When he stepped onto the platform where the T-2c Personnel Transport was waiting, a little breeze blew across. Thedrish stopped to look around. “Closing another chapter” he thought. He inhaled deeply and walked toward the shuttle.

While he approached, it struck him how many people took the same ride to the Naval Base. People different in many ways, some looked as if they came straight from the Imperial Center Store wearing new uniforms and boots. Others looked like they had taken the wrong transport since their trousers had stains on them and looked really worn out. One thing they all had in common, they maintained discipline and order while boarding. No one was pushing others or trying to get in first.

The flight turned out to be more interesting than expected. The pilot must have had a bad day or a bad training, for the shuttle took off rather badly. Instead of the usual powerup and systems check which would last at least 10 minutes to allow the engines to reach operating tempature, he fired up the engines and took off almost instantly. The result was that people who where trying to put away their gear did some serious diving. Thedrish was lucky for he got in among the first so he had secured himself early on. The guy sitting next to him wasn't. Just after putting away his luggage, the shuttle lifted off. Within seconds, he sat down alright, but on the floor instead of in his chair. While struggling to get on his feet, Thedrish reached out and grabbed his arm. The man got on his feet and made his way to the chair next to Thedrish.

“Enjoy flying Rookie Airways” he commented the flying of the shuttle pilot while giving Thedrish a sore grin. “Yeah, the pride of the Imperial Fleet no doubt” laughed Thedrish. “Hi, I'm Darian, thanks for the helping hand.” The man shook hands. “Anytime, Thedrish is the name”. “You're on your way to the Naval Base too?” Darian asked. “Yes, new assignment, I have to report to the Nazgul Squadron” Thedrish replied. “Really, so am I! I have to report to the Nazgul Squadron too!”. During the flight, Thedrish and Darian talked a lot about aircrafts. And before they knew, the shuttle had landed on the platform on the Naval Base. “Well, good luck my friend” said Thedrish and both shook hands before departing.

Thedrish walked towards the nearby officer and asked where he could find the Nazgul Squadron. It appeared to be just around the corner. Before entering the building, he looked back and saw that nobody followed him. Where had Darian gone? He opened the door and stepped in. When he looked around, he noticed several men sitting around a  large table having a drink. They all seemed to have something green to drink. On the wall, there were displays of model TIE-fighters and many trophies. And although the talks didn't stop abruptly, they seemed to be watching him.

He stepped forward and said “Greetings everyone, Thedrish is the name. I am assigned to this squadron, can someone tell me where I might find Squadron Commander Gshlecc?” “You just found him” said a man with a big smile. “Hello, I'm G'shlecc Atrasin”. He appeared  slightly shorter than Thedrish, but the hand he gave Thedrish was a firm and confident one.

“You're the new guy for Flight-1, the one I lead” he said. “Welcome! Have a drink”. He handed Thedrish a bottle with the green stuff in it. “No worries, it won't kill you” said G'shlecc. The others stood up and welcomed Thedrish. This was a new home, one he felt confident about.
“Thanks, it's good to be here!”.

[to be continued]

[OoC: feel free to join in]

“Anything else you need Sir?” the man from the Imperial Center Store asked. Thedrish looked at him, age somewhere in his twenties he guessed, uniform freshly pressed, not a single spot on it. No doubt someone who had never experienced real life, who had probably never seen real combat. And this young man was the one who had sold him his first fighter. How strange things could be. “No, thank you, not for now” he replied.

“That will be 200.000 IC’s, I suppose you want to electronicly transfer the money?” Thedrish got his Imperial ID out of his pocket and put it in the machine. After he entered his personal code and confirmed the amount, the young man across the counter smiled. “Thank you for your purchase. The TIE fighter will be delivered to you the day after tomorrow since they are in stock. Do you require an aircraft registration or will you be taking care of this yourself?” Thedrish thought for a moment, “could you please take care of it?” The other man grabbed a datapad and started entering Thedrishs details. “No problem, it’s a free service that goes with the deal. But some buyers prefer to handle things themselves. When the TIE is delivered to us, we will put the registration on the side for you.” “No, that won’t be necessary” Thedrish said, “I’d like it to be completely unmarked”. “Fine, no problem Sir.”

Thedrish left the Store and felt pleased. Things went along fine since he joined the Imperial Forces. Although he had joined recently, it felt as if he had been here for some time now. He couldn’t have imagined that he would have his own TIE so soon. During his years on Corellia, he had saved all the money he could spare. And now that paid off, well, it just paid for his TIE Oppressor. With a big grin, he walked back to his quarter.

He thought about the Oppressor. From what he had read in the brochure and what he had heard, the Oppressor was primarily designed to engage capital ships. But the mark 2 version had been enhanced even further. The version he just bought carried more than enough missiles to fight any starfighter that he would encounter. But that was not why Thedrish had been interested. No, the fact that it also was a bomber made it interesting. Not only was it fast at twice the speed of light, but it also had a serious onboard shield generator. He now had a weapon to strike back at the Rebels and his revenge would be complete. And with this TIE, he could be in and out fast and still bomb them into oblivion. Thedrish looked sad. Of course his destiny came another step closer, but the pain increased with it.

When he walked into the mess of the Nazgul squadron, he noticed that many of the pilots were present. He got himself something to eat and sat down with his comrades. “Hey Thed, what have you been up to?” asked CPO Slasher. “I’ve been at the Imperial Center Store. Bought myself a fighter.” Thedrish replied. “Oh? Which one?” Slasher wanted to know with interest. “The Oppressor” said Thedrish with a big smile. This answer was greeted enthusiasticly by Slasher. “Good choice Thed! It is fast and versitile!”. The men talked a bit about the craft Slasher had collected in time.

At that moment, all the sirens went off and squadron commander G’shlecc stormed in, barking to all present pilots “All pilots, get to your fighters, get yourself airborn in two minutes. Last one out will clean the toilets this week, NOW GET MOVING!!” Thedrish jumped up, throwing away his chair and ran as fast as he could to his locker. He grabbed his flight suit and continued on his way to the Squadron TIE’s. During precheck, he got into his flightsuit and prepared to take off. Within seconds his TIE shot into outerspace, leaving the dock behind him. He was not the last one out, so no toilet cleaning for him this week.

[to be continued]