It’s in a quiet bar where I end up meeting Raddus. It had been a bit too long since the last meeting between myself and my informal contact with the Mon Cala Government. A quick palm greasing of the barkeep to ensure privacy, followed my entrance into the building, the old woman giving a polite nod and gesturing me along as she receives her chits. This meeting would be critical for my preparations. Mon Cala and her colonies were the power behind my success and would likely bear the burden if anything happened, good or bad. Soon enough the private room’s doors open and I take my seat.

  A few minutes later the door opens again to reveal a hooded figure. The Mon Calamari removes his hood and takes a seat opposite me with a short nod and greeting: “Dericote.”

  “Raddus.” I greet in return before gesturing towards a bottle filled with clear liquid I had nabbed from the bar alongside two glasses.

  “No celebrations for us, eh?” Raddus asks, “Would have thought you’d be enjoying yourself being fawned over as you watch your men march along in one of those COMPNOR organized military parades.”

  “Can’t be bothered. Not after the casualty reports and the crawl of information coming out from the Core.” I reply, “Besides, I’m too busy trying to pacify another regional command pockmarked with Sepy holdouts.”

  “What’s the damage?” Raddus asks as he pours himself a drink.

  “Taskforce Vengeance has been disbanded, Z’timin’s former men have been scattered throughout the surrendered worlds of the coreward Tion cluster while Sykes’s battlegroup has taken over security duties for Raxus, Tion, Florn and Indrexu. I’ve got the 111th Colonies Cruiser working over Keldrath and Mullan since Gbu surrendered. Midnight Voulge secured Caluula and received the surrenders of Brigia and the Derellium Spur around the same time, so they’re out thataways.” I reveal.

  The Mon Calamari grunts before pressing the issue: “So why’re you here?”

  “I’m … concerned about certain governmental reforms undertaken in the last month and a half.”

  “Everyone is. Governor Azadi and his coalition within the command are rather disgruntled and Ruisto is a couple days away from lodging a formal complaint with the Senate, Parliament and his majesty, the King, thanks to their new appointed Governor from Coruscant taking on too many duties from the Palatine, their local legislative and their judiciaries. There’s already protests throughout the colonies of Mon Cala, not to speak of Mon Cala herself.” Raddus informs me, “They’ve been peaceful so far, but any overreach, or overreaction will likely lead to Separatist sympathizers and Republic loyalists doing something … radical.”

  “I am doing my best to keep overreach at bay, but there’s only so much I can do without handing out more commissions to local Governors, which is already rather iffy due to the whole military restructuring we’ve been forced to start. I’ve already had to give out temporary military Governorships of entire Tionese worlds now placed in my care to Army Captains because we lack more skilled and loyal officers.”

  “Loyal to whom?” Raddus asks.

  I really hope I don’t have to kill my drinking buddy, it’d probably cause an international incident: “The Republic, who else?”

  The Mon Calamari’s eyes widen in surprise: “You don’t say.”

  “I am … rather uncomfortable with the new constitution and the powers it has granted to the new Emperor.” I admit, “I’m basically waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

  “You don’t think the Empire will do anything too … heavy handed, will they?” Raddus asks, “Our trade deals with the Core are coming up for review next year. We always negotiated with the Republic directly for those previously. The fear is that the Empire might decide to make things difficult.”

  “I’d rather be prepared in case they do than be caught with my pants around my ankles.” I answer, still judging my chances, “And I am more than willing to try and make sure the deal is fair if you ask me to arbitrate.”

  Raddus considers my words carefully before nodding: “Thank you, I’ll be sure to pass your offer of arbitration to his majesty. On the topic of the … backup plan. You’ll need Mon Cala if something goes wrong.”

  “I’ll need more than Mon Cala.” I say.

  “Of course, but we’ve been supporting you since the war began, when you were just a Senior Captain.” Raddus placates.

  “True. Do you think I’ll have her support?” I ask.

  Raddus considers for a moment before speaking: “His majesty has been worried about Republic overreach ever since the production of our shipyards was partially taken over and you brought up the possibility of fully nationalizing the Merchant Fleet. Give us a better deal than the Republic did and I think we can work out a contingency.”

  I smile and offer a toast in agreement. That was one less thing to worry about.

  Lothal was a quiet world. A single city, plains and farms dotted with townships, stone hills and mountains. A peaceful world, even with the most recent industrial additions founded through the wartime economy of the regional command and staffed by an influx of immigrants and refugees fleeing the conflict. There was some slight tension between the older settler families and the recent influx, but overall it was mild. As I said, a peaceful world. One where one of their Volunteer Regiments, two other Volunteer Regiments on rotation to safer territories for replenishment and recuperation, alongside a trio of Garrison Regiments, were parading along the central street in honor of the victory over Raxus and the official end of the Clone Wars.

  It was a bit of a farce in my mind. The war was officially over for weeks now, but I suppose this was the first Lothalite Regiment to return home after their last rotation garrisoning Florn, so I wasn’t planning on putting the kibosh on the impromptu celebrations. Instead I would occupy myself with something more important than the preemptive celebrations of the people.

  I enter the offices of Governor Azadi like I owned the place. Though Lothal wasn’t my usual haunt, I needed to gauge the … quasi opposition’s leadership and see if I could warn them off of anything too radical until I’ve stacked the deck. Inside I found Azadi alongside another man. That would make this more difficult.

  “Governor Azadi, a pleasure to finally meet you in person.” I say in greeting, nodding my head in a mock bow.

  “Fleet Admiral Dericote.” Azadi speaks repeating my mock bow as he remains seated.

  “I am grateful you took time out of your busy schedule to allow me this meeting. I promise I won’t take much of your time.” I say, I wanted to make for Toong’l and meet with Bvinsk and Captain Jerjerrod in person and to … lose a couple supply depots.

  “I’m sure you won’t” Azadi speaks, his tone skeptical.

  “I am very much aware of your little cabal’s discontent with the Imperial presence on your worlds. As you can see, that is unlikely to change, especially since we’re so close to the former heartland of Separatist space.” I say with a faux smile.

  “So you’ll be continuing the occupation of our worlds?” The only other man in the room asks, a younger man with a black beard, blue eyes and sharp features. He must be some kind of Aide or Minister.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  I sigh. This will be harder than I’d like: “I am cautioning you. This coalition must go silent, if not for your own good, then for that of your worlds. There are rumors of possible crackdowns on Separatist and recently awoken anti-Imperial activities. We wouldn’t want anyone caught up in the crossfires of that, now would we?”

  “Is that a threat?” Azadi asks, voice whisper quiet.

  “A warning.” I stress, “I too am rather uncomfortable with the possibility of a crackdown. I also find it rather concerning that I have been advised to disband or downsize various regiments from worlds whose members hold a considerable non-human population. This includes the handful Lothalite regiments.”

  “Do they want to cause an economic crisis?” Azadi asks, outraged, “Lothal doesn’t have enough jobs for entire disbanded regiments! Not after we were forced to mechanize our mining industry due to the labor shortage the raising of our regiments caused in the first place.”

  “It certainly doesn’t help that we cannot shift them over to security, since our customs fleet and security forces are so heavily regulated.” The Aid adds.

  “Which is why I have been arguing against such measures. After all, Targonnians, Mon Calamari, Quarren, Aqualish, Gotal, Rodians, Weequay, Devaronians and other non-near-humans make up over fifty percent of my command’s army personnel, though the Targonnians do quite a bit of heavy lifting in front line positions.”

  Azadi’s eyes widen slightly. His head snaps to the uppity Aide as he speaks: “Bridger, contact my friends on the Lothal-Jubilar route and press them the necessity of the Fleet Admiral’s words today, after that get home, you’ll have the rest of the day off, spend some time with your little sprog.”

  “Thank you, Ryder.” The Aide responds before walking off.

  “I was wondering how you were able to communicate with your allies without me knowing of it.” I say into the room, receiving a serious glare from the seated Governor, “I shouldn’t be surprised you and I share some tactics in that regard.”

  “No, I guess you shouldn’t” Ryder agrees.

  The Regional Command Headquarters over Toong’l was something to behold. I remember the first time I ever saw the former trade hub, the station having expanded and improved into something completely different except for the central spine still sticking out of its bottom. The Little Revenge finishes its docking procedures as I march out onto the entryway of the station.

  Major General Bvinsk is already awaiting me there. He and his Adjutants already wearing the new black uniforms of the ancillary branches of the Imperial Army and Navy. It was a rather … jarring change, as used to Navy gray as I was. Bvinsk ignores my momentary lapse in attention, snapping a quick salute alongside his two primary Adjutants. I return the salute in greeting as the niceties begin.

  “A pleasure to have you back, Admiral.” Bvinsk begins, “Is there a reason for your presence?”

  “We’ll be decommissioning some older depots, move any salvageable materials to newer ones to resupply the ones Operation Vengeance stripped bare while decommissioning some of the ones that are slightly too out of the way.” I answer a relaxed smile on my face, “Also to make sure everything is running smoothly despite the new equipment being dolled out and the new Governors.”

  “Bah, don’t get me started on that. Almost a hundred new Governors who think I should give them more resources, a higher rank or one of those new honorary titles, what even is a Prefect anyway. Not to mention the disgruntled local governments unhappy about losing some of their authority.” Bvinsk bemoans as we begin marching towards his offices, “And don’t get me started on the new Sector Governors we’ll need to butter up to ensure they don’t try to muck up our perfectly good administration.”

  “Oh I completely agree.” I concur, “Even worse is Coruscant’s wish to disband various regiments critical to our defense.”

  “I saw that. You’ve been arguing against it as well?”

  “Of course I have, but a not inconsiderable number of officers have taken the opportunity of the war officially ending to retire. After all, the Core and much of the Mid Rim is free of Separatist worlds. The only major holdouts are around the Tion Cluster, in the far New Territories and in the South.” I bemoan, “I’m not sure who has convinced his excellency of disbanding further experienced regiments being a good idea, but they deserve to be pushed out of a window.”

  Bvinsk barks our a short laugh at that: “You could say that again. Have any of your allies tried to get the same message across the Ch- Emperor’s desk?”

  “The HONO Clique is a bit divided on that front. Some of our older members have officially retired, some in protest, some simply because the war is over. It’s leaving us fewer avenues to the Emperor though. However outside my clique affiliations McClellan, Zsinj, Tenant, Coburn and I have made a combined public statement against the disbandment and we nabbed a couple hundred additional signatures from some of the less prominent flag officers in the Army, Navy and Coruscanti based Logistics Corps. It’s part of what preoccupied me on my journey here.”

  “Tenant broke with his clique?” Bvinsk asks curiously.

  “Tarkin is currently a tad neutral on the whole thing. Rumor has it he’s been interested in removing surplus Clones from the Imperial Army and forming a new elite core for the army itself.” I answer, and hadn’t that been a pleasant surprise revealed to me by a Kaminoan convoy sending reinforcements to the 4th Assault Corps.

  “Intriguing.” Bvinsk mutters.

  “Has my grandfather made a decision?” Captain Jerjerrod asks.

  “Not to my knowledge, but the HONO Clique hasn’t made any major doctrinal decisions in a while and I doubt it will with the governmental reforms.” I answer as we finish our move to Bvinsk’s office. He takes a seat behind his desk as I take the one opposite him, Jerjerrod and Istris taking two chairs next to the wall once they receive the nod from Bvinsk.

  “Politics aside, why are we deactivating perfectly good depots?” Bvinsk asks.

  “Because they were haphazardly built are poorly defended and honestly either need expensive repairs or complete overhauls.” I give my fake answer, “Cheaper to just deactivate them and salvage whatever supplies remain in acceptable condition.”

  “Sure, some of them are in that state, but my men haven’t reported the level of damage you are implying.” Bvinsk counters.

  I hum in consideration before nodding: “I’ll send Senior Captain Sicato and my 347th’s frigates to double check and begin moving the remaining supplies then. I’m sure the truth will be somewhere in the middle of our two reports.”

  Bvinsk makes a short inhale before nodding: “Very well. I’ll follow standard procedure then. Jerjerrod, I think your company can take this over.”

  “We’ll do our best, sir.” The Captain replies.

  “Then your Senior Captain can double check our reports and my Captain can ensure the shuffling of resources goes to plan.” Bvinsk nods to himself as I smile.

  “Sounds perfect, General.” I say, suppressing a predatory smile as I speak.

  The first shuttle lands promptly within the Toong’l administrative space station, its ramp descending slowly as I suppress a yawn. The new first Sector Governors were about to arrive, the Emperor’s appointees likely to do nothing but annoy me and needle me for resources as I try and stabilize the new conquests awarded, at least temporarily, to my command. It was probably a good thing for my plans that the Pakuuni, Keldrath, Indrexu and Colundra Sectors were temporarily incorporated into my administration alongside the Tion Hegemony. It was a temporary measure that should only last until an independent regional command could be de facto established by a suitably ranked officer. For now de jure would have to do and lucky me, I got the questionable honor of receiving the title for now.

  Though I doubted the situation would be as temporary as advertised. After all, many an experienced officer had retired or begun the procedures to retire in the last months. No one really wanted to deal with the occasional guerrilla or Sepy holdout if all it took to deal with them was a light cruiser or two alongside a regiment of veterans. The paperwork for such a thing was more effort than the actual conquest would be. And absolutely nobody wanted to deal with the paperwork a new command like that would require.

  I pity the idiot who got awarded that new command eventually, hostiles all around and an almost non-existent bureaucracy once my men are pulled out. I raise up my eyes at the three officers in the new Army gray-green, all with the same rank plaques upon their chests. I frown, Majors? Seriously? Army Majors at that? His majesty expected me to give an entire sector over to a Major? They weren’t even proper flag officers!

  The three salute respectfully before finishing their descent, I return the salute mechanically, Bvinsk beside me doing much the same. Where could I even put a Major in charge? Most military Governors I had in places where I was sure these chucklefucks wouldn’t fuck everything up were either Colonels or a Navy Captains and neither would submit to the authority of mere Majors easily.

  “Fleet Admiral Dericote. It is a distinct pleasure.” The one in the center says, I give an easy nod as he continues, “I am Major Di’ebels of Coruscant.”

  The left Major speaks up next: “I would be Major Pabst of Hosnian.”

  The final Major speaks next, hopefully finishing these damn introductions: “I am Major Bo’ock of Brentaal.”

  I nod in acceptance: “Very good. You all seem to know who I am, but I would enjoy introducing you all to the mastermind of this command’s logistics, Major General Bvinsk of Bandomeer.”

  Bvinsk gives a sharp nod: “A pleasure.”

  “If you three would follow us, we have your Sectors to hand out.”

  “Which one of us will oversee the Calamari Sector?” The Hosnian one asks.

  I scoff: “None of you, the Kingdom of Mon Cala is an independent polity and has none of the internal rivalries within her boarders that the office of Sector Governor was established to combat. The only other Polity of note is Poseidenna which is on rather good terms with her larger neighbor.”

  The Hosnian Major frowns but nods in acceptance of my words as we continue marching through the innards of the station. It was easy enough to assign two Sectors to these men, the third one was the problem. I let out a quiet sigh before we enter the office I had requisitioned for my stay here. I take a seat behind the desk as Bvinsk takes up a guard position behind me on my left.

  The skilled Administrator gestures to the three chairs in front of my desk: “Sit, this should not take long.”

  The three Majors sit quickly as I take up a datapad with my last musings on this topic from R4. A quick glance before nodding to myself. It would have to do: “Very good. I must admit, your ranks are a bit of an issue for how we’ve been establishing military governorships in the command, most of them are either Navy Senior Captains or Army Colonels and Majors. I believe you can see the issues that would provide.”

  “But we are to be their superiors.” The Coruscanti says, face morphing into a mean frown.

  “Will this mean our promotions?” The Bimisaari Major asks.

  “No.” Bvinsk immediately shoots the idea down, “Your posts are almost non-existent and your administrative ability on a scale larger than a single system is untested, which is why we will be assigning you Sectors that only require minimal oversight until you have proven yourselves capable enough to merit promotion and reallocation to a more … difficult sector.”

  “A test then?” The Coruscanti asks.

  “Exactly. Major Di’ebels, you will be assigned the Jubilar Sector. It is mostly quiet and you shouldn’t have to fear of anyone outranking you, though the Senior Captains in command of the patrol forces are on parity with you on military matters. Jubilar also has a major POW camp which is slowly being processed now that his majesty has deigned the war to be over.” I begin.

  “Very well, sir.” The Coruscanti acknowledges.

  “Major Pabst, you will be assigned to the Shadola Sector. The situation there is much the same, though you may interact more with the neutral polity known as the Centrality, the territories which fall under Hutt Space and don’t have the issue of the prisoner releases.” I inform the man.

  “Very well.” The Hosnian man says.

  “Finally, I will be assigning the Dominus Sector to Major Bo’ock.” I say.

  The Bimisaari man frowns as he nods: “As you wish, sir.”

  “There are no major garrisons in this sector, excluding Toong’l, which is nominally outside of your usual command due to its position as the primary administrative location of the regional command and the official home base of the 53rd Volunteer Corps. You will likely also have a decent amount of contact with the loyal Republic ally known as the Free State of Targonn. It is a bit of a … limited command in comparison to your counterparts, however that should allow you to learn the operations of the regional command more thoroughly than your counterparts, thanks to a lack of possible distractions.” I explain.

  “I understand, sir.” The officer replies, tone curt.

  “Then I believe that to be all for the moment. Work well, work true and hard and soon enough you’ll all make Colonel.” I placate. I’ll have to keep an eye on these ones, they’re too ambitious by half and probably too loyal to the Emperor. Maybe it was time to stage a couple accidents.