Chapter 20: Ravager
She strode down the corridors, she took over the scene. Dominance, professionalism, the ideal Imperial. It was Rae Sloane, her curly ponytail bouncing with every step, her stubborn uniform keeping her assets in their place.
Her dark eyes flickered at each person who passed her, she didn't know who Rax had under his thumb. He was dangerous, unknown and a liability for the Imperial remnant's survival. He had to be removed.
The first meeting for the shadow council in which Rax had formed, wasn't until a few days from now. However before she had departed days ago from the Imperium's flagship, she had made a promise with the leader of the fledgling Imperium.
She needed to give him Randd, who she just so happen to now know that Rax wanted out of the way. This was a dangerous move, but it was surely something she figured he had plans for.
She approached the room of the Grand Moff and pressed the buzzer. "Grand Moff Randd, this is Grand Admiral Sloane, I have to speak with you." Her tone was urgent, but her heart was steady. Dedication, professionalism mixed into a stoic expression. She was a beauty capable of stabbing any man in the chest and tearing out his heart without flinching.
As the door opened, her eyes were met with the very man she had been sent to fetch. "Grand Admiral," Randd spoke with a stern tone, he was a serious man. He never laughed before in public to her knowledge, and according to his wife he only laughed twice a year. "I was under the impression you were killed at the summit. It's good to see you in good health," his voice was analytical, it was just an observation, but she could feel as if he was happy to see her alive.
However he also seemed a bit weirded out, seeing how she had become a bit more on the youthful side in appearance. He couldn't quite figure out how that had happened all of a sudden.
"The assumption was removed from the reports, they were wrong." She dismissed the notion that she was dead. "May I enter, Sir?" She asked and the man nodded, stepping back and gesturing for her to come in.
It hadn't been till Rax had placed her as Grand Admiral did she be around the same rank as this man. She before never expected to be handed this rank, but it was at least one thing that Rax did right.
As she got to the center of the room, she turned her head and looked towards Randd as he walked over and sat in his chair. It was his favorite leather chair. He picked up a mug of hot caffeinated coffee and looked over towards his guest. "What can I do for you, Grand Admiral Sloane?" He'd ask as he was in the middle of bringing the mug to his lips. Taking a sip, his eyes remained locked on her.
"You've met Grand Moff Rune, yes?"
This one question made the man not known for humor, to spew his coffee right back into the cup and down the front of himself. Her eyes remained on her for a few moments before he'd slowly lower the cup and put it on the stand beside the chair.
Blinking a few times at his response to her question, she could only make assumptions about the interactions or what he had witnessed. "I... Take that as a yes." She slowly nodded to herself with her hands rested behind her back, one hand grasping the other at the wrist.
"Heh..." Randd laughed bitterly, it wasn't a laugh of humor. "This isn't a visit to ask for advice," he shook his head and looked towards her with his brows raised. He wiped away the coffee in his beard with a nearby black towel with a white Imperial emblem on it. "He sent you I take it..."
Squinting hearing this, she flexed her jaw as she tilted her head as if wanting to hear more.
He caught on, he had a wife and he dealt with people on a daily basis. He could read people easily, "He came to me two years ago. Did me some expensive... Favors. I asked what he wanted in return." Randd let out an exhale through his nose as he decompressed on the chair. "He said he would send someone to collect and possibly save my life."
Randd's face twisted slightly after saying the last word of the sentence. He then looked towards the Imperial Grand Admiral who was looking at him rather calmly, a stoic indifferent expression hiding keen interest and surprise.
"Well he wasn't wrong. What he wants is to save your life and the lives of your fellow crewmen." Having gotten the inside information on the whole Gallius Rax fiasco when it came to thinning the herd, she made this sound a little nonchalant.
Randd nodded slowly, "Oh." It was a partial shock to hear that she really was here to collect the favors. Though at the same time, she was also here to collect his 'life' in this case, save it. "If that's the case, I'll activate it then."
"It, Sir?" She turned her head a bit, her ear facing him more so than her actual face. She wanted some more information.
"The Virtual Intelligence Matrix," Randd said as he wasn't sounding very enthusiastic. The object looked like a simple ornament sitting on the desk on the other side of the room. This ornament looked like a scarab, and as soon as he said "VIM," it began to move on its own.
Hearing the clicking and hissing of the beetle, she glanced over towards the scarab as it was mechanically fluttering across the room and onto his chair. It waddled down the side of the chair's spine before resting on his arm.
Reaching over he would press his index finger on its eye, while pressing his thumb against the other, then pushed them both in at the same time. A soft sound uttering from the mechanical creature before speaking, "Grand Moff Randd identification verified."
A scanning light passed throughout the room, grazing the surface of everything and everyone present. "Rae Sloane present. Room clear. Information unpacking. Please standby."
'So this is what he meant by getting ahold of Randd,' Sloane thought to herself while watching as the bug clicked and moaned. She glanced over towards the closed door of the room, before looking back towards Randd.
"Information unpacked," the squeaky robotic voice would sound from the beetle. "Greetings. I am VIM, the virtual intelligence matrix designed by Tobias Rune. My services are now active. Tasks will be delegated when and if necessary."
Blinking a few times, they both stared at the item as it spoke.
"Tasks?" Sloane asked curious of what she was going to be hearing from this machine. Her eyes then glanced over at Randd who was still watching it.
"VIM, cloak." Randd stated as he knew the commands that came with the item. With that the object suddenly vanished from sight. The only thing that gave it away was the abnormal circular bowl-like divot on his uniform sleeve.
Seeing this, Sloane pursed her lips, somewhat intrigued, "Does all of Rune's things turn invisible?" Though she looked intrigued or even curious, her tone didn't sound impressed. Instead it sounded relatively annoyed with the fact.
"Wanna know how many rebel X-wings flew into the hulls of his ships?" Randd who was known for now being humorous was smiling lopsidedly as if he wanted to laugh.
Sloane raised both of her brows hearing this, whether or not it was a joke, she could only wonder. A massive Star destroyer being cloaked, was essentially cloaking a wall for smaller vessels to ram into. "Do I want to know?"
"Less than the amount of TIE fighters." Randd snickered at his own joke before looking towards the window of his room. The cityscape of the Executor Class Star Destroyer known as the Ravager was a welcoming sight.
"..." Sloane didn't know how to take this joke, but she could assume he was making it sound as if Rune's ship was more hazardous to friendlies than his own enemies.
"QET Activated." Suddenly the bug spoke again and a hologram of Imperial Security Bureau Admiral Garrick Versio appeared.
"Grand Admiral Sloane, Grand Moff Randd," he addressed the two of them which were present. The QET was a Quantum Entanglement Transceiver, piece of technology used for point to point communication that couldn't be traced or intercepted due to the nature of how it worked, connecting one place to another at the quantum level.
"Admiral Versio," the two of them responded upon hearing him and seeing him. It was like seeing a bust of the Admiral since it didn't show a full length body. It was a moderately sized projection.
"According to the information that I've been given by Tobias Rune, the first council meeting hasn't started yet. So I'll give you the rundown. He already knows you're going to promote Ciena Ree to Captain of the Inflictor once she recovers from her injuries... He wants you to transfer her to under his command."
Randd clenched his jaw as he heard this and slowly nodded. "Understood. Does he have a list of things for me to do?" He was halfway wanting to start getting sarcastic with the Admiral, but decided not to.
"He wants you to transfer her and the Inflictor to under his command during the last stand on the planet of Jakku. Your VIM unit will plug itself into the Ravager and begin the self-destruct sequence once you transfer over to the Star Destroyer Inflictor and leave the battlefield. Is that understood?"
Rae Sloane frowned hearing that they were going to destroy the Super Star Destroyer. "But it's my–"
"According to Rune it'll be destroyed anyways, the fleet will not be able to retreat."
"There's another Super Star Destroyer that has survived this insurrection... The Eclipse, the Emperor's Flagship. Lets just say, it's a gift from Rune that you can steal it from beneath Rax's nose." The Admiral sneered and tried not to laugh out loud as he looked over towards Randd. "Of course, after you kill him on Jakku."
"You will then go to the Sartinaynian system on board the Inflictor with Ciena Ree, you will then transfer her onto the Guardian." Garrick would close his eyes partially as he looked at the two high ranked officers. "And after your 'peace talks' mission, please visit Naboo. Tobias has a VIM for you."
"Understood..." Rae Sloane didn't like the way he said Peace Talks. It was as if Rax was planning something. This could also be assumed since she was told of some last stance on the planet of Jakku. And in addition to that, there was another super star destroyer which wasn't being fielded. Why would they keep that hidden? They could use that to dominate the entire galaxy.
"Admiral Versio Out."
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