Of Commanders and Fleets...
23 Jan 2018TalonAlmese
We got the call from some friends over in Shen Terminal last week.. apparently the Princess herself had put out a martial decree against slavers in the region, as well as the usual assortment of pirates and scum. Normally I wouldn't have paid that much attention to it, I was already neck deep in leads after a current critical target of my own... an Alliance assassin that had been targeting fellow Enforcers. A tip from my favorite food vendor who runs a delicatessen at the dock however, told me he'd seen a certain assault vessel bearing markings similar to the man I was hunting.Fast forward to the present, and I've been swept up in the Princess' "Stop Slavery Stupid" movement. I swear, one of her aides had to have come up with that idiot name. The heiress apparent is usually quite adept at making appropriate names for any military acts. Even more so as she's the more peaceful of the two Duval's. I digress, unfortunately, forgive me. With next to no preparations, the girls had found as much info as they could from the Crew Lounge, doing the usual banter with fellow fighter jockeys that were waiting for the next meal ticket or way out of the station. As for me.. well...
"Let me get this right.. you saw Balthasar's Python dock here?" I don't think it was the harsh tone of my voice, as much as it was the fact that the chef's aide was being held up off the floor and against the wall. If I'd learned anything from the old man, holding a person in the air did wonders to make people rethink their priorities. "I swear, I would've called you sooner, but we were busy! The Empire has had this place in a busy rut ever since that stupid de-" The sound of flesh hitting wood paneling was soon heard, as I removed and promptly slammed the fool against the wall, making sure the back of his head made contact first. "Let's get things straight. First, it takes all of ten seconds to place a notifier message to any commander. Hell, your boss has me on speed dial, because I'm one of his best customers, and the girls love his food. Second, you don't EVER badmouth the Empire in an Enforcer's presence.. especially either of the Duval's."
I release the young man, he couldn't have possibly been a day over twenty. "Finally, but probably the most important.." The neutral expression on my face had turned into a heavy scowl, and the rasp of leather was heard, and the clicking of the pistol I kept on my thigh was heard as the hammer locked into place. ".. your Boss should have told you, I have a personal vendetta against Slavers. I could care less if I saw them somehow sneaking into a station, I'd blast a hole into the side of the starport just to make sure they died. So that makes the Empire's decree in this system hold heavy merit in my books." I held the firearm level for a few moments, letting him stare down the barrel before holstering it. I turned on my heel and left, giving a wave to the owner. "Put the boy in his place. He ain't learned yet about how to deal with certain people."
The girls and I had taken immediately to signing up the for cause... figured we'd do a bit of good while chasing the best lead we had. I'd teamed up with two commanders, by the names of Random Chaos, and Eriniya Scantiyar, much to the delight of my crew pilots. They admired them not only because they were capable commanders in their own right, but because they were female to boot. Guess they had dreams about leaving the ship to become commanders themselves one day. Pretty sure if they asked, I'd likely buy them a ship of their own... they've earned such as it was by now. I didn't quite tell the Chaos or Scantiyar as to why I was here, or why I seemed to be hell-bent on turning every wanted Python to slag, but we still got along well. We got along so well in fact, that I wasn't quite prepared for what happened next.
"You seem to be a pretty decent Commander, Almese. You do good work for the Empire." I glanced at the message readout, and it was Chaos. Smirking, I shrugged and opened up comms. "I do what I can.. they're a decent lot, and we share similar interests." Laughter was heard a bit, and I frowned... I'd not thought anything I'd said had been amusing. "Not quite what I was referring to, but a good point. I'd like to invite you to fight for the Legion. The 10th Legion." You could have heard a pin drop on my ship. As a matter of fact, one of the aides on my ship dropped a mug of caf I'd requested during the break in the action, and it was enough to shock me out of my stupor. 'The Legion? What in the name...' My instincts however, quickly fired off faster than my brain did, and for once it was for the better. "Sounds like a plan. Patch me through and send me the transcripts so I can apply." The comms went quiet as the files were sent over, and after a few moments, I was officially a pilot serving the 10th Legion. Not quite in tune with my goals of having my own fleet, but it could steer me on the right path until I could pursue the goal more readily. After all, the Enforcer Corps was an unofficial group, and the numbers had dwindled well enough to only a handful of people. It would do me some good to fight beside a well known group, and we launched ourselves back into the fray of combat to celebrate not only my own acceptance to the Legion, but Scantiyar's as well. It was turning out to be a good day it seemed. New friends, and a new employer.. could this day get any better?
Sadly, Chaos has to leave, as duties and prior engagements called her elsewhere. It wasn't that I lamented her leaving (she did have places to be after all), as much as the fact that we were now a wing-mate short... which put us back to fighting more cautiously. I continued to fly alongside my similarly recruited Legionnaire, Commander Scantiyar for several hours, teaming up with others to continue exacting a heavy toll on the dregs of the system. There was nowhere the slavers and pirates could hide, but after several combats and resupply movements passed, we returned to Shen Terminal. We were all fairly exhausted, and decided to call for a pause for rest. Hunting down such ilk was best done on a healthy setting, not for the tired and exhausted. It was then, as I was prepping one of the cabins in my ship that I noticed a message that'd I'd yet to clear from my inbox. Wearily, I forced myself into a seated position, and put in the codes to access my private logs.
<CMDR ALMESE>
-restricted access to captain's log, submit verification codes-
**************
-code submitted, verifying...
....
....
...access granted-
{Vermilion Clearance Level Information}
Enforcer Cpt. <REDACTED>
Commander Almese,
It is to our great pleasure to inform you that the Alliance assassin, Codename BALTHASAR was slain two hours ago by your vessel. We are also pleased to hear of your acceptance into the 10th Legion. They are good folk, and strong supporters of the Empire. Continue the good work in keeping the galaxy clean of criminals... I'm sure that old man <REDACTED> would be smiling at your accomplishments right now.
Imperator Vult!
{end of message}
-system code acknowledged, purging message.
....
....
... messages empty. relocking captain's log-
I closed my eyes for a moment, feeling a bit of relief wash over me, before a bit of pain flared up. Turns out my back had cracked in protest from having held that position before lying down for bed."....I'm getting to old for this... Fiat Voluntus Imperator..." As I felt sleep pull and tug at me, one last thought came to mind, putting a sincere smile across my face. The assassin was dead, he would trouble me, nor my kind any further.
Thought for the day: "Blind faith, leads to misplaced fealty... both actions of course, are by nature heresy. Question everything, to make true choices. The Emperor's Light will show you the way."