A/N: This is obviously non-canon to the main story. Just a fun little diversion as I work on Chapter 14. A special thanks to Aif and Ivan Chechnya for beta reading this side chapter.

The Imperial: Infinities

Corporate Enforcer I

Commander Rivejer Tullius

I should have been in the Imperial Navy. Well, that isn't entirely true - I would have been in the ORSF, which for all intents and purposes may well be the same thing. It was the Eriadu-to-ORSF pipeline that had trapped so many of my peers, but I decided to take a different path. You see, the Corporate Sector Authority was perpetually seeking new talent. They were not discriminating in who they hired, just so long as they had an officer with proof he graduated from somewhere and enough sense to command a ship. There was little glory in the CSA, but I wasn't seeking glory - I saw the tidy sum of credits they were throwing at anyone that signed on. While my peers would spend decades in the cutthroat arena of Imperial politics, I would be living the easy life in the far corner of civilized space. It was going to be a cushy job, bullying a few smugglers or pirates. Waste a few months on long patrols in quiet systems - the easy life. A few-year stint in the picket fleet, then I could go back to Naboo or Eriadu or somewhere else with some recommendations and a service record.

I thought I was being clever.

As I watched the Redemption break apart under sustained turbolaser fire, I decided that I was not half as clever as I thought I was.

I gripped the chair of my ship's navigator as explosions rocked across our hull. The Invincible Battlecruiser Tempestuous was far from deserving of such a lofty designation, and the folly of using it as such was evidenced by the alarms blaring across my bridge. The Redemption had, unfortunately, been our flagship - an infinitely more modern and powerful Imperial-I Star Destroyer. Doubly unfortunate, it was the flagship of Admiral Jona Grumby. If the old bastard wasn't on the brink before, then the vacuum of space had certainly finished him off. Still, as curmudgeonly as he had been in life, I was going to miss the man.

He was one of maybe five people in the entire CSA Security Division I could stand.

"Escape pods are away from the Redemption." An officer announced, as we were the closest ship that was neither a corvette nor destroyed. The Star Destroyer was listing heavily, its massive engines still burning even as little pinpricks of light darted away from its hull. I bit my tongue, eyeing the ruined conning tower of the Redemption - it was unlikely Grumby got out of that one.

"Fighter Command, advise!" I barked at the tubby officer seated across the room. The Invincible, much like many Rendili ships, enjoyed a tiered bridge. Three levels, with the top holding a command throne and the door out of the bridge. The second tier held navigation, weapons, and other important stations. The tier below that was everything else. Ferox perked up at my call, his usually posh Core Worlder accent forgotten in the panic.

"Enemy fighters are maintaining superiority! We can't deploy rescue shuttles at this time."

I bit my tongue, nodding to the man before turning back to navigation. The old IRD starfighters were theoretically on par with Imperial TIEs, but that fell apart in reality when you consider that IRD pilots had a sense of self-preservation that TIE pilots often lacked. Debt enforcers were not willing to do-or-die, and the TIE pilots had slaughtered them for this hesitation. My IRD-A starfighters were faring a little better in dogfights, though they were forced to be relegated into a purely interception role all the same. Their concussion missiles at least gave them the means to scare off TIE Bombers. My remaining fighters were being kept in reserve or on interception duty - no point in funnelling them into the slaughter especially when they were the ones I paid for. Preybirds didn't come cheap!

"Weapons, keep our fire focused on that Star Destroyer!" I ordered, able now to point out the window at the dagger-like form encroaching upon our formation. It was flanked by more Star Destroyers, two on its portside and a third on its starboard. The far greater concern however, was the nineteen-kilometer beast prowling toward us. My sensor officer reported that the ship was called the Iron Fist, but I currently preferred to call it Stay away from me, please. The moment that ship arrived, we had already lost.

No, actually, we had already lost the moment Grumby decided to disobey orders from Etti IV and charge headlong into the first Imperial fleet he could find. More than a decade past, and the man was still roiling with righteous anger toward the Empire. His forced retirement clearly still rankled the man. I could scarcely blame him for that, though I did blame him for his indiscretion. While the Redemption had taken one-and-a-half Star Destroyers with it -the 'half' represented by the floating, but still fighting, form of an Imperial-class- he had left us to clean up his mess.

"Missile tube one is gone, sir." The woman called from her seat, hands flying over her console so fast they were nearly a blur.

"Then move the munitions to the other," I ordered. "I presume we still have one, yes?"

The affirmation I received went unanswered as I glared out of the forward viewport. A moment later, five gleaming rockets streaked out from the Tempestuous's prow in a single line, breaking apart only once they were safely away from the cruiser. The first was intercepted in the spray of turbolaser between the two lines of the ships, a second spun wildly out of control as it hit something small enough to throw it off course. Counter missiles intercepted a third, but two found their mark in the solid hull of Grumby's killer, a Star Destroyer. The ship must have been more damaged than it appeared, as all three missiles found the ship's hull rather than its shields, wrenching apart layers of durasteel like flimsy after a rainy day. The chunks blown away were not enough to kill the hostile ship, but it was enough to rouse a savage grin on my face.

The moment passed quickly with another violent shake of the Tempestuous, and I turned from the viewscreen to the nearby communications officer.

"Do we have orders? Who is in command?"

"Captain Simmens has command, sir, but we haven't received any new orders."

"Bring the Insolvent up on comms," I ordered, as I headed towards the communications console. I raised my voice for the bridge to hear, "Do not let up on that Star Destroyer! Grumby's spirit would have my head if I let his killer get away."

The answer to my orders was another barrage of concussion missiles, following a similar path as the first group. I watched two of them explode en route as I reached the communications console. Taking a headset, I waited impatiently for the officer to open a channel.

"Insolvent, this is the Tempestuous. We are taking heavy fire. What are our orders?" I knew the other Invincible was in no better a state than mine, but we were both in trouble if we stayed here. My blood boiled at the thought, but there was a time to fight and a time to flee - and this was an instance of the latter. Silence greeted me, and after half a minute of waiting, I spoke again.

"Insolvent, this is Tempestuous. Please confirm you are receiving this message." I said, glancing at the communications officer and lowering my voice, "Is our comm relay down?" The man shook his head, but a voice soon crackled over the communicator and drew my attention.

"Tempestuous, this is Insolvent. We are currently considering our course of action. Hold position." Captain Simmens's voice warbled, far from that painfully arrogant Coruscanti self-assuredness he usually bandied about. I disliked the man deeply, but ordinarily, I would have understood his position. None of us were hired under the idea that we would ever fight an enemy at rough parity with us, and now we were faced with an overwhelming force. Decades of experience hunting pirates and smugglers did not prepare Simmens for the brutality of capital ship on capital ship brawls. Unfortunately, his indecision put my life at risk - and so my understanding nature was not as present.

"Hold position?!" I repeated, the shock making my voice hoarse, "I am staring down a Super Star Destroyer! There'll scarcely be a position to hold in less than an hour."

"Watch your tone, Commander Tullius! I will not be spoken to like-" But what Simmens would not be spoken to like, I would never know. A roar filled the communications channel, making me rip the headset from my head with a wince. I turned my alarmed stare to the communications officer, who feverishly tapped away for a moment.

"Their channel's still open - we didn't lose connection."

"It sounded like someone fired a blaster in my ear," I muttered, carefully pulling the headset back on. "Captain Simmens, do you read me?"

Silence.

"Someone get me scopes, was the Insolvent hit?" In the heat of battle, there was scarcely a moment of concern given for the other Invincible beyond whether it could still fight. My crew worked quickly, and the large screen sitting over the transparisteel windows flickered before showcasing the Insolvent. The ship appeared well enough, barring the holes along her starboard side. She unleashed a barrage of her own rockets at that moment, both her tubes still active as she peppered a nearby Star Destroyer.

"Tempestuous, this is Insolvent," A new voice spoke up, deeper than Simmens, "Captain Simmens in indisposed. The fleet is yours, awaiting orders."

"Received, Insolvent. Stand by for orders," I responded instantly, even as a trickle of concern rose up my spine. Not about Simmens, whether he was dead or merely removed by his crew was far from my problem, but at the suddenness of command. Of course, I had been trained to command small groups and shown the basics of fleet command back on Eriadu, but it had been a decade since I had last attended the academy. I had spent most of the time since commanding one ship.

I clambered back up to my command throne, taking a seat and activating the screen above the forward viewport. It flickered, changing to an image of the Insolvent, to a tactical map of the local system. Star Destroyers encroached on our line, more heavily on my side than the Insolvent. Our line of cruisers had already been broken, many reduced to floating wrecks while the rest either cut their losses or were determined to fight til the end while being heavily pummeled. The SoroSuub ships were durable but not Star Destroyer durable. The rest of our ships, frigates and corvettes mostly, were reduced in number as they fell into the overlapping firing arcs of the heavy Imperial ships. Two picket lines could be formed from the survivors, down from our initial four. They had been Grumby's distraction for the Imperials, throwing the chaff escorts at their ships to distract a few Star Destroyers while the heavier ships dealt with those that reached the line.

Again, we paid for his indiscretion.

"Communications, bring us up on the fleet-wide channel - all ships," I ordered, waited a moment, then spoke again, "All ships, this is Commander Tullius. I am ordering a full retreat. Redesignate the Tempestuous as the new fleet flagship and stand by." I tapped away at the console on one armrest, quickly putting down the order of retreat - fleeing all at once would see the Imperials give immediate chase.

First, the corvettes turned and jetted off, joined by my support craft and the pair of carriers we brought. Once they were out of range of the Star Destroyers, they plotted a microjump to the edge of the system. They were followed by the surviving line of frigates, who moved in a wide swing to deliver a final volley on the Star Destroyers before retreating in an orderly line. When they were away, the Star Destroyers at last tasted their enemy breaking and pursued - abandoning the cautious advance to crash against us. I looked over my remaining ships - the pair of Invincible Battlecruisers, a Victory-I Star Destroyer, and a trio of SoroSuub Dauntless "cruisers". Hardly an intimidating force, but I had one last trick up my sleeves.

"All ships, dump munitions - whatever you have loaded and more besides. Wide spread, we aren't aiming to kill just to slow them down."

The ships unleashed a barrage of concussion missiles and proton torpedos, the star of the show being the Victory cruiser as every tube roared to life. The swarm of missiles flew into the Star Destroyer formation, forcing them to maneuver or button their shields up. While unfocused, these anti-capital ship weapons would devastate any cruiser should they get hit. A tremendously expensive waste of munitions, but I doubted there was a requisition officer left that would pull it from my paycheck. No sooner had the munitions cleared their tubes than the six ships turned as one. The comparatively nimble Dauntless cruisers raced ahead of the pondering Invincible Cruisers, but beyond wild turbolaser volleys, we slipped away. Not a moment too soon, as we jumped away, the Iron Fist opened up with a barrage on the corpse of the Redemption, as if raging at the loss of its prey.

I sank into my command throne with a sigh of relief, pausing to wipe the sweat beading on my brow. Meanwhile the crew momentarily broke their discipline to cheer. While this was far from a victory, we had survived - I allowed them their celebrations with an uneasy smile of my own. None of them had been prepared for this - debt-serfs, young wanderers, and desperate veterans to the last, but I had instilled in them some Imperial discipline. At the very least, I felt confident enough that I did not need to worry constantly over the risk of being executed in a mutiny like what I expected happened to Simmens.

"Do we have the name of the ship that destroyed the Redemption?" I asked no one in particular, more airing out a thought. Someone did answer quickly.

"The Implacable, sir. Our last records place it under a Captain Apwar Trigit, though that was two years ago."

The Implacable. I did not know what came next, whether I should quietly retreat to some dark corner of Corporate Sector space, sell my services as a mercenary, or even decide to get out while I still could. But if ever the opportunity came, I would stop at nothing to destroy that demon. I did not particularly like Grumby, but he was a decent officer in a sea of incompetence - a status I commiserated with. Trigit would pay in blood for his actions.

The 4th fleet limped to the edge of the system before jumping away, the image of the Iron Fist approaching the main planet in the Drog system being the last we saw.

A special thanks goes out to my Captain of the Empire:

Ivan Chechnya

Without their support, the borderlands would have fallen long ago. As always, I appreciate your support!