Darth Marek stood at the head of the large conference table. Seated around the table were the captains of his fleet. 26 seats were filled, one was empty, the Captain of the Izman had been lost during their engagements with the Borg. The Star Destroyer captains sat together, nearest the head of the table, where Admiral Daala sat holding court. Commander Kratas sat to her immediate right and to her left sat Captain Drayson, who was eyeing Kratas with barely restrained anger. Kratas shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny, deciding that perhaps his little joke at Drayson's expense had not been such a good idea at all.
"I will not lie to you, aside from the fact that I am sure that you have already found out the truth from your eyes in ears here on the Iron Fist. We are far from home and out of our time." Daala began.
Some of the captains exchanged furtive glances.
"Nevertheless we are Imperial officers and we will act accordingly. Now is not the time to let discipline slip." Daala warned.
"Admiral, if I may." A woman's voice spoke up. Daala nodded.
"Captain Zenah?"
Zenah, captain of the Relentless, was the only female captain in the entire room, she was tall and lean, her dark eyes were always calm and cautious. She never spoke loudly, never tried to stand out from the crowd of commanders. Many that had served with her compared her to one of the great cats. She seemed quiet and lazy, but when the hunt was on she was a fury. Zenah had come to accept the fact that she would not ascend much higher in the ranks, one of the few female star destroyer captains in the Empire, she was resigned to never commanding a fleet or ascending to Admiral. However, she was a consummate professional officer and she absolutely refused to ply her charms to get ahead.
She had protected her and nurtured her on her rise up the ranks. She owed her much and would, as any other officer here, gladly lay down her life for the Admiral. As for the black clad boy that stood behind Daala…he was another matter altogether.
"If it is true that we have been flung 3,000 years into our future and far away from home, is there a point to this exercise of obtaining data from the Federation regarding wormholes and the like? Why not simply conquer this entire galaxy? The natives here are ridiculously primitive, we could destroy their assembled fleets in several engagements, and have a new empire to call our own."
Several of the captains nodded their heads in agreement. Daala frowned.
"Let me answer that question. The Emperor's last message was an order to return as soon as possible so that we could join in a final battle that would destroy the Rebellion. I intend to follow my master's orders to the letter as should you all if you are loyal Imperial Officers." Marek replied sternly, eyeing each commander in turn.
Some of the commanders grumbled, not taking kindly to the veiled insult.
"I was merely pointing out a possibility."
"There will be time for conquest soon enough. But Lord Marek is correct. We must find a way back home. The probe droids we have dispatched in the last few days have begun transmitting. This galaxy, while large and open for conquest, is lacking in some very necessary materials for our technology to continue to thrive. Luckily, Tibanna gas is rather abundant here, a byproduct of mining one of their most precious resources, a crystal called Dilithium, so our weapons systems will remain fueled, but there seems to be no raw materials for us to build more dura-armor. Neutronium forges are no where to be found. This will makes thing harder for us as time goes on. The technological base of our foes is such that we will spend decades trying to bring it up to a standard that we can be comfortable about."
"First thing to go are those damned warp cores." Drayson spat. "Did you know that those things are prone to explode for any reason? The Federation ship I captured very nearly exploded before we could secure her and my technicians were forced to baby sit the damned thing until we got here and finally shut it down." Drayson complained, shoving a pen away from him to show his disgust.
"We ran across a similar problem when we fired the superlaser, their reactor system on the entire continent started exploding." Kratas added then instantly kicked himself as Drayson openly glared at him from across the table. He just HAD to bring up the sorest point of all…Drayson had missed the firing of the superlaser.
"In the end, we will eventually degrade down to their level, our systems will run down, our spare parts will run dry and we will have to start making due with what technology is readily available." Daala added thoughtfully.
"By the Emperor I will certainly not serve on a vessel that is essentially a flying bomb!" Drayson exclaimed.
"I think we are all in agreement with Captain Drayson." Captain Pofed added. He was the commander of the Executioner and a life long friend of Drayson's. They went to the academy together, served on the same ships and now they captained vessels in the same fleet. He was the second part of the triumvirate as many commanders in the fleet dubbed them. The three finest Star Destroyers in the fleet, given the duty of always taking the lead in battle.
"Our greatest concern becomes how then do we make for home? I do not relish hyperspacing for three thousand years and arriving six thousand years out of time." Captain Pong added in a soft whisper. He was the third leg of the triumvirate. Commander of the Star Destroyer Inexorable, he never spoke above a low whisper, some said that it was because of an old war wound inflicted by rebels, others said he simply did it for dramatic effect. If labels could be applied to these three capable commanders, Pong was the thinker.
"And I do believe that we have an answer to that problem." Marek replied, waving someone in. Two stormtroopers escorted in Admiral T'Vok and Mara Jade. The stormtroopers snapped to attention and stood by the doors. T'Vok strode up to the table without fear and stood at attention, letting the assembled Imperial commanders stare at him for a long moment. He did not flinch from the attention, only noting a slight ripple of unease form some of them as they recognized that he was not human.
"Commanders, I present to you Admiral T'Vok of the Romulan Star Empire. He is the liaison of the Romulan government and I have just appointed him overall commander of all Romulan armed forces."
T'Vok nodded to the assembled humans.
"I am here to serve." he replied evenly. The shame of the defeat was still sending ripples through Command, hundreds of officers had committed suicide over the last two days. T'Vok was trying to stop the flood of such brash actions. He believed in the superiority of the Romulan people and culture, now this Empire had arrived out of nowhere and taken from them that pride and sense of purpose and destiny. But T'Vok would not allow them to take his own personal pride. He could bend but he would not break.
"Admiral, please tell us what you told me."
"There is a race that can help you in your quest for a wormhole back to your world."
"Oh? I thought the Federation was our best chance at that." Drayson replied wanly.
"They are part of the Federation and they would be the ones the Federation would turn to if they were confronted with the same question." Some of the commanders were leaning in, listening more closely.
"They are a race of scientists, dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. They are the Federation's scientist's caste if you wish to look at it that way."
"Odd, our current review of Federation records from the Thunderchild's computer core does not indicate a caste system." Kratas interjected.
"The Federation likes to delude itself into thinking that it is something more than what it actually is, a benign dictatorship that classifies its citizens by the skills they seem to gravitate to. Humans are the warriors of the Federation for example."
"So, you see, we have a resource to tap. Imagine an entire world of scientists, dedicated to one goal, finding a way back to the Empire." Marek declared.
"When do we begin?" Drayson replied with a wolfish grin after a moment of silence from the assembled commanders.
Marek glanced down at Drayson and smiled in return.
"Captain Drayson, I have decided to give you the honor of leading the attack that brings this world under our domination." Drayson nodded to Marek, flashing Kratas a smile.
"You and Captain Pofed will lead the attack on the planet, I will give you all the ground troops you need. There is one major caveat."
"My Lord?"
"I want civilian casualties kept to an absolute minimum. I want the planet taken relatively intact, you are not authorized for orbital strikes against any facilities that are scientifically orientated, only military structures may be destroyed with impunity."
There was a shadow of disappointment on Drayson's face that was barely perceptible unless one was looking closely before he nodded in agreement.
"Of course, my lord."
"If I may ask, where will the rest of the fleet be while Drayson is covering himself in glory?" Zenah asked pointedly.
"We will be otherwise occupied, Captain. In reference to this, I want all commands to run battle readiness drills until further notice." Daala answered. The commanders exchanged knowing glances and Drayson started to look suspicious.
"You do realize of course, My lord that standard Imperial protocol calls for three Star destroyers to be deployed for maximum effect during planetary assault?" Pofed asked casually.
"Indeed, I am well aware of standard Imperial policy, which is why I am giving you extra assets to assist you in the operations." Marek replied coolly.
Drayson looked up in interest.
"The Romulan fleet is going to make its first appearance as our allies in battle. The Romulans are familiar with the target area and the people so they will provide on site intelligence and advice. Their ships will also help plug any gaps that an extra Star Destroyer would have done in their stead."
Drayson frowned slightly.
"I'm going on a planetary assault mission with provincial forces." He muttered to Pofed who nodded slowly and eyed T'Vok disdainfully.
"How well do you know the target system?" Drayson asked sharply.
"It has been the focus of many of our missions in the past. It will be a homecoming of sorts for us all."
Drayson nodded slowly.
"I am glad to see we are all in agreement." Daala cut in, giving Drayson a measured glance. Drayson took the hint and quieted down.
Drayson was a good commander, without a doubt her finest warrior, but he had the political and diplomatic sense of a stone. Drayson was like the family's favorite guard dog, ready to attack and pounce but knew much of nothing else. Daala still loved him like a son, there is no one else that she trusted more to guard her flank during a crisis, which was why she was unhappy with Marek's choice of Drayson for the assault. The other mission was far more dangerous to the entire fleet and she would have been far more at ease knowing that the Adjudicator would be in front guarding the fleet as it always had.
"We shall begin briefing on the planetary assault mission, pay close attention admiral T'Vor, your fleet will be supporting Drayson and Drayson does not hesitate to wade into battle, he will need to be certain that you and your men know their part." Daala announced. Drayson nodded to himself. Daala always watched out for him, knew his concerns. Daala was letting him know in her far more diplomatic way that she agreed that Drayson should not be attacking with a provincial fleet guarding his flank. But she was an Imperial officer and she did as he was told.
T'Vor nodded slowly, fighting the urge to scream at this human that he had led entire Romulan fleets into battle, how dare she treat him like a raw conscript. But he held in his anger, he lit it simmer and he watched, because in the end, there would be a final resolution to a question that had troubled his people for centuries.
Marek held out his hand and a hologram sprang up on the table. The commanders all focused on the yellow arid world.
"Commanders of the Empire, I present to you our new target. The Federation world: Vulcan." Marek declared.