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Chapter 3

=FG=

Part 1

=FG=

Ramsees Hed
Cal-Seti
Cal-Seti system
Torranix sector

The composite Regiment spread in two. Vehicles and security detail headed towards nearby hangars, while local infantry led their FE counterparts towards the barracks and armories they would be staying. Meanwhile, Piett, Colonel Vigil, and their protection detail followed Commandant Jaxx towards the star port's administration building to talk. Said building turned out to be one of four identical slabs of dull, gray ferrocrete.

From orbital observation, the starport looked well laid down, it was just that whoever designed it seemingly had no imagination. Personally, Piett wouldn't have

wanted to be stationed at a place like this for any appreciable amount of time.

Commandant Jaxx led them to a conference room on the first floor, close to the entrance. The pair of white armored troopers who accompanied him remained at the door. Piett entered behind the locals, followed by the Colonel, and several members of his command staff. They were the people who would remain here, in charge of the composite Regiment.

"Here we can speak in a more or less secure place," Jaxx announced and all but collapsed at the chair at the far side of the table. The Administrator sat stiffly beside him and looked warily at the Imperial personnel pilled awkwardly at the other side of the table.

Piett looked at the assembled chairs and decided not to risk sitting on one while wearing power armor.

"Now that you're officially part of the Federated Empire, Commandant Jaxx, you can stop dancing around all the problems you're facing. State for the record what you need. That way, we can figure out how to best solve the issues plaguing your command and this world in general." Piett suggested.

"Straight to the point, eh?" Jaxx sighed. "I did tell you the truth, Captain Piett. Six months ago, a recall order came from Coruscant. As a consequence, Moff Brayle got all mobile assets he could get his hands on and left, after 'securing' the bulk of supplies and spare parts we had available. The only ships he didn't wait for were the six Tartans in orbit. They were deployed on deep space pirate hunting missions, and it took them too long to return for his taste. The Stormtroopers that I had to greet you? I've drawn them from the ground contingent on the Tartans. I've got three hundred of them all told. Them and a small group of private security I had to hire to keep the port somewhat secure after the Moff, and everyone else left. We've received no word from the Empire at large, neither resupply nor salaries since Brayle left." Jaxx slumped again in his chair.

"What do we need? Food that isn't bland emergency rations, all kinds of supplies, ideally salaries as well."

"Administrator? How's the civilian equation?"

"We've lost close to ninety percent of trade in the past six months. It has been only thanks to small freighters bringing food and vitamin supplements that we aren't in a critical situation. We have close to twenty percent unemployment right now, and it's steadily rising. Crime has been on the rise ever since it became clear that there are no Imperial forces on-site to keep firm control of the planet. What meager security forces we have are grossly insufficient for the task at hand. While agriculture technically makes forty percent of our planetary income and production, it is centered on cash crops, not food. The corporations controlling the sector have been more than reluctant to switch to food crops!" She rolled her eyes. "All because doing so would severely affect their bottom line, even if no one has been around to take their last harvest off-world." Administrator Rogan didn't even try to hide her bitterness.

"And I assume you've got no assets to make a constructive change?" Piett looked at the Commandant.

"Thanks to the Stormtroopers, now I can more or less keep the spaceport secure. My people don't have the training or numbers to replace local security types. That was the Army's responsibility, especially the Military Police, and they're all gone, possibly dead by now." Jaxx grumbled fatalistically. "After all, the Rebels did take Coruscant."

Piett raised an eyebrow at Colonel Vigil. This wasn't exactly their area of responsibility.

"In the short term, we can't do much about the economy, Administrator. Fixing it would require aid and specialists from various branches of the Federated government. We aren't trained for it and like it or not, our direct meddling might even make things worse. What we can do in the short term, is offer some supplies to ensure the starport remains operational. We can also give Commandant Jaxx's people something better to eat than emergency rations. Ideally, we would remain on station until reinforcements arrive, however, our orders are clear. We're to push up to Coruscant, confirm the situation there, and make contact with the New Republic. Further, we can detach a few of our escorts and small craft squadrons to bolster your position. I have confirmation that Admiral Tigellinus will be rushing a Star Destroyer squadron here to hold the system, and further reinforcements will follow later." Piett paused. "What I need from you is a list of critical supplies and equipment you need to send up the chain of command. We also need information on the political situation in the system, this sector, and the galaxy at large…"

=FG=

Jake was a street kid who knew he wasn't particularly smart. Everyone used to say so. However, even he knew it was particularly dumb to pluck a bird until it died, instead of doing so within reason. You had to also ensure that no other bastard passed by to do it while you weren't looking. That was a piece of street wisdom that was close to his heart. It served him well when the Imperial military opened a recruiting office in the slums he used to live. While many of his buddies jeered at the idea of joining the Imps, what they offered was pretty good for someone in his position. Three square meals, a roof over his head, a warm bed.

As often as not, no one in the gang got to eat anything resembling food three times a day. The protein sequencer in their corner of Coruscant's under-levels hadn't been working since before Jake got born, and everyone had to make do with what they could do.

Becoming a Stormie in that gleaming white armor surprised Jake. After the tough basic training, he expected to be stuck as one of the gray goons of the Army, or worse, Military Police.

Instead, he got issues with a blaster, and an arm

or he had to keep shinny, then shipped away from Coruscant. That had been an odd experience. Handling the sky had been difficult for someone who had never seen it. Moving on a shuttle to the training camp after a medical exam and many needless to cure everything that was wrong with him, was even less pleasant.

The meals were worth it, though – he had never before seen so much food, much less great food!

Then, Jake got to fly through the sky itself and into space, landing in the open hangar of a huge troopship. That was the first time he was glad he had a helmet on, so no one could see how pale and scared he was.

That was how Jake, the slums kid, ended on Cal-Seti, as a part of the Stormtrooper detachment there. Part of his duties involved seeing that the locals didn't get too uppity, which was weird. These people lived in a virtual paradise! What was their problem? If Jake was in their place, he would be thanking the stars, for whatever got him living better than anyone he had ever known before, instead of going out to potentially get himself shot!

Besides, that was how the gangs dealt with disturbances down in the under-levels. You went out, broke some bones, and if that wasn't enough, people got shanked and shot until they got the idea.

That was nothing new to Jake.

Now, being deployed as one of the fifty Stormies stuck on a Tartan pirate-hunter was an experience. It was almost like being in the gang with the boys! From what eventually Jake gathered, most of his new brothers in white were just like him – poor boys who wanted a better life and found it in the military.

Life was great! He got to even shoot more than a few pirates, and got a medal and a promotion, making him responsible for a few hard cases just like him.

Then, life wasn't so great. Rumors spread that the Emperor got himself killed, alongside that scary robot of his, Vader! No one believed it at first! However, then, they got confirmation from the Old Man. No one knew what that meant for them until they got back to Cal-Seti after a months-long patrol.

The whole Starport was empty. Only the Commandant in charge of the place, that Jaxx fellow was still around. Jake had to give it to him, if he was up in the man's boots he might have bolted himself. It was never a good thing to be the only lad stuck holding the bag. That way you got beat up at best, or killed at worst!

To his credit, Jaxx gave it to them straight. They were all kriffed, like Mary the gate, and both without being paid for it, and in a no way they were going to enjoy.

At that point, life got anything but good. It was only the Commandant and the Old Man finding jobs for everyone, and not letting them be idle that staved off something ugly from happening. They got to figure out if there was anything useful left in the starport and make sure no outsider got to steal it. That was dull but important, Jake could agree. Besides, in comparison to his buddies, he was relatively all right – he had spent almost nothing from his salaries, while they were still coming. Now it was just that, there wasn't much you could buy being stuck at the port.

And no one, especially Jake, was dumb enough to go out alone. He knew that Stormies used to break heads when the locals got too uppity. He didn't want to be on the other side of that, thank you very much!

This uneasy state of affairs lasted until a bunch of huge Star Destroyers arrived in orbit. At that point, the

Commandant proved that he was as cunning as they come! Instead of getting everyone killed, he somehow sweet-talked the newcomers to get them all to join this new faction! While Jake was grateful to the Galactic Empire for all it did for him, especially getting him out of the gutter, that Empire got torn to pieces like a large gang with too many people wanting to be the top dog. It was only common sense that he would seek alternatives now, that said Empire abandoned him.

Even gutter trash like him knew that such things never ended well for anyone involved. It only got you eaten by other, formerly smaller gangs.

Life was good again. Instead of emergency rations, now Jake and the other Stormies got to eat proper military rations, which were very good. On top of that, the morning after he had got sworn as a soldier of the Federated Empire, Jake got to a makeshift firing range to do something interesting! They gathered to test how his Stormtrooper gear stacked up to the large, bulky armors and weapons carried by the newcomers.

Five minutes after the farce of a trial began, Jake was ready to fall to his knees and kiss the Commandant.

Even he could get the implications of rifles shredding Stormie's armor at five hundred meters without an issue. The good, old E-11 he was familiar with, had issues hitting something at that range. A pair of disgusted giants in what had to be powered armor got to bring back stands with Stormie, and some of their armor forward, until it was close enough to be hit reliably with E-11s.

To no one's surprise but the newcomers, the E-11 was perfectly capable of piercing the chest plate of a Stormie armor. The trooper inside might be alive after a single shot, but they would be out of the fight, suffering nasty burns.

The same wasn't true about the Feddie's armor. The damned thing was shielded! Who got to use shielded armor?! It took Jake multiple shots in quick succession to breach the shield, and then a disturbing amount of more shots, to compromise that armor.

The implication was painfully clear. Just one of the newcomers could splatter him all over the ground, along with most of his buddies, before they could even force him to take cover.

Why didn't the Stormies like him get such guns and armor?! Shock and disgust warred within Jake's mind before his day brightened. He was now a Feddie too,

now! He might get to use the new arms and armor too!

=FG=

Part 2

=FG=

bridge

NRS Liberty class ship Freedom's Cry

Coruscant system

Thanks to the ship's position, General Bob Hudsol could see the bright star clusters of the galactic Core, every time he looked down at the deck. The bridge of the Mon Calamari cruiser was more akin to one suited for a submarine, than a starship, yet it did its job more than adequately.

The young Mon Calamari Captain in charge of the Freedom's Cry looked happy in his moving chair. The Corellian could hear the alien's bubbling laughter as he talked with the Navigator, another young, this time female Mon Calamari. Ah, to be young again, and have other things to worry about besides the war…

"General, we've got a secure channel with Home One. General Madine is ready for you." The Communication's officer, a perpetually angry Alderaani, announced.

"Put him through." Hudsol walked away from his position and sat in front of a communication terminal. Crix Madine's holographic image came to life, crisp and clear thanks to the small distance between their ships. "You got us mobilized for action without much of an explanation. Do I need to remind you that information is useless if you keep it too close to your chest all the time?"

"Loose lips get people killed." Madine once again waved his concerns away. "We've got a new bunch of Imperials to deal with. This time they crawled out of the deep West of the Core."

"Didn't your agents assure us that the Imperials had pulled out of that region, to reinforce important sectors?" Hudsol asked.

"We know for a fact that Isard, or one of her creatures, stripped Cal-Seti from anything useful months ago. As far as we knew, there were no significant Imperial forces deployed in that region. There was no threat to justify it, no critical infrastructure needing protection that we knew of."

"Yet, I'm here with a part of a reserve fleet, ready for action." The older Corellian pointed out to the younger man. "Why did you call us to Coruscant, Crix? If we were needed here to help secure the system, you could have said so."

"You're to secure Cal-Seti. Holding it would force any Imperials hiding in the deep West corewards to pass through you before they could hit something important. I know you don't have the assets to go secure multiple sectors, and that isn't what we require of you. You're to hold the hyper-lane nexus and deal with any Imperials with delusions of grandeur who come out of the woodwork. If it is at all possible, figure out what assets this so-called Federated Empire has tucked out in the middle of nowhere. For all we know, they might be coming from another one of the Emperor's boltholes."

That was the unofficial term for secret Imperial facilities, that few knew about, and which tended to cause problems for everyone if they got active.

On a small scale, the latest such issue was how in the Nine Hells, did Isard manage to hide the building of an SSD under one of Coruscant's mountain ranges from basically everyone?!

"I hear you loud and clear. Go and secure Cal-Seti. Find out what the Imps over there are up to, which is undoubtedly up to no good."

"You've got your orders, Bob. Go and do it."

"It's always a pleasure, Crix." Hudsol smiled at the younger man. "Bloody bastard." The General whispered when he was sure the comm was out. "Captain, you heard General Madine. Get the task force moving towards Cal-Seti. We've got to ruin the day of a bunch of Imps."

A ragged cheer echoed over the bridge at that announcement.

=FG=

Republica 500
Coruscant

Padme walked home in relief, leaving her security detail at the door. She could hear Anakin and Leia bickering. Padme smiled at their antics and quickly discarded her soft shoes. She quietly made her way deeper into the apartment.

She saw Anakin's back, which looked really nice in his new form-fitting Imperial Knight tunic. He held an open cookie jar and pointed at Leia. One of Padme's handmaidens held her daughter, who had an expression of a cute concentration on her face. She was also covered in finely powdered sugar. Like the couch, and much of the floor.

"That will simply not do!" C-3PO exclaimed, and waved his hands in the air, from the corner where he stood, attached to a charging port.

For once, Padme had to agree with the golden menace of a droid, no matter how useful he usually was. The truth was that C-3PO was more prone to getting into trouble than she was, and that was all that had to be said.

"You ate more than enough cookies, young lady!" Anakin tried to be firm, but Padme could hear the smile in his voice.

Leia kept ignoring him and focusing on the cookie jar. Suddenly a few cookies shot her way, leaving a trail of sugar in the air. Anakin jolted and raised a hand faster than Padme could see. The cookies froze in mid-air before they could hit Leia or Moteé. At that point, Leia giggled and began waving her small hands, trying to grab the cookies, which were still well out of reach.

"You know, if your mother could see us, we'll be in a ton of trouble." Anakin pointed out and waved his free hand at the slowly falling sugar powder.

"Mama!" Leia announced happily and began to squirm in Moteé's hands. "Cookies!"

"I see. Moteé, please go clean up my little angel. Anakin, you've got some explaining to do, but before that, I have some news. And someone get all that sugar off my favorite couch!"

R2-D2, the ever efficient little droid beeped from his own little corner of the apartment, and headed for the couch, brandishing a vacuum cleaner – a relatively new addition, that came in very useful, ever since Leia figured out how to walk and get into mischief.

"We're busted, daughter of mine," Anakin admitted, and levitated the cookies back into the jar, making Leia pout.

"My Lady," Moteé nodded in passing, as she took the still squirming Leia and headed for the fresher.

"Mama!" Leia demanded, waving sugar-coated hands.

"Clean up first. You know the rules." Padme chided lightly.

"We'll make a proper tyrant of you yet." Anakin joked.

"Don't you start! You're constantly spoiling her!" Padme scoffed.

"And you aren't?" Anakin answered with a roguish smirk. It looked much better on him now, that he was no longer a young adult, Padme had to admit. And he was all hers!

"That's different." Padme smiled back, then focused on the news she had. "We've got a new diplomatic mission to go to. It has been confirmed that the new stars we've been seeing are a mirror of our galaxy, and things aren't good over there." Padme explained.

"I've been feeling disturbances in the Force," Anakin noted. "How bad it is?"

"Their equivalent of the Empire is in a civil war. One of the warlords with a claim to the throne unleashed a bio-weapon on Coruscant aimed at aliens." Padme hissed at that. The very idea made her blood boil. Even now, years later, Naboo still had a long way to go to recover from the Blue Shadow. The less said about the battle damage that followed, the better. Leia would be a grown woman before she could see Naboo in all its glory in person.

"That's kriffed up." Anakin put the cookie jar on the table in the kitchen, then summoned a towel he used to clean his hands off sugar. Only then did he come to Padme and pulled her in a hug.

"I'll make a civilized man out of you, yet!" She muttered, after burying her head in his shoulder.

"You've been a good influence." Anakin paused and brushed down two of his warm blood and flesh fingers over the scars marring her face. "The two of you. I don't know what I would have done if I ever lost you."

"We might get to see it. The Empire on the other side is about two decades ahead of us, yet it's so different from what little I was told about it. We'll be attending a briefing early tomorrow, and leaving in two days as a part of an aid convoy for their Coruscant."

"That's good. It's the right thing to do." Anakin happily agreed.

At that point, R2-D2 beeped and pocked Anakin with the vacuum cleaner, and began sucking sugar dust off his pant leg.

"You know what? You can be a little menace! Shoo!" Anakin pushed the trusty Astromech with his leg.

In response, R2-D2 jabbed Anakin more insistently with the cleaner. Then he beeped loudly at the unruly human.

"That language is unbecoming! Apologize immediately!" C-3PO demanded.

=FG=

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