Governor's Gambit - Star Wars SI into Imperial Governor

[ThedudeManBro]

Considering that GE inherited Republics bloat & coruption and made it worse?
I would say a lot unles you are Vader, Tarkin or Thrawn.

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Not even Pappy is immune?

Jaysus!

 

[dreammag]

Unfortunately, due to the subpar quality of the bacta, many scars still remain. Further treatment is medically unnecessary, but bedrest is recommended, as is counseling.

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"the jedy attempt on my life left me heavyly scarred..." .jpg

At least now he will fool face-recognition programs so his escape will be easier.

 

[Andrew1993]

Lmao, omake where alvi gets relocated on thrawns orders to investigate the tie variants and r&d, zyx relocated to protect againast any espionage and Shal and her SD get relocated to defend the now important system, las despairs

 

[lusians]

Not even Pappy is immune?

Jaysus!

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He is but kinda cant exercises that to fulest intent.
Remmember he is still keeping up charade with senate.
Tough I dont remember if he finds amusnent from it and thats why keeps them around or he cant get rid of them othervise GE goes down the toilet along his ego storking/masturbatory mega projects.

 

[PotatOS2]

Pappy is too busy trolling people in his new PDA to care he have his trusted man good old tarkin after all

 

[Kurohime]

Considering that GE inherited Republics bloat & coruption and made it worse?
I would say a lot unles you are Vader, Tarkin or Thrawn.

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I'm fairly sure that while still corrupt, the Empire is less so than the Republic. The Threat of death, and the lethal consequences of incompetence are extremely motivating incentives that the Republic lacked.
While the galaxy is far to large for all of the consequences to reach those who deserve them, The consequences reached almost NONE during the republic.

Also to consider is that MC is in the backwater outer rim, far from a place where incompetence has immediately further reaching negative effects, so it's allowed to fester until noticeable

 

[edboy49]

Awesome chapter.

I considered this. Then, I turned to Grant. "Get in contact with the Commodore. Have her move the flotilla to the Edin-Minda hyperlane."

Before she could respond to that, I turned to Darna. "I need a message sent to the Sector Admiral. Send him the pirates coordinates, and tell him that we interrogated a captain for the info. Lastly, tell him they have plans to leave the Sector soon."

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The Sector Admiral ignores it cause he is stupid.
Cue Thrawn arriving instead.

"These all look good, but make sure extensive testing is done. Don't want half baked products coming out of this whole debacle."

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Considering what we know of Sienar, I would trust these current projects above in their current forms.

 

[Xeider]

The Sector Admiral ignores it cause he is stupid.
Cue Thrawn arriving instead.

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Thrawn sees the new TIE variants:
"They show promise, i want them yesterday"
"Sir we have the infrastructure to begin production, but we lack the necessary permits"
"Oh really, please elaborate..."
*A certain paperpusher waiting for bribes*
"Why do i hear boss music?"

 

[Knight Sovereign]

"Of course, sir. You've been out of commission for the past two weeks, and things have gotten worse. The pirate attacks have become more brazen, with larger ships going so far as to hit official mining outposts, and even destroyed a Blastboat station! Our infiltrators have heard that their leaders plan to expand even further across the sector, most likely with reinforcements from the Consortium."

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I considered this. Then, I turned to Grant. "Get in contact with the Commodore. Have her move the flotilla to the Edin-Minda hyperlane."

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I can definitely tell that Commodore Veers has been extremely busy in those two weeks defending the Minda System from increasing pirate attacks. That will certainly look good on her career profile, especially with the climax of this local campaign fast approaching. IF Grand Admiral Thrawn does make himself known, then Commodore Veers will have a shining achievement, one of many future ones, and a powerful reference to back up her accolade.

Makes me wonder how her father in the Imperial Army will view this. It also makes me want that ambitious, but lazy, Sector Admiral to both seethe in envy, that a "mere Commodore whose father is in the Army" dare to steal the glory, as well as fear for his own career thanks to official reprimands from a Grand Admiral that family and political connections can't sweep away. Of course, like I said earlier, that is IF Grand Admiral Thrawn officially visits the Myto Sector.

The two looked at each other, before Grant turned to me. "Sir, one of the techs was bribed by Edins governor to sabotage the testing of the mobile artillery suit. Its torpedos exploded far too close to you, and while the ferrocrete barrier absorbed most of the blast, you were still caught in it."

"Huh". So that's why light was my last memory. Closest thing to a vacation I've had in a year now, so I'll take it.

"Gotcha. Anyways, how are our infiltrator teams doing?"

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"Well, yes, I was blown up. But, compared to my mother, this is nothing."

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Actually, in this context, I prefer the final words of Goge Vandire (Warhammer 40k): "I don't have time to die... I'm too busy!"

 

[Shane.W]

Can't wait to Vader gets his hands on one of the Tie Whirlwinds https://www.artstation.com/artwork/lVBxQ5 if I remember correctly he's flying a Tie in the movie.

 

[Hilight]

MC: "The attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed..."
Papa Palpatine: "...Someone is stealing my lines."

 

[OneirosTheWriter]

I'm fairly sure that while still corrupt, the Empire is less so than the Republic. The Threat of death, and the lethal consequences of incompetence are extremely motivating incentives that the Republic lacked.
While the galaxy is far to large for all of the consequences to reach those who deserve them, The consequences reached almost NONE during the republic.

Also to consider is that MC is in the backwater outer rim, far from a place where incompetence has immediately further reaching negative effects, so it's allowed to fester until noticeable

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The Galactic Empire would have supercharged the economic woes of the Republic and then added hot sauce with the penchant for completely impractical prestige problems. Everything now runs on a patronage system, capricious executions send CYA behaviour into hyperdrive rather than productivity and Palpatine is happily playing factions against each other.

The Sith do not make the trains run on time.

 

[e3we]

The Galactic Empire would have supercharged the economic woes of the Republic and then added hot sauce with the penchant for completely impractical prestige problems. Everything now runs on a patronage system, capricious executions send CYA behaviour into hyperdrive rather than productivity and Palpatine is happily playing factions against each other.

The Sith do not make the trains run on time.

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They Don't make them like they used to.- Darth Marr

 

[Carcer]

Maybe they could make an exemple of that buraucrat once they got the permits they need from him,so his succesor may have the basic survival instinct to not try to do that shit with them,or is killed too.

 

[Shane.W]

Isn't there that Old Republic Jedi Knight or was it Master trapped inside of some obelisk, the one wearing a Sith Lords mask it was something to do with rakgouls I think they were called? Maybe Las could have a team find her and after the Empire falls free her. It would be a great way to cause chaos for Las to do a runner.

 

[Sam I Am]

I wonder why all the Sith are power-hungry dumbasses too blind to their own moronicism?

Does imbibing of the Dark Side act as drugs do? If so, it makes perfect sense then why Sith are dumbasses then.

They're blinded by addiction to the Dark Side and the addiction takes precedent over everything else.

That is if the Dark Side is cosmic Crack.

 

[Yacov]

But worse. There was a distinct uncomfortable feeling in the back of my mind. But it was spreading. It made it itch under my skin. Then, I couldn't breathe, and I was burning and there was light and sound and-

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Like suddenly feeling the need to breath just as your waking up.

Another set of beeps, and I recognize the med droid we had installed for the bay. It was a fairly good model, if a few years older than we wanted. All things considered, we probably would've gotten a better one if we just bought it ourselves. Better bacta too.

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If this doesn't get widespread approval for upgrading the Governor Medical Bay, nothing will. Heck the local administration might "encourage" i.e. whine desperately for Las to do it.

I hummed as I considered that. The Consortium was unlikely to keep up its support, since it was going to fall soon. I had personally never played Empire at War, or its expansions, but I did know that Tyber Zann was kept in a Hutt prison of sorts, and that the DLC took place not long before and immediately after the Battle of Yavin. That meant Zann was either already behind bars, or was going to be soon. Considering that we were still around the 3rd month of 1BBY, I had some time to nip this in the bud. Just have to figure out how to hire a good assassin that won't immediately turn on me.

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Ah the joys of inexplicably knowing what your enemy is up to. Also is that assassin for the Pirate Couple or Zann himself? Because killing the Big Man would certainly destabilize things for your enemies.

I waved my hand dismissively, already against the idea. "Nah, don't bother. Whatever paperpusher is holding us back clearly wants a bribe and knows we're too small a time to go around, so just give it to 'em. Make sure to push the majority of the bribe funds from my personal account. Can't have people think I'm using public money for this."

Grant looked like a fish out of water for a second, mouth open wide long enough that both Mugwuffin and Darna gave out little chuckles. Clearly, she was insulted by the inefficiencies in the Imperial government and nationalized corporations, a very sensible thing to be insulted by.

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Las that is not how corruption for an Imperial Governor is supposed to work. You are doing things backwards.

You are supposed to be taking kickbacks and absconding with public funds for private expenses. Not use private funds to pay off approval for public projects.

The next design was both very out there, and also incredibly useful. See, one of the biggest directives of the Variant project was to include TIE parts as much as possible to increase redundancies and reduce repair and maintenance costs. Somehow, through very creative use of the smaller interior TIE panels and strut pieces, the crackheads in R&D cooked up the TIE Patroller. They abused the ever living shit out of what little interior pieces are built into the standard TIE line that the interior of this ship, not counting the wiring and tubing, is like 80% standard TIE parts. The s-foils are just chunks of regular TIE s-foils. All in all, the TIE Patroller is made up of a whopping 57% standard TIE parts, with the rest being easy enough to repair or replace with aftermarket parts. It was like a YT series ship fucked a TIE, thats how easy it is to repair, replace, or modify this thing. Ridiculous.

Now, its purpose? It acts as a cheaper replacement for the Blastboat for systems that want a decently armed patrol ship, coming in at about 175,000 credits. Sure the Blastboat is great, but the GAT-12 is old, with few still in production, while the GAT-18 is nice but not cheap, with an oversized and expensive generator that powers the massive light turbolaser it has strapped to its crotch. The Patroller will be able to monitor areas, chase down enemies with good engines and a nice suite of weapons, and, with a set of extendable docking clamps on the bottom it can carry with it two TIE fighters. Sure, it can't land with them on, but neither can a Gozanti, and that thing has shit firepower, relying entirely on its TIEs like a carrier that was dropped on its head as a child and never grew up into a Quasar.

The next variant is the TIE Striker, built as a longer range variant of the TIE. Boasting stronger shields than the retrofitted standard, along with two extra laser cannons, life support, and a class 1 hyperdrive. Because of redundancies, its cost comes in at about 95,000 credits in total. It's about 5 or so kph slower than a standard TIE, but it's ability to actually patrol a system combined with the standardized parts makes it a godsend. Its standard part rate is lower than the patroller, at about 35% standard TIE parts, but like before, the techies made sure it was moddable as hell. Again, CEC meets TIE line, but in a loving way instead of a hate-fucking kinda way that you'd expect from competitors.

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So doing some napkin math I came up with two cost estimates. One for a Gozanti doing a patrol with its compliment of TIEs, and the other for what a patrol made up entirely of Las' new TIEs would cost.

Imperial Light Patrol (ILP)
Gozanti 200,000
4 TIEs 60,000 = 240,000
Total 440,000 credits

Las Light Patrol (LLP)
TIE Patroller 175,000
2 TIE Strikers 95,000 =190,000
Total 365,000 credits

Both patrols have their advantages. I can see both seeing use in different situations.

The Imperial Light Patrol I can see being used in far out, but safe patrol routes. The extra crew and internal space allows for more logistical independence. They can stay away from resupply for longer and do those routes for longer.

The issue is a ILP is intimidating, but can easily get taken apart by even an armed freighter with some luck. The Gozanti is kind of a weak link in any real fight being the sole hyperdrive capable vessel in the patrol that is also lightly gunned. If it gets destroyed than it is just the matter of either picking off the unshielded TIEs or just jumping out from the system.

A Las Light Patrol I can see being used in more contested routes near Imperial centers. It's less suited for long meandering routes, and more for patrols where you're expecting to shoot at something. A jump or two away from resupply and reinforcements in case they run into trouble, whether mechanical or enemy wise.

The LLP despite having less ships and volume, has more survivability and firepower. A LLP can hit even things up to light frigate and stand a decent chance of at least escaping to warn Imperial authorities.

Every vessel being hyperdrive capable and shielded. Enemies are going to have a much harder time wiping out patrols without someone getting word back. Which if a LLP is patrolling a contested area, means reinforcements are hot on their trail.

The LLP also has logistical reliability in its favor. Instead of needed to carry parts for both the Gozanti and the TIEs, the LLP only needs to stock TIE parts which are plentiful, and whatever aftermarket parts are used in their production.

This would streamline logistics near Minda and make resupply and maintenance a breeze. While also keeping a budget and shipping costs low as pretty much any decent manufacturing facility can keep a LLP running.

Note that this is just a ILP and LLP doing things on their own. If you want you can just add more vessels if you need to beef up a patrol or add more logistical support. 2-3 LLPs and a freighter would probably still be much less expensive then sending something like a cruiser on a patrol.

The LLP kind of solves the problem the Defender was trying to. Providing an upgunned, shielded, and hyperdrive capable version of the TIE fighter for the Imperial Navy to adopt.

The main issue the Defender had was it was just a far more expensive piece to slot in where a TIE originally was. Trying to do the TIE's job better, but with a much larger bill in costs and parts. It didn't really take into account the rest of the Imperial Navy and how it would fit in with them.

The LLP comes at the problem by broadening its approach. An LLP is not only looking to replace the TIE, it replaces the vessel carrying the TIEs as well. It doesn't try to replace the TIE outright, it just offers a better option for certain situations while keeping things cheap and accessible enough that it is an attractive option.

Another advantage is that unlike the Defender, the LLP can do its own marketing. While a Defender is hiding in a capital ship waiting to surprise the Rebels, a LLP is out there doing patrols and being the face of the Empire wherever it goes.

 

[RedWard99]

Once I'm dressed, I look towards Grant.

"Commodore"

"Yes, Governor?"

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I like how she just accepted the additional rank, so she can smash herself into the enemy in space too.

 

[Doombringer]

Just as quick nitpick about one of the tie variants. It was described as being 5 kph slower than another tie fighter, that seems like an incredibly tiny difference in top speed that it probably isn't even worth mentioning especially since we are talking about speeds when traveling through the air or space.

I mean even modern jets travel at such speeds that a 5 kph difference in top speed would make no effective difference. I am making the assumption that out in the void without air resistance that they can travel at much faster speeds and thus the difference would be comparatively smaller.

Edit: Also just to discuss the actual chapter a bit. I bet he is causing some concern with how casually he seems to be treating his assassination attempt.

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I think that's the idea. While there is a trade off on paper, it's just on paper.

 

[AHHGKS]

Thrawn sees the new TIE variants:
"They show promise, i want them yesterday"
"Sir we have the infrastructure to begin production, but we lack the necessary permits"
"Oh really, please elaborate..."
*A certain paperpusher waiting for bribes*
"Why do i hear boss music?"

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Thrawn will want these prototypes /yesterday/. If/when Darth Vader drops by the system, then sees the prototypes and I figure what will happen people will hear a massive *YOINK* sound. Vader will probably just tell the people in Minda that they are to produce a batch of the ships for combat trials to be held under *his* supervision. That and any permit issues will be *dealt* with by Vader himself. The morons over at Sienar holding this up will end up having Daddy Vader choking / using the Force to pimp slap some bitches.

Both Thrawn and Vader will enjoy having a set of prototypes to tear apart, then rebuild with copious notes on how to fix potential issues in the construction. Though the R&D people will probably have construction / engineering design notes which list the bugs/issues found then fixed in each prototype iteration, until the final production model is produced. Vader and Thrawn will most likely want a copy of those design / engineering notes/schematics with appended comments and bug fixes. Vader because he'll probably be flying himself as a test pilot and wants to know any potential issues before he hops in. Thrawn will want a copy because that way he might be able to use those bug fixes to patch any similiar issues in the Defender line.

TftC!

 

[Mistroz]

excellent chapter.

 

[BaronNoir]

The governor should probably start looking into getting some sort of media manager.

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Remember Las is trying to stay under the radar of the bigger players. It's why he's dumping money into the TIE variant research, so it doesn't look like he's making bank hand over fist. However making sure he does have a good image when he does end up a bigger player wouldn't hurt, because at the rate things are progressing he's going to stick out a lot as Minda keeps making progress.

As for dumping more money into projects, Las may want to consider expanding the shipyards. This will eat up some funds while expanding the yards capabilities, especially for Commadore Veer's growing forces, adding another set or two of Imperial dock yards wouldn't be a bad thing. Adding some more defense satellites and platforms might also help with both current and future pirate issues, and potentially the Yuuzhan Vong in the future, which first appear on this side of the galaxy if I'm not mistaken.

You could also create a research project for developing better or new types of void/orbital structures, with how varied the Minda system is you can easily work on different orbital structures for different void, orbital, and atmospheric environments.

Another avenue of potential research is starship design and starship modules (shields, weapons, engines, communications, life support, special features, etc.) Naval ship research, design, and development is a massive money sink. You don't necessarily need to build or manufacture them in system, but sell the research and designs out to bigger companies like Corellian Engineering Corporation, Mon Calamari Shipyards, Kuat Drive Yards, or Rendilli Stardrive, just to name a few. Ship design, building, and research is a major industry and sucks up a ton of money. Just look at how much money the US Navy dumps into ships like the Zumwalt Class, which barely works as it was intended for. Las wants a money sink, ship design is a black hole.

There is also the civilian market to think about. Educational tools and programs, kitchen appliances, quality of life products, vehicles, all would be a good investments. Entertainment is a big realm to work with, the whole bread and circus (games) is a tactic for a reason.

Toys and board games are something Las can develop. You don't really see much in the way of toys outside of stuffed toys and dolls in Star Wars and beyond the Dejarik, Sabaac, Pazaak, there isn't much in the way of board and card games and most of the card games are gambling related. Working on bringing new forms of entertainment, perhaps by taking from Earth's catalog of games and toys wouldn't be a bad idea. Legos especially would do well with how they expand creativity and allow for small scale simulations of technical and mechanical processes, and can help in real world construction design and development.

Organized sports would also be a good thing to invest in. There are a handful of sports talked about in Star Wars but not in much detail.

Just some ideas to throw around.

 

[Shane.W]

You know

Remember Las is trying to stay under the radar of the bigger players. It's why he's dumping money into the TIE variant research, so it doesn't look like he's making bank hand over fist. However making sure he does have a good image when he does end up a bigger player wouldn't hurt, because at the rate things are progressing he's going to stick out a lot as Minda keeps making progress.

As for dumping more money into projects, Las may want to consider expanding the shipyards. This will eat up some funds while expanding the yards capabilities, especially for Commadore Veer's growing forces, adding another set or two of Imperial dock yards wouldn't be a bad thing. Adding some more defense satellites and platforms might also help with both current and future pirate issues, and potentially the Yuuzhan Vong in the future, which first appear on this side of the galaxy if I'm not mistaken.

You could also create a research project for developing better or new types of void/orbital structures, with how varied the Minda system is you can easily work on different orbital structures for different void, orbital, and atmospheric environments.

Another avenue of potential research is starship design and starship modules (shields, weapons, engines, communications, life support, special features, etc.) Naval ship research, design, and development is a massive money sink. You don't necessarily need to build or manufacture them in system, but sell the research and designs out to bigger companies like Corellian Engineering Corporation, Mon Calamari Shipyards, Kuat Drive Yards, or Rendilli Stardrive, just to name a few. Ship design, building, and research is a major industry and sucks up a ton of money. Just look at how much money the US Navy dumps into ships like the Zumwalt Class, which barely works as it was intended for. Las wants a money sink, ship design is a black hole.

There is also the civilian market to think about. Educational tools and programs, kitchen appliances, quality of life products, vehicles, all would be a good investments. Entertainment is a big realm to work with, the whole bread and circus (games) is a tactic for a reason.

Toys and board games are something Las can develop. You don't really see much in the way of toys outside of stuffed toys and dolls in Star Wars and beyond the Dejarik, Sabaac, Pazaak, there isn't much in the way of board and card games and most of the card games are gambling related. Working on bringing new forms of entertainment, perhaps by taking from Earth's catalog of games and toys wouldn't be a bad idea. Legos especially would do well with how they expand creativity and allow for small scale simulations of technical and mechanical processes, and can help in real world construction design and development.

Organized sports would also be a good thing to invest in. There are a handful of sports talked about in Star Wars but not in much detail.

Just some ideas to throw around.

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You know your comment makes me want to see Las interduce the everyone to Warhammer 40k but I'm worried Palps might start taking notes from them thinking "hey that's a great idea why don't I do that?".

 

[Blackenedthorn]

I think Las should invest in some domestic vessels for his shipyards, nothing too large but maybe something like a better armed version of the [Disney] Canon Vakbeor-class Cargo Frigate, a EC Henry/FractalSponge-verse Nebulon B2, or the [Legends] Canon Victory II-class Frigate.

Then allow the local citizens to vote towards naming them, within reason mind you, and use some of them in the local defense forces.

Edit: When I said Victory II class Frigate I was referring to this and not the Victory II-class Star Destroyer, if you played the OG Star Wars Battlefront II you will remember this gem

Spoiler: Victory II-class Frigate

Image Link: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/victory-2-class-frigate-0be2ae7ef26746bca5e615b91f476231
Wiki Link: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Victory_II-class_frigate

 

[Freefaller]

Chp-25: Juked

Admiral Geral Wasti
Mid-Hyperspace, Victory-II-Class Star Destroyer Arrowhead

Geral was pissed. How dare those pirates try to run now of all times! They had been a threat for only a scant few months and had not generated nearly enough fear to make his annihilation of them as heroic as he needed it to be.

And to think that he had almost missed it!? Ever since the pirates began their little raids, the governors, and especially the Mindan governor had been sending request after request for reinforcements. All of them had been dismissed, of course, until his secretary informed him of one that was different. A message that claimed the pirates were about to leave, and even gave coordinates. He didn't even have time to verify this information, so he just acted. To think that a lowly governor would have any use. Of course, if he was wrong, then Minda would burn. No one made a fool of Geral Wasti and lived.

His anger must have shown on his face, for all his subordinates seemed to skirt around him. Thankfully for them, he was focused on the fight ahead. The portion of his Sector Group that he managed to scrounge up in time was composed of the Arrowhead, three Victory-I's, thirty Gozanti's and ten republic-era Arquitens. It wasn't a large force, but the Myto Sector Group was already half the size of a regular Sector Group, coming in at 12,000 ships, and 12 Star Destroyers.

Regardless, they were on route to intercept the enemy flagship. Some glory was better than no glory, and those pirates would feel his wrath for failing to present a bigger threat for him.

It was then that they finally dropped out of hyperspace, and were given a view of the pirates main station. An ageing Lucrehulk-class battleship. A powerful beast of an era gone by, painted a gaudy gold.

"Order the entire fleet to open fire! I want that thing turned to slag!"

And open fire they did. Barrage after barrage flailed against the shields, only to be met with counterfire from the ship's bevy of turbolaser batteries. While most of the ships armaments had been made unusable over time, it still held a fearsome array of weaponry.

While this occurred, the TIE's were launched, zipping about and getting turned into dust against the hundred or so remaining functioning laser cannons.

All the while, Wasti is screaming at his men to fire more, faster, stronger. Every missile in the arsenal is fired at the ship, it's shields flaring up in a massive blue wall each and every time it's struck.

The fire between the opposing forces is so much, it seems to saturate the space between them. In the chaos, two of the Arquitens and a half-dozen Gozanti's were turned to slag by the sheer wave of fire.

During this, one of the sensor operators noticed something. "Enemy fighter craft detected!"

The Admiral scowled. "Launch all remaining TIEs!" The number of enemy fighters just kept increasing. 40, 80, 100, 270, 420, 690, 800.

A veritable swarm of vulture droids dragged themselves from the Lucrehulk's rusting hangars. Most didn't have fully working thrusters, many lacked functioning weapons, but they still had mass.

Wasti watched in horror as the metal wave smashed into one of the Victory-I's, ripping it to shreds in suicide attack that tore the bridge to shreds. The attack didn't end there, as the swarm split, ramming into every ship in range.

The screams that echoed over the comms would leave the few survivors with night terrors for years to come.

As he watched his entire plan fall apart, the Admiral could barely think, barely fathom what was occurring. Only when the swarm turned to the Arrowhead did he move.

He slammed other officers out of the way as he steamed towards the escape pods. Jumping into the first available one, he started punching the buttons as quickly as possible.

A few others tried to enter with him. Some pulls of the trigger ensured they would not. He refused to share any of the meager emergency supplies in the pod.

With a whoosh the pod was ejected from the side of the bridge, moving a solid hundred meters before the swarm impacted the Arrowhead.

And impact it did. The remaining droids slammed into the bridge like a hammer to a skull, tearing it to shreds, leaving nought but the beheaded corpse of his flagship.

So, there he drifted, amongst the graveyard of his failures. Watching as the Lucrehulk powered its hyperdrive and shot off into space, the remaining droids deactivated without the center brain there to keep them alive.

All the while cursing the universe.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commodore Ife Veers
Minda System, Minda-Edin Border, Gladiator-II-Class Star Destroyer Theorem

When Ife had received the order to move practically the entire fleet to the Minda-Edin border, she had been surprised. Of course, she also quickly analyzed the situation and came to understand the reasoning. Edin was where the majority of the pirates were coming from, and since the Sovereigns were rumored to have incoming reinforcements, she needed to be stationed in the most likely spot.

So, when the sensor operators reported an incoming hyperspace signature, the fleet was ready.

"Hyperspace signature, incoming! It's alone, but whatever it is, it's massive!"

"I want all ships ready for action immediately! Get the fighters ready as well!"

"""YES MA'AM"""

A sort of childish glee tickled the back of her core at that response. To know that all the people here respected and followed her was pleasing. A reminder of the work she had put in to make it this far.

Of course, the feeling was immediately suppressed. She could be joyful later, right now, she had a job to do.

"Hrax, I want an immediate call sent to the nearby defense forces to be on high alert. If the enemy is sending a ship this large, it might be a distraction for smaller forces."

"Understood ma'am" responded the XO, already tapping away at her PDA and moving towards the comm officers. She was a bright child, who had the right mindset, willpower and work ethic for the job. Another year or two like this and she might be given her own command.

It was then that the enemy ship finally exited hyperspace. A massive Lucrehulk-class, it towered over even the Theorem. Yet, despite this, it's hull was smoking and scans showed its shields were low in a variety of places.

The unmistakable golden sheen told her everything. Before she could give the command, her PDA alerted her to a priority message. Checking it quickly, she realized that the infiltrators had already left the ship. Good.

"Fire."

There was no response necessary, as the ships in her flotilla opened fire on the battleship. As that happened, the infiltration team sent another message. The sabotage devices were already active, and soon the Lucrehulk would be brought down. As the message came in, she could already hear the confusion emanating from the sensor operators.

"H-huh? Their weapons are…powering down?"

"Yeah, looks like. Their ecm is also failing…do they even have life support?"

A few more minutes, and the shield shattered. It was at that point that the ship was practically dead in the water.

"Cease fire" she stated, looking over the Lucrehulk. "Get the Commander on the line. She has a ship to clear of pirate scum."
—---------------------------------------------

A day later, and the whole of Minda was celebrating. Ife looked down from the Imperial Tower as people paraded along the streets. The Governor had given people the day off to celebrate the end of this major pirate threat.

In fact, he was standing next to her, eating a recently made local snack food. Some sort of hand eaten sticks of fried plant fibers. They were green, greasy, and oddly sweet. He occasionally tossed one over to Mugwuffin, who was enjoying Darnas deft hands.

Still, despite all the festivities, despite the fact that a large painting of her, her officers, and her flotilla was being made on a wall to be shown at the cultural museum, a question nagged at the back of her skull. A question she had ignored when the action was happening, because she was a professional, and professionals have standards.

"Sir" she said, turning to the Governors scarred visage. He hummed in a questioning tone, eyes never leaving the horizon.

"How did you know the pirates would appear where you sent me?"

He looked at her, confusion evident in his face. Then his eyebrows lifted. "Ahh." he said "We forgot to tell you. Apologies, that is highly unprofessional of me, and I'll avoid such mistakes in the future. What myself and the Commander forgot to tell you was that the infiltrators had secretly taken near complete control of the battleship itself. That meant that we could make it jump to hyperspace directly where your fleet would be, then turn off all the weapons for an easy kill. Or, in this case, capture."

Mulling over this, she realized the whole scope of the plan. The Admiral had been told that the pirates were leaving that day, and when he rushed there with a less than adequate force, he was blindsided. Then, the Lucrehulk jumped to Minda because of the infiltrators, and got bodied by her flotilla. The victory could be attributed to the Admiral weakening it before having his fleet destroyed instead of revealing the sabotage and not only was the Admiral completely humiliated, but Minda got the win. She got the win. Quite the victory to help boost her career.

Again she turned to the Governor, in awe of this political maneuvering. He had played the admiral like he was a simulator, removed the pirate threat, and gotten Minda a whole CIS battleship. Sure, it couldn't be used for war, but it was chock full of space and materials just waiting to be used.

However, as she was about to congratulate the Governor on his successful planning, his face seemed to scrunch in some manner of negative emotion, before he let out a soul sucking sigh.

"Grand Moff Vanko sent a message." He said in a strained voice. Handing her the PDA Darna had given him, she reads over it, and nearly gasps.

With the large amount of evidence available, like the various calls for reinforcement that were brushed off, or the many recorded interrogations of pirates, alongside records of the Moffs general incompetence, someone had made an actually smart decision and contacted the Office of Grand Moff Vanko. If the rumors about Vanko were true, then he preferred to sweep things under the rug when possible, and this was exactly that. The Myto sector Moff and Admiral were being replaced, likely with Vankos own cronies.

What was different, and likely what caused the governor's strained look, was the passing of governance of the Edin system from the soon to be executed governor to Governor Mola. Vanko really wanted this all to end, and was essentially bribing the Governor with an entire system. His voice was strained because he was so happy!

Of course, it would take her years to realize that he was stuck with an absolute fear of the paperwork he was about to encounter.

God help him, because no one else will.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hi there folks! With this chapter, the Pirate Arc is over! Sure, the next few chapters will still seek to tie up loose knots and the like, but since the Arc is officially over I will be returning to the regular, shorter, daily chapters while I work on setting up the next major arc.

These interim chapters will be a lot of that nation-building busywork y'all supernerds get worked up about, so any comments, suggestions, and the like regarding how Edin should be built out are appreciated.

As always, feedback is appreciated.

Thanks for reading!

-Freefaller

 

[BaronNoir]

but I'm worried Palps might start taking notes from them thinking "hey that's a great idea why don't I do that?".

Click to shrink...

I'd be terrified by that too, but the chaos it would potentially spawn would be hilarious.

 

[chxenocide2]

Mugwuffin, who was enjoying Darnas deft hands.

Click to shrink...

First read that as "Darnas' left hand" and, tied with the previous snack food mention, had a very wtf reaction.

 

[Treangulator]

I'd be terrified by that too, but the chaos it would potentially spawn would be hilarious.

Click to shrink...

Imagine Thrawn preparing for Tyranids instead of Yuuzhan Vong.

 

[Wratus]

I still say that we need to build a shipyard and make new Harrower-class Dreadnoughts, just bigger than the original and call em Harrower II.

 

[Moops]

I would say the biggest thing he should make of the system is into a medical system. since it seems hard to get good medical tech out there from bacta or if it's hard to get the old kolto stuff along with making cyberwear that looks good like 2077. While his home system can be the industrial system as the other side he doesnt runs all about the fuel and being a pit stop.