn´t know how to find her way back.
"You were explaining the Beta-II values." Vader said and pushed her back on the right track again.
"Right… Sir. Well, the Beta-II values here and here" she pointed with her finger at the prosthesis "are both within specifications. But here" she pointed again "they are completely off-scale. And when i say off-scale i mean really off-scale. The Sigma-Wave is on 5, TriBase-V is rushing between 63 and 78" she had only eyes for her work now and talked very fast, pointing at several different locations on the prosthesis "and that´s just not possible or this thing would have seven fingers and be two meters long!" "And the mirror-effect?" Vader asked. "Not a chance." she answered like a flash and turned to pick up her datapad behind her. "My diagnostic routine would have picked it up immediately." She started pressing keys on the datapad and muttered "How am i going to explain this for some kriffing..." She just barely stopped herself not to finish the sentence.
It was dead quiet for a few long seconds before Vader turned to Parthalan. "Leave us." he said. "Tell the approaching guards to keep the door closed. I will interrogate Crewman Tayen myself." The Lieutenant looked at Vader, nodded and said "Yes my Lord." and he looked at Tayen and she could almost see a glimpse of pity in his eyes. Then he turned and waved the Stormtroopers to follow him out. Then they were alone, and the Workshop got silent except from the sound of Vader's breathing mechanism. He lifted the handle of his weapon and watched it for a time.
Then he looked at her and said "Your knowledge in one of the core challenges of lightsabre construction is," he paused for a moment "impressive." His gaze fell once more on the weapon in his hand and he lifted it so she could see it better. He turned it around and seemed lost in thoughts before looking straight at her and said "It is a demanding challenge and impossible to master without the power of the Force." Then he smoothly put it away, rested his hands on his belt and said "Now you will tell me where you have gained your knowledge in prosthetic cybernetics." and added, leaning forward ever so slightly "And i assure you, i have some skills in cybernetics myself." Saying this, he flexed his right hand in and out, possibly without thinking of it.
Shiri then told the Dark Lord the short story of her life. How she had grown up in her parents' repair shop, about her ability with mechanics. She told him about her interest in knowing how things worked and her will to make them better. She also told him about her nic-name 'Fixie' and how repairing things made her calm and forget about the world around her, focusing only on the work at hand. It was supringsingly easy to talk to Vader. Even though he just stood there like a black statue, not saying a word, it still felt like he understood her.
So Shiri babbled on about how her poor background had stopped her attempts to join the Academy. There was always someone else from a better family or from a core world to take the place instead of her. Finally she had given up, realizing people like her never would be accepted to any form of higher education. But techschool had gone better and she had made Droids and Cybernetics her field of expertise. She was actually pleased with the station on the Nemesis and she had volunteered for the not-so-popular job with cybernetic prosthesis. It was, from time to time, a rough work but she had liked it anyway. And she also saw how many artificial limbs had defects and knew that people of 'her kind' never would be able to further develop or improve cybernetics. That was purely for the engineers with a graduation from the Academy. But she wouldn´t let that stop her and she had found a way around the system that worked well. Until now.
All along Shiris talking, Vader had remained unmoving and silent. She couldn´t help but wondering if he had fallen asleep in there, behind the mask. When she had finished he still stood silent for a few minutes.
Then he said "Describe to me the problems you are experiencing with the prosthetic arm you are working on."
THE NEMESIS – TECHNICAL DEPARTEMENT – OUTSIDE THE DROID ASSISTANCE WORKSHOP
Lieutenant Parthalan stood silent outside the door to the Droid Workshop and found himself to pity Crewman Tayen. She had been alone with Vader in there for more than an hour now and everyone had heard the rumours of his methods in the art of interrogation. Few survived with their minds intact. And besides, this was only a simple Crewman who hardly...
Suddenly the door whooshed open and Vader came marching out. "Lieutenant." He said. "Crewman Tayen will remain in active duty for the remainder of this mission. She will also assist in improving the ships internal security." he continued without stopping his walk. "I will decide her future after the mission is completed."
"Yes my Lord." Parthalan answered automatically, saluted and stopped while Vader just marched on as if he wasn´t even there.
He watched the dark Lord, the Stormtroopers and the guards disappear before he turned around and walked into the workshop. There he found Crewman Tayen sitting by her workbench.
"He fixed it." she said when he approached. "Just like that." She didn´t look up on him but continued as if she was talking to herself. "It took him less than ten minutes to figure it out. And it was brilliant. And he did it himself with those giant hands of his while i just...watched. Then he had me walk around to every single workbench in here and, explain how i would fix the things on them."
Under normal circumstances Lieutenant Parthalan had to reprimand her for not standing up in the presence of a senior officer, but not this time. She had just experienced an hour with Lord Vader and she still had all her body parts attached to the right places and was very much alive to tell the tale. So, he decided, he would not press too hard on Naval protocol this time.
"Tayen." he said softly and put a hand on her shoulder. Only then she seemed aware of his presence and she stood up but a bit unsteady. "Sir?" she said and looked at him. She seemed confused all right. "Come along now Crewman. I'll walk you back to your quarters. I think you need some rest."
THE NEMESIS – PILOT READY ROOM – BLUE SQUADRON
The prospect of maybe flying alongside Lord Vader had gotten the entire Fighter Wing of the Nemesis in a status of almost childish anticipation. Even the Clone pilots talked with respect and admiration of his flying skills. Madaan had himself heard when one of the clones said "I´ve only seen the kind of flying he´s pulling once before. But that was by a Jedi, way back in the Clone Wars."
The flight engineers dispatched to modify Vader's TIE according to his instructions didn´t do very well. He had stretched his hand towards some Ensign and the man had been lifted up in the air while struggling with his breath, all while Vader explained the depths of their incompetence. When he had finished his lecture, the Ensigns face was almost blue and Vader released his invisible grip, sending the unfortunate man falling flat down on the durasteel floor, sucking in air like an engine intake. Then he had dismissed them all, and they were only too glad to get out of there alive. Finally he had crawled down into the fighter cockpit and got the job done himself.
There was another rumour of Vader flying around the ship. It spoke of a tech being interrogated for hours by Vader but then had been set free in the end. Most of the pilots, Madaan included, just thought it was a piece of bantha-poo. If someone would be under Vader's interrogation power for hours the chance of survival was just about non-existent and the possibility to be set free was even less. More likely was that the Dark Lord had spoken to some guy and that person got so scared he wet his pants and then had the story made up to save his face.
Madaan had made sure the Blue Squadron had spent more time in the simulators than any other squadron on board. The usual whining about sim training had not been heard this time and instead all of his pilots had pushed themselves to the limit at every training and Madaan had been proud of his Blues.
"Ok Blues, listen up!" Madaan shouted and the loud talk in Blue squadrons Ready Room went quiet. The Ready Room was the sanctuary and haven of the TIE Fighter pilots. Every squadron had its own and it was an unstated understanding that only pilots was allowed to enter. The walls were decorated with the squadrons coat of arms and a large score board covered a large section of the wall. Everything in a fighter pilots life was a competition and scores were kept on kills, missions, sim-hours, exercise and so on.
"As you all know, we´ll be taking over patrol from Green squadron when we have arrived to Warasolis." Madaan continued. "No hostility is expected so standard patrol pattern Gamma two will be executed. And anyway, If there is anything out there, Green squadron will be the first to know."
The last sentence produced some low laughter from the pilots.
Madaan worked the controls in front of him and the orders were sent to the pilots datapads to be studied before the mission. A holo image of the planet Warasolis appeared in the room, and a few pressed buttons later Madaan had produced a holo of the Nemesis. The holoshow was completed with lines, angles, designations, patrol sectors and a whole lot of other flight information.
"We´ll split into the usual four flights and Flight Leaders will dispatch their fighters as they see fit." Then Madaan specified which pilot belonged to which Flight and who would be Flight Leaders.
"Blue Flight 1 will take this area here, Blue Flight 2 will take this, Blue Flight 3 this and Blue Flight 4 will cover this area." Then he looked out at his men.
"Like i said, no hostilities expected but still, let's do this" and he put his hand behind his ear indicating he needed to hear this really good. "By the book." the pilots replied and Madaan nodded. "By the book." he echoed with a broad smile. "Ok, now it´s all rest for 9 hours before we´re taking off. Dismissed." he ended and skut down the holoprojector.