Operation: Grave Cart

[Caius Flavian]

Kalee
High Orbit
On board the Crinan Analog Carrier The Resolute Dreamer

Day 1
I sat in my office on board the XT-12 Valor Platform under construction in high orbit above Kalee. Another momentous day for the Imperial Remnant. I was following closely the reports on a strategic operation of importance. Operation Grave Cart. The mission was the recovery and reconstruction of old Imperator Star Destroyer I and II wrecks. The need to produce capital ships had become a top priority as the Imperial Remnant grew. As part of the Imperator Star Destroyer III program these old keels would be used to produce this new breed of Star Destroyer. There were other keels among the wreckage that Operation Grave Cart would be involved with recovering.
A flotilla had been formed up consisting of 3 venerable carriers, 6 merciless frigates, 3 Absolution Star Destroyers, and 3 crinan destroyers. A task force assembled specifically to work on each. The reports had come back not too long ago on the discovery of a significant debris field located around the second moon of Valc V.
I had tasked Lt Commander Runo to oversee the recovery effort. A Commodore Perra was in charge of the task force. I would be monitoring the reports very closely. It appeared the task force was enaring the debris field. If I knew Kara she would be one of the first one’s out, likely flying in her own shuttle to first hand assess the old Allegiance Class vessel…

 

[Kara Runo]

Day 1
Operation Grave Cart was in full swing. I was absolutely surprised that Commodore Flavian had put me out on something this important so soon after making rank. Although I should not be that surprised, I’ve certainly proved my worth acting as his adjutant. As well as the operations on Kad V to add to my ever increasing resume of work. I had achieved the rank Lt. Commander. A whole new set of responsibilities had come my way. I was doing everything I could to remain out of ship board duties.
I hated it.
We all had our element. For Commodore Flavian it was the midst of general quarters. Standing on the bridge of a war vessel issuing commands. Sergeant Elyas Rendall was most in his element was in the middle of a fire fight.
My own element was in the cockpit of a dropship or fighter craft. I had found a desire to become proficient in the art of star fighter combat. I was hoping to one day to be a part of the famous 181st Squadron.
Today though I would was to perform survey work. Our initial start to the operations. The amount of debris in this ship grave yard was proving hazardous for the larger vessels to navigate.
Commodore Perra was the commanding officer of this special task force. We were to complete this operation in phases. The first phase was surveying and evaluation. What could and could not be salvaged. A tedious task but the reward was going to be immense.
About two dozen shuttles had been deployed from the task force to survey this floating ruin of a star destroyer called the Retribution. I had deployed with a group of Imperial Marines and Engineers as passengers. We boarded via the Forward Ventral Hangar Bay.
Flying to the vessel was amazing. The sight of an Imperator instills a great sense of pride, a hunger for order, and quenches the thirst of vindication.
I was piloting the cradle with my co pilot delta two or Frank Cindar. It was great working him. We spent a good minute with the storm marines and the storm engineers having fun exploring the old ship.
It took a few hours to get around the vessel.
I spent some time in sitting in the Flight Deck Control center. I sat in a chair for a long time holding onto a headset still plugged into the comms station. A flight controller worked here. My sight looked out into the main hangar bay. Across to the other side the landing bay doors were relatively intact. The port and starboard launch bays in the ventral hangar were still relatively intact. A treasure trove of old Imperial tie interceptors and tie bombers were still on the launch racks. My Zero G suit’s dexterity was not the best so I gently held the communications headset in the palm of my hands. Delta Two had told me to wait here for a surprise. I could only imagine what.
We had spent the better part of the day attempting to open up the shuttlecraft hangar bay. We couldn’t get the locking mechanisms to disengage without power. All across the Imperator Star Destroyer there were other teams assessing and searching the ship.
Phase 1 was to get the ship’s essential systems back online. From life support to the engines there were teams working around the clock on restoring this vessel. The goal was not to rebuild the vessel here in this grave yard. The goal was to get it just operational enough to move on its own and make a series of short hyperspace jumps. Until we reached the world of Rodica where Crina Royal Industries would break the ship down and forge it anew.
A dagger of immense power and strength. One of many to come that could be levied at the throats of any foe.
The lights suddenly came on. The entire ship groaned.
“Hey Delta One, looks like we got the power going!”
A grin plastered my face. I stood in awe as the beast once thought dead and left to the void to revitalize. How after all these years it could even function let alone. I hit my internal comm switch.
“Yeah Delta Two, the ship is a beauty, even if she has some holes in her!”
One small step at a time.
“This is Colonel Rensu to all personnel, be advised life support is still offline. Remain in your gear until cabin spaces are stabilized.”
We had so much more work to do. This was barely the beginning. According to the big wigs, estimated time until just this ISD was mobile would be upwards of two weeks.