Into the Night

[Zeradias Mant]

847 ABY​

"Lieutenant Nailati.", the receptionist had said. An officer herself, and one that outranked Lew to boot, served as the aide-de-camp to Major General Yves Forswzck, the deputy director of Republic Intelligence. Rising from his seat, a rather nervous Lew looked down to his dress uniform to ensure it was of the highest pedigree before proceeding to the desk.

"The general is ready for you.", she said with a polite smile. Thanking her, Lew proceeded behind the counter to the office of the deputy director himself. He knew he was being reassigned, but he had little idea as to what his new assignment would be. He understood the need-to-know policy more classified positions in the military entailed, but being in the dark for something he was potentially going to be involved in made him nervous. If the general wasn't going to read him in here, he didn't know why he was here. He didn't do anything wrong. As far as he could tell, he'd been an upstanding soldier who dedicated the better part of his adult life to service for the Galactic Republic.

"Lew, good to see you.", Forswzck said from behind his desk, rising politely as Lew approached. They locked and release hands before taking seats. "Sorry to keep you in the dark for so long.", be began, donning his spectacles as he opened what appeared to be a personnel file.

"It's time to read you in."

 

[Zeradias Mant]

Finally, some answers. The communication blackout had started to worry him.

"We're putting you in the field.", Forswzyk said. Before Lew could rebut, he continued. "Not boots on ground, but rather at the helm of a ship." Lew's expression became notably less tense. He knew tours on naval ships could be dangerous, but it compared little to combat on the ground. It was more refined, almost somewhat elegant, whereas on the ground, it was dirty in more ways that one. Bullets flying, dirt (or some variation of it) everywhere, weather extremes, not to mention the physical toll it required. It required a certain kind of person to embrace how much it sucked, and despite his capability to endure those conditions, Lew did nothing to seek them out.

"We've been developing a corvette to run surveillance on the One Sith border. We want you to command it."

Mouth almost agape, Lew found it difficult to find words. "Sir, I don't know what to say..."

"Say yes.", he replied with a chuckle.

"I head an intelligence platoon, I'm not sure that exactly translates to executive command of a ship."

"Son, if we didn't think you were qualified, we never would have considered you. If we didn't think you were the man for the job, you wouldn't be sitting here right now."

It was certainly a big vote of confidence to hear from someone so much higher in the food chain. He said read him in though - was that contingent on his acceptance? Would his military career get railroaded if he didn't comply with his superiors' wishes? Perhaps it was time to take on a new challenge.

"Okay.", Lew answered. His tone was an unenthusiastic response of naivety and hope, but he managed to muster a slight smile all the same.

Forswzyk paged his secretary with an audible tone from his phone. "Rosa, have the shuttle pulled up front please." His gaze averting to Lew, he let out a massive grin.

"Let's go show you your new ship."

 

[Zeradias Mant]

Lew looked out the windows of the shuttle. Despite the luxurious interior, fantastic views, and casual demeanor of the deputy director, Lew still felt uneasy. What was he getting himself into? Pulling away from the more traveled route, the shuttle veered to the military side of town. Police patrol craft flanked the shuttle, escorting it into the area. It was not a common sight, but man did it feel cool. Lew hadn't been one of those important figures that demanded his own security detail, much less diverting the resources of the police.

They approached a mountainous region, before descending to see several metallic holes in the ground. Launch bays no doubt, but they were too big to be for any kind of rockets or missiles. This is where ships were docked, stored, and maintained. The shuttle continued to descend as bay doors opened, and soon the sunlight of the atmosphere was no more, replaced by the artificial lighting of the GAR facilities. Looking up, Lew saw the police patrol craft continue forward, likely to resume their patrol route.

The shuttle lurched as it came to a complete halt, with the usual hissing of the doors coming before their opening. Stepping off, there was a small handful of people there, if not only to welcome the general, to escort them to where they needed to be. The grandiose of the facility was unlike anything Lew had seen before. To think he was to be a part of this was exhilarating. Uneasiness was quickly replaced with excitement."

"Ready, Mr. Lailati?", the Forswzyk said with a devious grin. Returning the nod, the tour began.

 

[Zeradias Mant]

Lew nodded. They exited the more office-like scenery and entered a catwalk, hung stories above the main floor of what appeared to be a large maintenance bay. Dozens of engineers and droids moved quickly, conducting all sorts of tests, installations and the like. Lew knew little as to what it all entailed, but he was confident in Republic engineering. He saw what some of the troops used on the front lines, and it was far from archaic.

"Major Dix will be our guide here.", Forswzyk said with a light chuckle. "He knows more about this stuff than I do."

A man in camo with a white overcoat continued to lead them down the catwalk.

"The Erebus is a small, experimental corvette with a massive payload. The lasers and such aren't impressive, because there aren't much. The crown jewel of this beauty is it's stealth system. We call it by it's codename, 'Perseus'. You see, how it works is that..."

Forswzyk coughed. Clearly he wasn't interested in the technical, only the functional. Hiding a grin, Lew felt the same way. He wasn't mathematically or scientifically gifted; any such explanation would have been lost on him.

"Long story short, nigh invisible. Stygium's great.", Major Dix continued, audibly disappointed he couldn't get out his technical speech. "Those doors on top, you guessed it. Missile silos. Antimatter missiles, six of em. Enough power to knock out a whole town. But be careful though, you don't want them detonating anywhere near you. I'd advise withholding use of them in space at all, it poses to great a risk for too little a reward."

The group stopped at the middle of the catwalk to marvel at the ship. It looked so big, yet it was really quite small compared to others.

"It runs on the same thing as the missiles, antimatter. It's efficient, it's quiet, couldn't ask for better."

 

[Zeradias Mant]

"Anyhow, she's a one-of-a-kind. No others like her. She won't be ready for another few months yet, but we're on track.​", Major Dix said.

Lew pushed himself off the railings, his eyes still glued to the ship. Only when he heard the steps of the others did he break eye contact and proceed.

"She has a number of features for tracking, evading detection, et cetera et cetera.​"

As they approached the rear of the ship, Dix resumed his outline of the Erebus' features.

"She has room for eight seismic charges. They may seem mundane given the other weaponry, but they'll make any hostiles think twice before pursuing. No one wants to follow an invisible ship into a minefield.​"

End of the catwalk. Before leaving the engineering bay, the major continued on for another ten minutes or so before finally allowing Forswzyk and Lew out into the other set of offices.

"Thanks for having me give ye the tour. General Forswzyk, Lieutenant.​", Dix said as he left.

"Well?​", Forswzyk asked.

​"Looks great.​", Lew said with a smile, shaking the general's hand. Only this time, he meant it.