"Admiral Thorn, we are approaching Bastion."

"Excellent. Thank you, Lieutenant. Here are my credentials and codes."

"Yes, sir. Your codes are readied prepared for transmission."

"Very good," I said, looking past the pilot as we dropped out of Hyperspace over the unofficial headquarters of the Imperial Army. While stormtroopers had schools scattered across the galaxy, every troop started their career with the Army right here. Basic training was held here, meaning (as far as I was told) that of the upward of three billion humans housed here not one was a civilian. Though I wasn't worried about what was on the surface, I was far more interested in what was in her orbit.

Fifty ships loomed against the backdrop of the planet, ten of which were each longer than a kilometer and a half. Those ten were settled in an arrowhead formation, with my flagship almost invisible against the void.

Director Eran certainly had certainly gone all out with her…

The Mandator II (painted jet black with the Imperial insignia embossed on her top with a crisp, white lacquer) had nothing "slightly overhauled," about her. The ship held the classic wedge shape that had become the standard for the Imperial Classes but lacked the towering bridge. Instead, the normally overstated command structure had been redesigned and lowered into the ship's citadel - eliminating the target almost entirely. This also gave her a leaner appearance, but there was nothing about her less intimidating than the ISDs fanned out around her. Especially when you considered the four cannons side by side on her belly. I grinned as I looked at them, then glanced at the nearby Harbinger.

The difference was astounding, but the lines were certainly there. The Onager's hammerhead shape was entirely eliminated, but the guns on the Mandator II were a scaled-up version of what the Harbinger carried.

And she was armed to the teeth with smaller guns - even though there was nothing really small about a turbolaser battery.

Director Eran said her ventral turbolasers had been removed, but it looked like they'd just taken them from the belly and then placed them on her back. The Mandator II was positively bristling with guns.

"Damn, that's a ship…" the Lieutenant breathed, staring at the Mandator just the same as me.

"Shuttle L-T4-76589, you are approaching the Mandator II. Submit your codes for screening or risk our wrath."

"Mandator II, this is Lambda-Tau 4-76589. I am transmitting our codes now."

"Shuttle Lambda-Tau 4-76589, transmission received. Admiral Thorn, you are welcome to come aboard. Proceed to hanger for receiving."

"Proceeding to hanger , Mandator II." The pilot said as he leveled the shuttle to the Mandator II's starboard side. I was almost even more impressed as we approached the ship. If you knew what you were looking at, you could tell she was a repurposed ISD II. On the other hand, the weapons systems had been arranged or outright redesigned so that all weapons fire could be aimed forward no matter what. The octuple barbettes weren't just placed side by side like they were on the ISDs, now they were overlapping one another so that all 64 barrels could be aimed down the bow. And the hangar we were told to land in was staring right down half of those cannons. 'Force, this thing's a fleet killer… If this wasn't my ship, I'd be worried. As it is, I'm already nervous a gunner's going to get trigger happy.' The thought was impossible; my men were some of the best trained and best disciplined in the galaxy, but still. The shuttle slipped into the hangar bay, her wings folding upward as she touched down.

"Hatch is down, Admiral. Here are your credentials and your codes. I believe this is your stop?" I chuckled and saluted the Pilot back.

"I do believe it is. Come, we'll get you fed and watered before you return to Coruscant."

"Thank you, sir!" He grinned as he fell in step with me and my stormtroopers. Our boots thumped down the ramp, and I had to keep my eyes from widening at the sight.

"Admiral, let me be the first to welcome you aboard," a Commodore flanked by four Death Troopers said. "The Mandator II is yours. These are your new guards. You have a full battalion of Death Troopers at your disposal. However, I am afraid you only have a half legion of three thousand stormtroopers. They are 212th so they're the best of the best with jump troopers, flame troopers, ARCs, Scouts, every specialized troop unit of the 212th has been assigned to this ship. Every other ISD in this fleet is equipped with a full legion for your use."

"Thank you, Commodore…"

"Pyrin, sir."

"Commodore Pyrin, I appreciate the welcome. What's the readiness status of the flotilla?"

"Seventy percent, sir. We are currently supplying now for a year long deep space mission."

"Excellent. You received my orders, then?"

"Yes, sir."

"Outstanding. Come, we can finish this discussion in my cabin."

"I'm afraid that will have to wait," a new voice cut in. I felt an eyebrow arch as I turned to face whoever had those kind of brass ones. Then the instinctive, deep-rooted fear every officer and enlisted man had instilled into them settled in my gut as a Force damned tourist stood on my deck. "Major Brasine, Imperial Security."

"Major, welcome aboard. Pardon me, but why isn't Naval Intelligence here?"

"Because Naval Intelligence hasn't spent the best part of a year tracking Rebel movements. We have. I am to be your in-house liaison with all levels of the ISB, Imperial, and Naval Intel when it comes to the Rebel Alliance. His Majesty's orders. Now, we will finish this conversation in private. I have been given a Commodore's cabin, I am sure your suite will be much more comfortable."

"Admiral, the crew has already taken the liberty of moving your personal belongings from the Harbinger to your cabin." Commodore Pyrin said.

"Huh… Thank you, Commodore, you are dismissed."

"Sir." He saluted before striding toward the bustling center of activity in the center of the hangar. I watched the flurry of activity for a second too long, apparently.

"Is there a problem, Admiral?"

"No, no problem, it's just I went from the bottom of the Admiralty to almost the top in a day. It's… a bit jarring."

"Hm. Get used to it. We have work to do and no time to waste on novelty. Understood?"

"Ma'am," I said quietly, looking at my Death Troopers once before turning back to her as we marched through the ship, "I understand you are an ISB Major, but remember who the ranking officer here is, understood?"

"I do not fall under the Military, Admiral, I am not in the Fleet. I do not take orders from you."

"I understand that, but you are on my ship. My authority here is absolute. My orders come from the Emperor, same as yours, and our task is to root out the Rebellion."

"Yes, it is. The faster we see to it, the faster we no longer have to work together. Are we agreed?"

"Indeed we are," I said as we came to my quarters. I placed my hand on the scanner and was greeted with the sight of my dark wood desk seated near the back wall across from the door. I smiled slightly and sat behind it as Brasine took one of the spartan (yet comfortable) chairs in front of it. "To business then?"

"Let's."

"What do we know about this Jedi the Rebellion has on hand?"

"He's a new factor," the Major frowned deeper, consulting a datapad I hadn't even seen her pick up. "The first we knew of him was what Lord Vader reported. Either he's been hiding since Order 66 was issued or…"

"He's new to this."

"Precisely."

"A remnant from the Old Order is one thing, but a new Jedi? It would mean there would be at least one more out there."

"Perhaps not anymore. Reports say that Lord Vader defeated an opponent on the Death Star armed with a lightsaber before that haulcraft led us to the Rebel base."

"I'm sorry, what haulcraft?"

"An old Corellian YT-1300fp, it was tagged with a tracker during the ship wide sweep. It led Lord Vader to Yavin IV, it's why it was allowed to escape. It's obviously a smuggler as the stormtroopers couldn't find any crew aboard in their sweep but two human smugglers, a wookie, and the Jedi boarded the Death Star and recovered Leia Organa."

"You think one of these smugglers was the Jedi recruit?"

"Unless it was Organa herself and that seems unlikely."

"What was Organa doing on the Death Star anyway? Especially as a prisoner?"

"You haven't heard?"

"Heard what?"

"Leia Organa's a honest to the Force Rebel, Admiral. Lord Vader allowed her escape on that haulcraft because he knew she'd lead us right to the Rebellion."

"Well, I'll be… This is Bail Organa's Leia we're talking about?"

"One in the same!"

"Huh… Interesting," I said, leaning back in my chair as I steepled my fingers together and glanced up at the ceiling. Then I looked back down at the grinning spook. "What else?"

"It is believed that when the Rebels invaded Scarif, they were able to transmit project Stardust's plans through the antenna there."

"Their shield would have been up, no transmissions can get through it when it's in siege mode." I frowned as the Major winced.

"Yes, that's correct. However, the Rebel ground team sent the transmission after their Star fleet used a bloody Star Destroyer to knock out the planetary shield. Don't ask, something about that ISD being disabled and a hammerhead corvette? I'm not sure as to the specifics as no one seems to be able to get their story straight. Anyhow, rumor has it – as not even the ISB can confirm this – that Lord Vader himself boarded a Mon Cala cruiser. The Profundity, Admiral Raddus' personal ship… The Alliance thinks they have a bloody Admiralty, that's a jape if I've ever heard one." I couldn't help but agree. "Anyhow, Raddus is now in ISB custody. But Leia's CR90 Corvette was docked with the Profundity and managed to escape the battle with the plans. She made it to open space above Tatooine before Lord Vader caught up to the CR90 and captured her."

"The plans were not recovered, obviously."

"They were uploaded in a droid, most likely. The gunners decided to save ammo and let an escape pod that jettisoned from the corvette yet had no signs of life go. If they had fired–"

"If Lord Vader reached them over Scarif, if they'd never made it to Scarif in the first place… Buts and ifs have no place here, Major. We can't change history."

"Right, of course… Where were we?"

"Tatooine. If the plans were last known to be there then it's likely this smuggler originated from there."

"That's Hutt space. You know the Emperor's stance on our armistice with them."

"Aye, but it's something that may be worth seeing to anyway. Who controls the planet?"

"Jabba."

"Shit."

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Admiral."

"Alright… if we go, we go in force above the planet but request a small group meeting on the surface with the Hutt."

"He'll kill you."

"Not if he knows we can kill him."

"You're talking about Base-Delta-Zero?"

"I am. No one will miss that hellhole anyway."

"The problem isn't in who will miss it, the problem is in the Hutts. Sure they fight amongst themselves like Mandalorians, but that's a good way to unite them against the Empire."

"They're already united against the Empire, but this task force has more firepower than the entirety of Hutt Space. The Rebellion is already on the brink, Major. If we come against them, they don't have much chance. Their standard tactics are nullified with the Interdictors, we outgun them, and don't forget we now have a weapon capable of engaging their bases from light years away if needed. They're going to be desperate so they're going to try something stupid, I guarantee it. Until then the plan is simple: we find their bases, eradicate them from deep space, hunt down their star wings, and eliminate every rebel cell we come across. But that's a discussion for later. But right now I'm of the opinion that if Jabba tests us, that this would be the perfect time to test our cannons."

"Very well… I don't like it, Thorn, but it's our best bet to get information on that freighter."

"Unfortunately you may be right. But if we find that freighter-"

"We find the Jedi."

"And if we find the Jedi-"

"We find the Rebellion."

Tatooine…

"The mighty Jabba demands to know what the Empire wants with his planet." The Protocol droid said as he looked between us and the Hutt seated above us.

"More like he wants to know if he can eat us," the Death Trooper Captain said. I was the only one who could understand him as I had an earpiece that deciphered their squawking. Ironically, Death Troopers were some of the most irreverent troops I'd ever had the pleasure of working with. I suppose it helped that they couldn't be understood by most people.

"We're seeking information."

"About what?"

"A Corellian YT-1300fp. It would have launched from this planet two weeks ago."

"Solo." Jabba spat to one side before going on a tirade in Huttese.

"The mighty Jabba says that Solo, Han Solo that is, is a pest who owes him a significant amount. A debt not even his freighter could cover, not that he would want that piece of scrap anyway."

"Why do I get the feeling the droid made that as polite as he could?"

"It's a Hutt."

"Ah."

"How much is a significant amount?"

"It is the equivalent to nearly twenty thousand imperial credits."

"I see," I said, mulling that number over as I looked at the Hutt.

"The mighty Jabba asks as to why you inquire over Solo."

"He's the last known person to have been confirmed to be with a Person of Interest. Where would he go?"

"The mighty Jabba says Solo goes where he pleases and does as he wishes. He also requests that should you find him, that you bring him before the mighty Jabba."

"I am required by Imperial law to inform you that if Solo is found by the Empire then he will be an Imperial prisoner and tried in our courts. But if he is captured by an agent acting on Jabba's behalf, I will not attempt to take custody of him. However, I need information from him. If Jabba captures him, I request permission to put him to the question." The Hutt growled but there was no heat to it.

"In exchange for what?"

"I understand you have a Bounty on Solo, yes?"

"That is correct."

"If you capture him, in return for allowing us to put the smuggler to the question, the Empire will pay you 20,000 credits and if he is brought in by a hunter we will cover the bounty as it is right at this moment. Should you raise it higher, you will cover that portion. Is this acceptable?"

"It is."

"Outstanding. I understand the smuggler launched from a spaceport. Do you know which one?"

"Mos Eisley. The mighty Jabba was there when Solo took off. He will not soon forget the Stormtroopers who tried to prevent him from leaving."

"Do you remember any passengers?"

"A boy and an old man."

"A boy? Of how old?"

"Twenty, at most." I stroked my beard with a frown. Twenty… the Jedi was desperate indeed. Unless the boy had been trained from birth as his Padawan.

"Where did they meet Solo?"

"Chalmun's Cantina."

"My thanks. We will take our leave now." I nodded once, turning on heel sharply as my Death Troopers did the same.

"Sir, please tell me we aren't going to that shithole?"

"Alright then, I won't tell you, Captain."

"Damn it all," the Death Trooper sighed, but his body language never changed. "I'll request another squad from the Mandator."

"There's no need to make it a request, I'm already ordering it," I grinned as the Captain chuckled.

"And this is why I love working for the boss directly."

"Only when it's a good boss."

"That's true. Gunny, you were on Krennic's detail before weren't you?"

"Oh, don't remind me. That was fucking miserable. When I was reassigned I thought I was the luckiest trooper in the corps."

"Wonder what happened to him."

"Rebels happened to him."

"He was on Scarif? Shit, guess I didn't realize that."

"Eh, good riddance. I've heard only good things about his replacement."

"Oh? Who replaced him?"

"Director Eran from the engineering college, good head on his shoulders according to the 13th."

"He's good, Lord Vader ordered his placement there actually. And I was there when he did."

"Huh, how 'bout that," the Captain chuckled as one of the Gamorrean Guards sniffed angrily. The Death Trooper snapped around and glared at him through the green glass of his visor. The Gamorrean shrank back but the Captain never broke his stride. "Sorry 'bout that, boss. But you've met Eran, huh?"

"I have. He helped design my ship. Krennic dealt with the project while he refitted the ship itself. Say what you will about Krennic, the man was good at what he did."

"He was," the Gunnery Sergeant from earlier said. "Or he was good at finding people to make weapons for him." I snorted lightly and nodded.

"The mark of a politician indeed." There was a round of laughter from the Death Troopers and I couldn't imagine what Jabba's guards might have heard as we made our way out of his palace. It wasn't long before we found ourselves at the gate with my shuttle waiting for us. What was new was the second TIE Reaper alongside it. I smirked as the Death Troopers split up, two with me and two to the Reaper. I boarded my shuttle and made my way to the cockpit as the Troopers stood guard. "Mos Eisley."

"Sir." The pilot said simply. I nodded, taking the copilot's chair as he pushed the throttle forward. The shuttle floated upward before turning about and shooting forward toward Mos Eisley.

It didn't take long to reach the town, it was large enough for its own Imperial outpost so we put down there. Immediately, the base commander scrambled out of whatever office he had been holed up in as my shuttle and the accompanying Reaper landed.

"M-Marshall!" The Army Second Lieutenant said as he jerked to attention in front of us. "I am Cap- Lieutenant Cain, Garrison Commander, welcome to Mos Eisley! My apologies, sir, if we had known you were visiting we would have-"

"At ease, Lieutenant, this is not an inspection," the man sagged in on himself as my Death Troopers chuckled. Hell, I barely managed to keep a straight face myself. "And for the record? I'm not a Marshall, I am Fleet Admiral Thorn of the Third Fleet, First Strike Arm. We're investigating the last known whereabouts on a POI. Does the name Han Solo mean anything to you?" The Lieutenant frowned.

"No, sir, I'm afraid it doesn't."

"Hm, disappointing, but I didn't expect you to. He was the pilot of a YT-1300-"

"Oh yes, I remember that damned thing," the LT grit out. "I've still been doing the paperwork on that fiasco ever since it escaped two ISDs in orbit. Command still hasn't forgive me for that whole situation, docked my rank and everything! And for what!? How was I supposed to know that hunk of junk had shields and a half rated hyperdrive?"

"I'm sorry, did you say that freighter has a point five rating on it's hyperdrive?"

"Er- Yes, sir, I did." I felt my eyebrows raise as I turned to the Captain over my shoulder.

"Inform Major Brasine, this may be more interesting than we thought."

"Yes, Admiral." The Death Trooper said seriously. Great, even they were in full business mode. Just what was going on here?

"Thank you. Take us to Chalmun's."

"Yes, sir. Right away. It's not far away. Would you like a speeder or…"

"We can walk, Lieutenant, thank you," I said as a small platoon of Death Troopers formed up on me. The LT swallowed but nodded all the same.

"As you wish, Admiral, right this way," he said, gesturing for us to follow him. I fell in step alongside him as we made our way to the offending Spaceport. Oddly, my escort seemed to swell as we trekked through the town as Sandtroopers joined up with my Death Troopers until there was a whole Company of Imperial Forces stirring up dirt through the streets. And I was leading the charge.

"Is this the place?" The LT nodded furiously as I attempted (and failed horrifically) to decipher the Huttese over the door.

"Yes, sir, this is it."

"Hm… Captain, you and the Sergeant are on me. Lieutenant, spread your men around every exit and entrance. Barricade the Spaceport as well, I want to examine it next."

"Yes, sir!" He barked but the sandtroopers were already in motion. 'Well, at least the men were disciplined.' I thought as I pushed open the door. There was music coming from a live band in a corner and the air was full of smoke and noise - that all came to a screeching halt as my boots clicked against the dirt floor.

"I- Er, how can I help you?" The dirty barkeep asked as he glanced between me and my guards.

"I'm looking for information. I've heard there was some drama here with a man named Solo. Would have been a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah, I know Solo, killed a Rodian over in that booth," he said flicking his head over his shoulder. "What'd'ya wanna know?"

"What else happened that day. I'm under the impression there could have been a Jedi in the mix?"

"The old man who cut off Ponda Baba's arm?"

"What did he use?"

"A damned lightsaber." The barkeep growled. I smirked but nodded.

"You're sure?"

"Absolutely. My ma and pa was killed in the Clone Wars, a Jedi cut down the clankers and got me to safety… all that did was make me a orphan and get me here."

"I see. Was there anyone with him?"

"Yeah, the Lars kid. I've seen him around a time or two with his old man. Well, maybe his old man, they ain't look a lot alike. Coulda been an uncle or sum."

"Does anything else stand out as odd?"

"Yeah those two blasted meat heads dragged two droids in here! A protocol and an astromech. I told them they'd have to go or they'd have to go."

"Did they?"

"Yeah, the droids stepped out and the old man started yappin' with Solo and a damn wookie." There it was, all targets accounted for. I almost grinned but kept my expression cool as durasteel.

"You wouldn't happen to know the name of Solo's ship, would you?"

"No."

"I see. Thank you for your time. One last question, do you have any idea on where I might find this Lars?"

"He's a moisture farmer out in the wastes, lives closer to Mos Espa than he does here but there ain't much in Espa since the pod racing scene started dying out. Anything else?"

"No, thank you. We'll be going now." I pushed back from the bar and turned to the door. I made it three steps before a blaster went off. My hand snapped to the WESTAR 35 on my hip as I whirled around to see the Captain's E-11d's barrel steaming slightly and a body thump to the ground. The idiot Bothan had drawn an old Seperatist SE-14. I'd have to ask the Captain what he'd seen but I had a good guess as to what had happened. I pulled my pistol and raised it level with the barkeep. "Anybody else pulls a gun, I shoot the barkeep and my troops shoot you. Got that? Anyone gets a shot off and everyone in here dies, understood? Now, we're going to leave. If anyone else thinks trying to shoot me is a good idea, look at the Bothan dead in the dirt." As one, everyone looked at the Bothan and then at each other. I nodded once and holstered my blaster, turning to the door.

"That was ballsy, boss," the Captain said. "I've got to ask though, where'd you get a WESTAR?"

"Mandalore, where else?"

"That's not exactly standard issue, is it? Surprised they let you get away with it."

"The only they is me, Lord Vader, and the Emperor himself, Captain. I can arm myself however I like… Now. Back then, I had to get permission. I was lucky that Admiral Milsalta allowed me to keep it."

"This is why we like you, boss," the Gunny chuckled. "You buy it?"

"I paid the same price a Mandalorian would have." I said easily as the Captain looked over at the Gunny. They shared a glance and then stared straight forward again. "Remind me to show you that armor. I've got it on display in my cabin."

"Why don't you wear it, boss?"

"It conveys the wrong message. Saxon united the Mandalorians against us, Captain. Their armor may be useful and strong, but the Empire is stronger."

"You don't have to always wear the helmet, Admiral, and you can fix your rank to the breastplate," the Gunny said.

"Get it painted to match the Mandator, that would send the right message." I stopped for a beat before a smirk crossed my face.

"You know, Captain, I might just do that… but first we've got to track down this Lars character."

"Ah, right, that." Captain huffed irritably. "Right, so Mos Espa, eh?"

"Looks that way. How far out from there are we?"

"I'm not sure, actually," the Captain said. "We'll requisition some Sandtroopers, see if we can't figure it out."

"You do that, Captain. I'm going to talk to the Lieutenant, see what he may know."

"Yes sir," Captain grunted as he peeled off with a trio of his men already in tow. The others still formed on me as I went to find the LT. It didn't take me long to find him.

"Lars? Yes, that name's familiar…" He muttered, tapping his somehow nonexistent yet doubled chin thoughtfully. Somehow the gesture seemed… Off? But I wasn't sure how. "Oh! Yes, we were ordered to burn out that homestead."

"Why?"

"It's not my place to question orders, Admiral," he essentially whimpered even as he tried to puff his chest out indignantly. I had to resist the urge to palm my forehead.

"Who gave the order?"

"C-commander Auril, sir."

"Yes, well, you and this Commander Auril may have literally set our best lead up in smoke."

"Oh-"

"Indeed. A lead that could have taken us directly to the man responsible for the deaths of millions of our brothers in arms. I take that very seriously indeed. I appreciate quick action, Lieutenant, but hasty, unthought actions tend to carry the worst repercussions. Should I ever meet him, I shall speak with the Commander about this."

"I- I'm not to be cou-court martialed a-?" His mouth snapped shut with an audible click.

"Don't make me consider it. I'm taking a platoon of your Sandtroopers to find this homestead. You will provide me with the coordinates, understood?"

"Yes, Admiral!"

"Outstanding. You're dismissed."

AN: The Mandator II Class Star Destroyer is my interpretation of what comes after the Onager Class SD but before the First Order's Mandator IV Class Dreadnaught. The way I picture how she looks is a combination of the ISD II with a First Order Resurgent Class SD's bridge. The one thing I cannot stand about the ISD is the bridge standing up as high as it is - see Return of the Jedi for why. If you can park an A-Wing in a command deck, I'm not here for it. We still haven't made it to the mobile particle cannons on the Mandator IV but progress is being made to that point.

Now a little bit about naval traditions.

First, I want to preface this by saying I am not in any way, shape, or form a seaman pr sailor. With the exception of small fishing boats, I haven't really been around many. Nor have I sailed the seas. What I do know is this: when a ship is the first of its class, it's christened and referred to as that name. Case in point: the USS Iowa. Any ship built on that pattern later is christened with a different name but called X class. Eg, the USS Missouri is an Iowa Class ship but she is not the Iowa herself.

If you haven't noticed, I'll put ship names in italics while leaving the class alone. The Mandator II is the first of her design making her the first of the Mandator II class but she is still the Mandator II. I could go on but I believe you all get the idea.

Of course, Star Wars was written by artists and people who generally didn't know much about the military. People who had to ask themselves if Star Fleets were the same thing as Navies or if they stood alone so there are some obvious discrepancies. Such as the Imperial and Imperial II class SDs implying the existence of the Imperial and the Imperial II. But that's semantics at this point.

Thank you all for your support, things are going to start heating up in the next chapter.