Prologue
“
Rule One: Obey your commanders. Rule Two: Uphold Republic Law. Rule Three: Serve the Senate and the People with all your strength, even to your last breath.” The mantra still ringed in Gilad's ears despite it being decades since he graduated from the Naval Academy at Anaxes. It had been peacetime then, before the Clone Wars and before the Empire. The vast majority of the officers who graduated with him were, so to speak, aliens, and all of them his equal. When the New Order was declared and the Empire established, those officers disappeared, dragged off by the newly minted Imperial Security Bureau. At the mandatory 're-education' course all human officers had to take after the war, there was a new mantra
“Rule One: Obey your commanders. Rule Two: Uphold Imperial Law. Rule Three: Serve the Emperor with all your strength, even to your last breath.” The change in leadership had been beneficial to many of the human officers who served in the Clone Wars, including Gilad. He went from Lieutenant Pellaeon to Captain Pellaeon, though he was still stuck serving men higher than him on the chain of command. Rather than being granted his own ship, Gilad served as deputy to Admiral Aran Sidyr on the Star Destroyer
Chimera.
“
Are you daydreaming, Captain?” shouted a familiar voice
“Captain?” When the immediate disorientation lifted he realised he was still on the bridge of the
Chimera, and the voice was Sidyr's.
Embarrassed, Gilad straightened his cap as he always did.
“Sorry, Admiral. I was miles away.”
Sidyr grunted his disapproval
“indeed you were, now get onto that terminal!”
When Gilad got to his terminal he was reminded of the scale of the fleet they were in and looked out of the bridge's window with amazement once again. An armada of a size Gilad had never seen before, it was fleet of hundreds of different types of ships. Star Destroyers and Dreadnoughts made up the bulk of the military force within the fleet, but there were also light escort ships like Carracks and Vindicators that hugged the flanks of the armada, protecting it from any would-be attackers. However, the vast majority of the fleet had no military capabilities at all and were instead carrying hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of people on board. The purpose of such a fleet was unknown to Gilad and, it seemed, to Sidyr as well. Despite their questions, they knew better than to ask why, especially since the order came from the Emperor himself, and because Sidyr had been granted the honour of being the commanding officer in charge of the operation, which meant technically Gilad was second in command of the entire fleet.
“
What do the scanners say, Captain?” asked Sidyr as he looked out across the fleet.
All Gilad could see was a large pulsating ball of energy
“the anomaly is straight ahead.”
The Admiral smiled
“just as planned.” Striding across the command bridge, the Admiral inspected Gilad's terminal and inspected the anomaly.
“It's larger than I expected” observed Sidyr
“that should be...a good thing.” He didn't sound particularly sure, though Gilad wasn't surprised. No one seemed to know what it was.
“I will contact the other Captains of the fleet and inform them of our next move.”
“
And what is our next move, sir?” asked Gilad as Sidyr walked away.
“
To proceed into the anomaly, as the Emperor commanded”. As Sidyr went to the holo room, Gilad’s thoughts turned to motives behind such a mission. The part of space they were in was infamous for its ability to cause ships to disappear without any trace, with evidence of such a phenomenon tracing back to the early days of the Republic. When the officers were told of where they were going discontent spread, though none dared speak out against a direct order from the Emperor himself.
“
Captain" said a voice behind Gilad. When he turned he saw Lieutenant Jaina Dryn standing to attention.
“All TIE units have docked and the hangar bays have been closed.”
“
Good work, Lieutenant" responded Gilad.
Dryn replied with a curt nod
“thank you, sir.”
When Dryn continued to look stern, Gilad leant in and whispered
“you don’t have to be moody all the time, the admiral isn’t here.”
The Lieutenant let out a smirk
“I know Gilad” she whispered back
“but I don’t want people to know that we have relations, it would look bad.”
“
I suppose your right, for a captain-"
“
Not for you, you dolt.” She let out a cheeky smile and went to return to her station to the lower deck of the bridge. Gilad tried to hide his staring but he could see that some of Dryn's fellow Lieutenants noticed their attraction. They had tried to keep their relationship a secret as workplace romances were largely frowned upon by the admiralty, but sometimes, as Gilad had learnt, the attraction is too strong.
*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*
“
What the-” when Gilad turned around to look at his terminal, he noticed a large red pulsating ball where the anomaly had been. The
Chimera's systems had noticed too and had begun to fling warnings onto the terminal's UI, all of which said one thing
“DESTRUCTIVE ENERGY WAVE APPROACHING. SEEK EVACUATION IMMEDIATELY.” Before Gilad could call out the warning the bridge was blinded with white light, bringing the captain to his knees. All around him he could hear the pulsating buzzing of electricity, followed by screams and shouts. Seconds later the bridge began to shake violently and Gilad, still blinded, fell to the floor as he desperately tried to grab hold onto something. As he scrambled in the blank whiteness his hands found his terminal, but before he could pull himself up he felt a large bolt of pain scream across his body before he fell and was greeted with darkness.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was the familiar sounds of the
Chimera's cooling vents that first greeted Gilad when he woke up, followed by the inevitable pins and needles one gets when sleeping for too long. As he looked around the room noticed he was not in the Star Destroyer's med bay, he was in his room. To make matters even more concerning the feeding tubes attached to his arms were nearly dry, and the life support system he was attached to was on its last legs. Concerned and disoriented, Gilad ripped free the countless tubes and wires attached to him and made his way to the door of his room. Just as he was about to open it the door lifted and he was greeted with the sight of a medical droid.
“
Captain Pellaeon” the droid said with monotone preciseness
“you are conscious.”
“
Indeed I am” Gilad replied as he winced in pain
“though I do feel a bit worse for wear.”
“
You will feel pain for a few weeks due to the damage the electricity caused to your nervous system. It will take time for the bacta to repair the nerves.” The droid lifted it's spindly arms and lunged it into Gilad's arm, injecting him with blue fluid.
“This is your daily bacta shot, do not miss any until the two-week repair process has ended.” Rescinding its arm, the droid turned on its heel and walked off down the corridor.
An hour later, after Gilad had recovered from the extreme grogginess that followed being asleep for as long as he was, he put on his officer uniform and headed for the bridge. However, as soon as he entered one of the main corridors in the crew quarters he was stopped by a large throng of crew members.
“Y-your...alive?” said one amazed engineer
“it is so good to see you, sir!” exclaimed a tired officer. By the time he had shuffled past the crowd and had got to the elevator to the bridge, an officer was waiting for him.
“
So...you were expecting me?” Gilad's question seemed to amuse the young officer.
“
It was hard not to! News of your 'return' has spread like wildfire.” The officer, flanked by two stormtroopers, gestured towards the opened elevator
“after you, Captain.” As the elevator ascended, Gilad inspected the officer's insignia on his chest. He knew instantly that he belonged to the Imperial Army, not Navy, due to the two cylinders either side of it. Though not as knowledgable of the Army than Navy, Gilad was fairly confident he was a colonel. As far as Gilad knew, there was no colonel onboard the
Chimera the last he checked, in fact, there were no senior Army personnel at all.
“
So what brings you to the Chimera, colonel?”
The colonel smirked,
“you will find out soon, sir.”
“
Sir?” Gilad said with surprise
“You have the same rank as me, taking the chain of command into account.”
The colonel nodded
“normally yes that would be the case. However...” the colonel shook his head
“I have already said too much, you will find out why soon.”
“
Can you at least tell me your name?”
The colonel smiled
“Sander, sir, Sander Delvardus.”
“
You are young to be a colonel, Sander” wondered Gilad aloud
“you must be very talented.”
Before the colonel could answer the doors of the elevator slid open, exposing Gilad to the sounds of bickering. In the middle of the bridge was a table surrounded by around twenty officers, all of them shouting at the top of their lungs. It was so chaotic that Gilad could barely tell what any of them were saying. It was only when he and Colonel Delvardus approached the table that they began to quiet down.
Delvardus stepped forward
“may I introduce Captain Gilad Pellaeon, commanding officer of the Chimera.”
“
Executive officer” Gilad corrected him
“Admiral Sidyr is the commander of this Star Destroyer.”
“
Was” replied a female Moff
“he is dead.”
Suddenly Gilad could feel every nerve sear with pain
“w-what?”
“
Bloody hell, Jaral,” said a female Admiral
“he's not even recovered yet.”
The officer named Jaral chuckled
“I didn't know you were so soft, Kidles.”
“
How did he die?” asked Gilad as he struggled to maintain his composure.
“
According to the Lieutenant who was in command of this ship after you collapsed, his body was found in the holo room with severe burns across his body.”
Jaral let out a slight laugh
“It seemed he had been fried when the electric wave burst through the ship.”
Overwhelmed, Gilad rubbed his eyes as he tried to come to terms with the news
“how long was I out?”
“
Just over a week” replied a male General
“though you were not the only one. Many were injured during the surge.”
“
If Admiral Sidyr is dead, then who is in command?”
The General sighed and said
“you, captain.”
Gilad was caught by surprise and struggled to answer
“Me...I ca-can't I'm only-”
“
A captain?” finished Jaral
“indeed you are, but none the less we must follow procedure. In Admiral Sidyr's command notes, he clearly stated that his XO would be in charge of this operation if he dies or is otherwise unable to lead.”
Gilad's head teemed with a thousand different questions, all of which he wanted to be answered, all of which would have to wait. He was now the leader, he reminded himself, and he had stuck to the task at hand. “
Have you contacted Naval High Command about our situation.”
For a moment the room was quiet before Jaral shouted
“anyone who does not have alpha command status, please exit this bridge immediately!” The majority of the assembled officers filtered out, leaving Gilad, Delvardus, and four officers in front of him.
“Before we discuss our strategies for getting out of this mess, I believe formal introductions are in order. I am Moff Jaral Cirik, the woman to my right is Admiral Kidles Harsk, next to her is General Tremond Orek, and to his right-”
“
Doctor Liam Tabok” a hunched scrawny man said,
“I work with the Imperial Research Bureau.”
A confused Gilad had forgotten their names as soon as he heard.
“Good to meet you and all that but, and not to sound rude, could you please answer my question. Have you sent a distress signal?”
Doctor Tabok breathed in heavily before letting out a slow sigh. “
We have, Captain, but to tell you the truth it won't do us any good.”
Gilad's patience for indirect answers had finally worn thin
“Can you please just tell me what's happened, doctor.”
After a brief exchange of concern looks between Tabok and Moff Cirik, the doctor stood up and walked over to the main nav computer terminal. After a few presses of the myriad of buttons on the terminal, Tabok beckoned Gilad over. “I believe this will show the gravity of the situation.” When the captain got to the computer he a map of a spiral galaxy,
the galaxy Gilad thought. It only took a few seconds for him to realise something was wrong.
“
This map...” Gilad said with confusion “
it's...wrong.”
Doctor Tabok let out a wry smile
“Indeed it is.”
“
But how is that possible? Has someone tampered with the nav computers?”
The Doctor shook his head
“No, I'm afraid not. This is...genuine.”
Admiral Harsk spoke up
“Do you see the size of the problem we face, Captain?”
All of a sudden all the nerves in Gilad's body began to ache at once as he tried to wrap his around what had happened. If what the Doctor was saying is true, then they had somehow travelled to a completely new galaxy. After wiping away the cold sweat that had begun to form on his forehead, Gilad asked
“can we get back?”
The Doctor shrugged
“the truth is we don't know. The anomaly does not seem to present anywhere near our current position.”
“
Is there any nearby planets?”
With an excited smile on his face, Doctor Tabok reached over to the nav computer's controls and zoomed in to a planetary system near the position of the fleet
“we've found a system with a planet that, according to our scans, can support life. We were preparing to send probes before the council called this meeting.”
“
The council?”
“
Yes” responded Moff Cirik
“the council of key officers and personnel of this fleet. We created it when we discovered that our commander was dead. Now though we have our commander.”
Gilad stared at the planet on the computer's screen as he thought of a way out of the mess they were in. At that moment in time, there was only one course of action he could think of.
“Tell all ships to set a course to this habitable planet that Doctor Tabok has found.”
“
And what will we do when we get there?” asked General Orek.
“
Land, set up a base of operations, and begin the preparations for permanent settlement.” The three officers shifted in the seats, barely hiding their scepticism. “I know some will not like it, I know that some will see it as admitting defeat, but the truth is that we do not have the supplies to remain a nomadic fleet while we try to find a way back to our galaxy. For all we know we are trapped here forever.”
The usually cynical Moff Cirik nodded
“the Captain is right, we must prepare for the worst.”
With a curt nod from Moff Cirik, she stood up and straightened her uniform
“I believe it is time for us tend to our subordinates.” The Moff walked out of the bridge and was quickly followed by General Orek and Colonel Delvardus.
“
Captain,” Admiral Harsk said as she stood up
“as the highest-ranking member of the Imperial Navy here, I have the honour of the promoting you to the rank of admiral.”
Gilad found himself dumbstruck
“W-what? Admiral?”
Harsk smiled
“A commander of a fleet this big can't be a captain, it wouldn't do.” As she walked towards the turbo-lift she turned her head and said
“don't worry, Admiral, you will come to hate me for it.”
Admiral Gilad Pellaeon of the ISD Chimera