Star Wars: Brave Misdeeds

Chapter 15

"Our deeds define us, just as their absence undermines us."          —Emperor Palpatine

Dressed in the full regalia of scout trooper armor with guild insignia, equipment belt, and side arm, Soelle prepared herself for the command audience of a lifetime. An hour of fitful sleep and recent emotional trauma combined with the cruelty of hangover had resulted in a skull-splitting headache. However, the potency of fear proved to be an effective, natural curative. Heart pounding in her throat, she suffered the most unpleasant numbness in her hands and feet as she stood on the receiving deck of the Executor, Darth Vader's personal flag ship. Every list or shift in the artificial gravity set her stomach churning in protest. Gripping her scout trooper helmet beneath her left arm, she stared straight ahead into the stars in hopes to maintain her composure.

Classified as a capital-class ship, the Executor was immense, measuring 1,600 meters of military dominance. Bristling with an arsenal of weaponry, which included 60 laser batteries, 60 more ion cannons, and 10 tractor beams, the heavily armored starship reminded Soelle of an Ancient Krayt Dragon floating in space. Inside the cavernous spaces of its flight moors and storage arenas, a full wing of Imperial TIE fighters were mounted above the dock plates for immediate dispersal. For a potential ground assault or the imminent boarding of an enemy ship, an entire division of stormtroopers served aboard the Star Destroyer. According to the specs Soelle downloaded from El-Diablos' personal libraries, the crew numbered 37,000, with a third of that being stormtroopers. To complement this impressive fighting force was a division of 20 AT-ATs, the massive All-Terrain Armored Transports used to spearhead land assaults, and 30 of their smaller, more agile cousins, the AT-ST.

For two hours, Soelle stood in the freezing cold of Lord Vader's personal chambers while El-Diablos made his report on the incidents of the previous night. Head bowed in deference, Soelle kept vigil at El-Diablos' right elbow and listened intently as the Dark Jedi spoke of her and events involving her. The situation seemed utterly surreal as they talked about her as if she were not present, as if she did not exist. Soelle found that she greatly preferred that anonymity. From all accounts, it was in her best interest to remain beyond Darth Vader's notice. Those who did not had a habit of ending up dead, their windpipes crushed by the invisible hand of the Force.

If there was an epitome by which all Sith were to be judged, that embodiment would have been Lord Darth Vader. A tall, frightening visage of black armor and cybernetic metal, the Dark Jedi was more machine than he was a man. Soelle wondered how it was possible for him to even wield the Force, as it was not the nature of machines to be attuned to the mystical energy. The rhythmical, mechanical nature of his breathing sent an icy chill through Soelle, and she bit her lip to keep her teeth from chattering. She felt sick to the pit of her stomach as what little humanity remained in Vader momentarily brushed her conscious mind.

At various times during the interview, Vader caught her staring at him. How he could tell, Soelle wasn't certain. Nothing escaped the eyes, the presence, behind the mask. Nor was she of enough consequence to question the power of a Sith. With no more than a slight gesture of his hand, Vader silenced El-Diablos, his attention fully focused on Soelle. She held her breath in terror, waiting for the crushing of her windpipe. Instead, with a calm, emotionless intonation to his amplified voice, Vader promptly dismissed her from the room.

With the exception of the two stormtroopers on duty at Vader's door, Soelle was alone in the outside passage. She walked down the corridor to an observation deck where she paused to stare into the cold, distant, vastness of space. The Executor was not alone on maneuvers. Five Imperial Star Destroyers flew in close formation, among them, the Dark Precipice, trailed the procession. Its much larger cousins dwarfed the Interdicter-class warship. Multiple three-man squads of TIE Fighters flew patrols between the capital ships, engaging in playful war games as they sped through space on maneuvers. As a cadet, Soelle flew rudimentary TIE Fighters in order to pass the minimum requirement of her academy curriculum. She had never been given the privilege of sitting behind the controls of the TIE Interceptor or the TIE Advanced, despite her qualifying scores.