"Congratulations, Rear Admiral Japheth." Kadann said as he rose from his chair.  "You're back as the Naval Commander in Chief."  Kadann walked the short distance across the table to where Japheth was rising from his own chair and shook his hand.  The two parted and started for the door.  The rest of the High Council was following closely behind, having already stood from their chairs.  The group walked in a small cluster down the halls of the High Council's wing in the Lotaith Imperial Palace.  The entire section of the grand building was filled with meeting rooms and offices for use by the High Council.  Security was top notch and inconspicuous.  Visiting dignitaries would not even notice the Royal Guards slinking in the shadows, ready to take a blaster bolt for anyone with a higher paycheck than himself.  After taking said blaster bolt, the Guardsman would then commence to making the attacker's short life very painful.

Talon's attention slipped from the conversation and locked on to a Guardsman that was near a pillar, watching silently.  He smiled and nodded to his fellow Griffen Sect member.  The Guardsmen chosen for protection of the High Council were the lesser members of the Sect, but still the very best that the Empire and the Dark Jedi Order had to offer.  'Thank you, brother.  Your presence is a comfort to others.  You serve your Order well.' Talon projected through the Force to the scarlet clad warrior.  He could feel an acknowledgement, but there was no reply.  Talon smiled inwardly at the show of respect and sense of professionalism that the man was showing.  He was proud of his Griffens.

".. and as we continue the building of our fleet, we will make a push to the Core.  It will be a simple hop, skip, and a jump to Coruscant.  It won't come any time soon, but some day we will retake our home." Kadann explained.  Talon's attention snapped back to the conversation just in time.  "Talon, do you have the figures on you?" the Grand Moff asked, turning back to look at him.

"I do not.  I apologize.  I was caught off guard by the speed at which the meeting was called that I was not able to bring my file on the advance to the Core.  A rough estimate would say in five to eight years, Coruscant will be under Imperial reign again.  Five being if we can get another sizable fleet to join us.  The main thing slowing us down right now is the lack of starfighters.  We're training pilots as fast as we can and still we have TIEs sitting on the hangars unmanned." Talon said as they continued their trek down the ridiculously long hallway.  He hesitated before adding, "The TIE Droid project is still going.. slowly.  Even with the notes that Field Marshal Threeof4 left, we just can't seem to get the AI smart enough to improvise as much as a pilot would.  At best, they're good for one run of a wall formation, blasting the hell out of everything.  Most of the time they're just used as a distraction.  However, I think we are set to take Moorja on schedule."

Japheth turned to the new ambassador, a man named Timar, and asked, "What of the alliances we have tried to strike?  Can we get enough backing to reach for the five year goal?"

"Ah, yes." Timar started, "We have put out offers to a couple remaining fleets and the most promising seems to be the Star Vipers.  I am still speaking with their ambassador about it.  The Higher Council told me they would prefer not to give too much information without them agreeing, so it is making things harder.  I have a good feeling about this one, though.  I just received word back today from Captain Palleon and he outright said no.  I meant to bring this up sooner, but the conversations went off topic for too long and I got distracted.  The Captain mentioned a Grand Admiral that is now in command of his fleet.  This supposed Grand Admiral is taking command of many of the remaining fleets and making them his own.  He demands control of the Vast Empire."

Japheth looked to Kadann in puzzlement.  Kadann looked at the rest of the Council and found similar looks on Fury and Talon.  His brow furrowed as he thought for a moment.  "Timar, are you sure he said Grand Admiral?" he asked cautiously.

"Yes sir." he said confidently.  "I know what you're thinking.  I knew enough of my recent history to know that the last Grand Admiral was captured by the New Repu.. Excuse me, the Rebels.  I have checked records myself and there is no listing of another Grand Admiral.  Either it is a hoax or Emperor Palpatine had even more secrets hidden up those rather large sleeves."

Kadann sighed.  "Ok, we might as well start calling our enemy what they have become.  Even us old crusty war dogs need to adapt to the times, right?  They are the New Republic now, and will still be treated as an enemy." Kadann said authoritatively.  Everyone nodded briefly as his gaze fell over them in a slow sweep.  "Next," he said, "we will continue as planned.  We will assume this Grand Admiral is a hoax until we find proof.  It's not easy to hide that white uniform for that long and I smell a liar.  Fury, how prepared is the Army for this venture?"

The Prefect smiled.  "Always ready to pound the ground, sir.  The new ARC unit is becoming rather useful for the more difficult missions as well.  If the flyboys can cut us a hole to Moorja, we can take it over in no time." he answered.

Kadann nodded in satisfaction.  "Well, gentlemen, let's continue this conversation after lunch." he said.  The doors in front of him flew aside with a thought from the Dark Jedi Master and the Council walked through to the dining area.  The doors slowly closed behind them, shutting off the noise of the hallway.

A crimson robe exited the shadows created by large tree growing up from the hole in the stone floor.  Behind the mask, the man smiled.  He brought his left arm up to examine the devise on his wrist.  'Good.' he thought to himself as he tapped a button on the devise.  The Guardsman straitened back to attention and returned to the shadows - his home.

Continue to the Army story
Continue to the Navy story

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OO/GN Sierra "Talon" Taurus/HC-3/VEHC/VE[BC][IOC][LoC][SoS][BM][CDS][MSM]
GM-SL/DJM "Nightblades"/DC-1/Elite Griffen Sect/VSD-II Griffen/VEDJ/VE[IOC][OQD][WoS 2nd Class]
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SCAP/COM Vincent "Claw" Taurus/ISD Nemesis/Offensive Fleet/VEN[=A=][LoM][IOC][IC2]
CEO Vincent "Claw" Taurus/ECHC-1/Endoven/Dome 8473/VEEC/VE