PROXY

After a successful extraction, all members of the Dauntless Crew which had abandoned ship were brought on board the Marina and Colossus. Meanwhile Moff Raythe and Admiral Versio were brought on board the Attribution.

Escorted by Inferno Squad's Iden and Del, the two Imperials found themselves entering the mainbridge of the Attribution. A single PROXY droid disguised as Grand Moff Rune stood there overlooking the main viewport window toward the Dauntless which was sinking into the surface of Bespin. He was holding his hat over his chest, with one hand folded behind his back.

As the four of them made their way towards the front of the bridge, Raythe seemed to be smiling. Why? Versio gave the man a glance, but completely dismissed it. The Moff was his own man, whatever he was going to do, would be on himself.

Just as they were only a few paces away from the Grand Moff, "Welcome Gentlemen," he'd state as he turned to face the four individuals.

Iden and Del moved to stand on either side of the 'Grand Moff' with credence in every step, their heads held high, as they believed they had joined the right side.

Admiral Versio admired his daughter who had seen weakness in the Empire, yet decided to join a movement that would preserve what he had worked and given his whole life to. However just before they stood on either side of the PROXY, Raythe drew his EC-17 hold-out blaster from his sleeve and fired thrice.

Barely able to react on time, three bolts of ionized gas ripped through the Proxy droid's chassis and sent it tumbling to the ground after it fell back against the glass window.

Raythe grinned as he watched the Inferno agents begin to turn drawing their weapons. However as he went to turn his weapon on Iden, Garrick quickly moved and disarmed the man. Grabbing him by the wrist, twisting the weapon out of his hand before shoving him to the ground.

Just as he did that, he watched from the corner of his eye as the guise of the droid failed, revealing it was just a PROXY droid in the place of the Grand Moff. He chuckled quietly to himself, "Oh... He saw that coming it seems."

"A-a-a Droid?" Raythe fumbled over his words, his eyes darting from the decoy and then over towards Admiral Versio who was standing over him, lowering the EC-17 hold-out blaster; aiming towards the Moff whom was on the ground.

"Traitor," the Admiral uttered with a casual tone with his heavy imperial accent and pulled the trigger, strengthening the smell of burning ozone that lingered through the bridge.

Unloading the weapon, he tossed the pistol to his daughter who caught it with relative ease. His eyes looking about as he noticed the Disciple was gone? That was until he felt a hand grasping at his arm. He looked over, yet saw nothing other than the impression of fingers on his right sleeve.

"That's... A useful ability," He said as he pursed his lips staring at the invisible form of the girl before narrowing his eyes on his daughter. "You knew he was going to do that?"

Iden nodded when her father asked her that question. "He foresaw it happening and contacted me right before we entered the bridge." From what he could recall, she didn't even show a reaction to any possible communication. Just how did he tell her? He couldn't see anything in her ear. Was he able to use the force to such a length to communicate from a far away location?

Nodding slowly, Versio understood. "Where are we going now...? Commander," Garrick half-smiled towards his daughter as he walked over and gazed out the bridge portview window.

"The planetary system of Naboo," Iden reported with a light smile across her own lips. She was happy to be reunited with her father, even if he seemed rather reluctant about the whole idea of serving a different Emperor.

Yet he wanted the Empire he chose to serve to survive. He wanted his ideals, the Imperial ideal, to be preserved. This was the right change, the chance he needed, the chance he wanted.

The Empire he once served had become corrupt, it was only a plaything for the Emperor who decided it wouldn't survive him. There had been many a time he didn't care about defeat as long as he got what he wanted out of it.

"Why Naboo?" Her father was curious about why they were going to the Chommell System. From his understanding, Operation Cinder failed in that system. Why were they going there now? Wouldn't it be crawling with New Republic forces?

"The Grand Moff made a pact prior to Operation Cinder, that he would protect Naboo," Iden lied to her father under the telepathic orders of the Grand Moff. Though technically this was a half truth, as he had made a pact. They were just lying about the time. "In return, the Queen will marry him after her term as Queen is over."

Garrick Versio opened his mouth slightly as he took in this information. "Hm.." So this man was the reason why the operation Cinder had failed almost immediately over the planet? That made a lot of sense. After the Battle of Endor, they had lost track of Rune's fleet which had retreated shortly before Sloane's orders to do so.

"Chommell is also in his oversector... So he sought to protect what was under his governance rather than follow Orders from a dead man. Noble," Garrick complimented the future Emperor of the Imperium as he squinted his eyes as he was somewhat torn. He outright betrayed the former Emperor in the name of Honor, something he couldn't bring himself to do.

Guilt was something written on the man's face, as he found that if he had taken the same route as the Grand Moff, he wouldn't have had to push Vardos to ruins. He closed his eyes, picturing the statue of himself in front of it planet's archives.

He betrayed his people over the Emperor, an Emperor who condoned his Empire and followers to die needlessly. At this moment he could understand Iden's torn thoughts and deviation from the imperial directive.

Although he felt the guilt, he didn't have regret for what he had done. If he had a choice between then and now, he would have chosen to do it all over again. It was just the kind of person he was.

"He's granting them their independence in three months," Iden informed him with a glance, but he figured as much. The sectors he was informed of were effectively on the other side of the Galaxy. In addition to that, these planets down here in the mid-rim were likely to want to join the New Republic anyways.

Once the Star Destroyer known as the Dauntless sunk into the core of the gas planet of Bespin, the battlegroup would turn away from the planet and exit into hyperspace.

...

A few hours later they came out mid-way into the planetary system of Naboo. They were greeted by the sight of the executor class star destroyer known as the Guardian. Its synchronized orbit was directly above the Naboo capital. As if acting as a shield against any invading Imperials who may want to harm them.

However it was also the same with various other Star Destroyers within the system. They were all separated into battle groups of two or three, protecting certain sectors of the area.

The amount of star destroyers in the service of the Grand Moff seemed to be numerous. Iden Versio and Del both noticed that there were more than before present at the location.

Just where had they come from? Her eyes narrowed on them however as she noticed something. These vessels didn't look like regular Imperial Class Star Destroyers. They had a somewhat sleeker hull and lacked command tower superstructures.

"What kind of Star Destroyers are those?" The trio asked aloud as they appeared to be rather impressive in design. What stuck out the most however was the flat partial dome formation where the tower would be located.

These were heavily modified Imperial-III Star Destroyer, remodeled after the Chiss Star Destroyers and equipped with Cloaking Technology and more advanced heavier weapons.

The other individuals on the bridge didn't seem at all surprised by this, which made the trio rather suspicious. Iden and Del for sure, since they hadn't been told, and Garrick for finding that Iden didn't even know what these were.

A durasteel, unpainted, Mechno-chair came walking onto the bridge approaching the three of them. The dead body of the Moff who had been killed prior to their arrival had been ejected into space without remorse.

It's front right leg stepped in a puddle of the drying blood. Suddenly a projection of Rune appeared as he looked over the trio. "Welcome back to Naboo. It seems your father's rescue was a success. You're in for a promotion Commander Versio."

"Rescue?" Garrick scoffed with a brow risen looking at him. "You know something I don't Grand Moff Rune?" He asked with his arms crossed over his chest, his tone still conceited as that of an Imperial whom saw themselves as a superior being.

"Thousands of loyalists will die through Rax's clandestine operations in the outer rim. He weakens his Imperial Forces and they're all wiped out in a final battle, which was his plan to begin with." Grand Moff Tobias Rune informed the man with a shallow smile which despite its small expression, seemed relatively grave at the news he was giving.

"You won't undermine him?" The ISB Admiral asked as he narrowed his sights on the man who he said he would serve under. When he saw the Grand Moff shake his head, his mouth gaped slightly. "Why not?"

"Because Admiral Versio, if this doesn't happen, the New Republic will focus on us and our expansions... We can't have that. Otherwise this war will never end." It was clear he had more backers than he was letting on. If he said it would never end, it would become a war of attrition and it seemed he was confident that it would just keep going or starting back up.

"Why aren't the Republic forces attacking you?" Admiral Versio asked as he looked over the Mechno-chair for a few moments before looking back up to face the military governor.

"Temporary Truce." It was a simple, two word answer which made a chill go down the Admiral's spine. In a sense this was an Armistice. An Armistice was basically a truce that allowed both sides to have a temporary peace and allowed them to rebuild or obtain more resources and armaments.

He seemed to be amassing a large fleet as well. Even though the number couldn't be determined as vessels were cloaking in and out of view. They weren't even showing up on Imperial sensors.

"Sir, where are you pulling these ships out of?" Del asked, rather baffled at what he saw, as he stepped forward to address Rune.

He was in the right mind to say 'My Ass' and crack a joke, but at the same time it seemed as if they were asking for a professional answer. "I've been preparing for this for two years, these ships were remodelled from Imperial wrecks and derelicts. I used one of them as my flag ship prior to obtaining the Annihilator."

"So that's how you came across it...?" Versio was always curious of how he was able to reclaim the Super Star Destroyer from the pirate.

"In a way," Rune snickered when the ISB Admiral seemed rather curious of how he obtained the Annihilator in the first place. He was one of the few surprised at the Battle of Endor to see it enter the battle. Especially with the remodelling. "I used a weapon to destingrate its organic crew and took control of the vessel via the holonet transceiver."

"Holo...Net...Transceiver?" Iden repeated what he had said in the end of his sentence extremely slowly as if she was coming to the realization of what he had done earlier to Rax. Just what is the Grand Moff planning to do?

The Admiral seemed rather disgruntled hearing this, he took control of a Star Dreadnought by using its HoloNet Transceiver?

"What's the plan for now on?" Admiral Versio asked knowing very well that he would be here for the next three months. However he wanted to see what else he had in store for them.

"For the next three months, we will be protecting Naboo from invasions by Imperial Remnants. There will be at least three major attacks. During this time, we will help the Naboo militarize in order to protect themselves against invaders and pirates. In three months, they should have more than just a handful of N1 Starfighters. They'll have hundreds, and a small army."

Nodding slightly, it seemed this man cared about the people he was going to end up leaving behind. Either that or he was just appealing to the Queen he was so keen on marrying.

"Once the three months are up, we'll all group up in the Dantooine System, before continuing to the Capital." This mysterious capital that he didn't name was making everyone curious. Only a select few knew where this was, but some could also assume from the sectors he had given. The planet of Bastion, a fortress world. A world which had once been under the control of the Old Republic and lastly the Confederacy of Independent Systems.