Survival of an Ideology

[Anthony Wintershed]

Admiral Wintershed stared out the window of his ready room, looking deep into the vastness of space. The time he spent in the Unknown Regions had given him time to observe, to think. He knew that it was his duty to go back into the Galaxy, to serve the Sith Empire, but why did he not go? Why did he just sit here? He knew why, hell, every man in the Taskforce knew why, it was because the ideals of the One Sith were no longer the ideals of the Empire. Each man in this Taskforce swore and oath of alleigence to the Empire, not the Sith who rule it. He knew that for the ideals of the Empire to survive, he had to fight against the Sith, not with them. He turned to his desk and pressed a button, wiring directly to the bridge of the Bloodfin "Contact the Republic, inform them we wish to help them in the effort against the Sith. Give them my credentials, tell them we are on our way." Soon thereafter, the Taskforce entered hyperspace, back into the known Galaxy. to Anaxes.

Hours later, the 3rd Imperial Taskforce came out of hyperspace at the edge of the system, Admiral Wintershed, sitting in the bridge, looked to his communication officer. "Send a transmission to Republic High Command, tell them we have arrived in system and request permission to assume a polar orbit, and permission for me to land on the surface." The communication officer nodded, and the Admiral waited. Today would decided if the ideology of the Empire would survive, or be killed by the cynical minds of the Sith.

[member='Caid Centurion']

 

[Caid Centurion]

The arrival of [member="Anthony Wintershed"]'s fleet in unscheduled fashion forced a response from the sprawling defensive force of the Anaxes Defense Fleet which was, routinely, supported by off-cycle elements of the First and, recently commissioned, Second Assault Groups. As the 3rd Imperial Task Force had reverted to realspace before crossing the gravity-well net that encircled the outer reaches of the system courtesy of elements of the Anaxes Defense Fleet, the initial response was not a hostile one. Naturally had this been a close ally or a scheduled merchant, they would have been distributed precise arrival instructions.

Captain Anatoly was in command of the Valiance-class Star Destroyer nearest the Imperial Task Force's location, but he was not the Task Group Commander for their particular part of the system defense grid. After receiving notification from his crew about the arrival, the Captain quickly made his way to the bridge. The message transmitted to Republic Military Command would not be received by the Valiance-class nearest the Imperials. "Standard warnings, Lieutenant."

The current Officer-of-the-Deck nodded before quickly attempting to contact the Imperials. "Unidentified vessels - you are approaching a restricted operations zone. Establish communications and state your intentions or you will be subject to defensive measures."

------

On Anaxes, the communications burst from the Imperial Task Force was intercepted and quickly analyzed by Anaxes System Defense. The combined joint operations center contained command elements from the various services, port authority, as well as liaisons from local police forces and, most recently, the Jedi Order. The idea behind the model which was being implemented across the Republic was to provide for unity of information dissemination and control. The vast majority of off-world communications would be handled by the various System Defense hubs. The exceptions to this were specific transmitters provided to key leadership officials for personal, secure communications. Obviously - those wishing to simply make a routine call from a personal line could do so by accessing the holonet through normal means - though even this had become monitored.

The Senior Watch Officer was notified of the transmission just as the initial reports of an unidentified combat force entering the edge of the system were received by System Defense. The Commodore responsible for coordination of any defensive actions for that particular shift arrived on the main JOC floor a few moments after being notified. "We confirmed the identity on this yet?"

"In progress sir. Intel liasions are crunching it now."

The Commodore nodded his head slightly. "Very well. I'm going to brief Admiral Chu." Making his way to a communications station, the Commodore called the Anaxes System Fleet Commander. Admiral Chu had the responsibility of briefing the interim Governor of Anaxes. The knowledge of the arrival would make its way to Military Command, specifically the Admiralty Council, in rather short order. Given the request for a visit had been lodged, the Military Chief of Staff and Head of Government would eventually end up notified.

No direct response to the request of the Imperials was sent at that specific point in time. Until authorization for entry into the system was granted, Wintershed and his Task Force would be managed by picket forces at the edge of the system.

[member="Aurelia Saelari"]

 

[Anthony Wintershed]

Wintershed observed the Republican Fleet move into a defensive posture. Understandable. An unknown force comes into the system that holds the Republic Capital. He sighed, hearing the message from the Republic Valiance. He responded quickly.

This is Admiral Anthony Wintershed of the 3rd Imperial Taskforce. I served under Darth Ayra in the New Order years ago. Your superiors at Republic High Command know of my arrival and the reasons for it. They can assure you I mean now harm to Anaxes or to the Republic. Quite the opposite actually. But, those are details I cannot divulge to you at the moment. Wintershed Out.

Anthony sat back in his command chair, awaiting permission to land on Anaxes, and hopefully keep his ideals alive.

 

[Caid Centurion]

Captain Anatoly arched a curious eyebrow as the response was received. Imperial Task Force, New Order, Darth...if the man had been sending a holomail, he'd have Republic Intelligence knocking on his door in under two hours knocking out those many keywords at once. Waving a dismissive hand in the OOD's direction, the Captain resigned himself to merely maintain complete awareness and await further orders.

It would be roughly another hour before Captain Anatoly heard from Anaxes System Defense. The call went straight to his personal line onboard his vessel which had, of course, been augmented by several other vessels by that time. Alpha Line of the First Assault Group had arrived roughly thirty minutes prior. Ordinarily, that meant the current flagship of the Republic Military was enroute, but he knew from reputation that Grand Admiral Centurion rarely had elected to board the MC-180 Remembrance - a design which rumor also said was in the process of being replaced. "Captain. Are you prepared to receive the Admiral?"

Anatloy arched a curious brow. "Admiral Chu, sir?"

"The Admiral, Dominic. He's being ferried over at this time."

Anatoly immediately terminated the connection and bolted to his feet as he ordered the ship make preparations for the arrival of the Grand Admiral.

Caid was perfectly aware he could have conversed with their visitors from the confines of his office. However, he tended to jump at any excuse to not be in the office. Stepping onto the durasteel deck of the Valiance-class Star Destroyer, he silently followed his security detail and the vessel's Captain to the Captain's stateroom for a quick briefing and conversation.

On the bridge, the Executive Officer was handling communications with the Imperials. "Admiral Wintershed. Military Command has consented to your face-to-face, but it will occur onboard this vessel. Dispatch one shuttle, no escorts to the starboard ventral hangar. A security contingent will meet you there and escort you to the meeting location."

[member="Anthony Wintershed"]

 

[Anthony Wintershed]

The Admiral would listen to the transmission, grunting. No escorts? They must really deem him and his fleet a threat, no matter how small it is. However, to remain within the parameters set by the transmission from the Remembrance, he walked down to one of the many hanger bays on board the Bloodfin, boarding a shuttle, and taking off. On the journey, he took a moment to review the members of Republic High Command, knowing he would most likely meet one of them, the Grand Admiral the most likely out of the lot of them. By the time the journey was over, the Admiral had familiarized himself with Grand Admiral Centurion through public records, knowing as in any diplomatic event, connection with the other party was key. As the shuttle touched down, Wintershed stood up, walking down the descending ramp, and within the throng of Republic Marines, following them to wherever they were to take him.

[member="Caid Centurion"]

 

[Caid Centurion]

[member="Anthony Wintershed"] was taken to a large conference room. The soliders that had escorted him to the meeting location remained outside. Inside, Admiral Wintershed would find the large figure of Caid Centurion standing casually evaluating a holographic projection of an unidentified system. There was no tactical information presently displayed, so the Grand Admiral held no qualms about leaving the display up.

Silver-green eyes quickly focused in on the visitor. "Admiral Wintershed." Caid motioned to an empty seat at the end of the large table. "I'm afraid I do have a tight schedule, so you will have to pardon my brevity. The point of this meeting is for you to convince me that you should not be arrested for service to an organization that, technically, was declared an Enemy of State during its existence." There was plenty of intelligence on where the vast majority of the New Order's assets went.

Managing a thin smile, the dark-skinned Admiral motioned for his guest to begin. Unfortunately, the Admiral, while afforded the respect his rank entitled him to, was technically being detained by the Republic. Whether or not he realized that fact was a different matter entirely. Caid was open-minded, but he did not callously take chances without purpose.

 

[Anthony Wintershed]

The Admiral sat down, listening to the words of the Grand Admiral carefully. Soaking them in as a sponge would do to water, letting them simmer in his mind. After a moment, the Admiral nodded his head, and readjusted himself in his seat. He then began to speak, in the solid confident tone of a Imperial Officer. "You see, Grand Admiral, I came here because of one thing. The ideals of the Sith no longer go with those of the Empire. The Sith have disgraced the name of the Empire that many fought to defend, and corrupted the ideals that Gilad Pellaeon held so dear. With that said, you may be able to tell, I am not a ardent supporter of the Republic, but it is the best thing we have in the wake of a Sith threat. I followed the New Order for a reason, I thought I could change things from the inside, obviously, I was wrong. I wish to help the Republic in anyway possible. Put me on the front lines, and I will not disappoint." Anthony leaned back in his chair, done speaking for the moment and allowing the Grand Admiral a chance to respond.

[member="Caid Centurion"]

 

[Caid Centurion]

Caid remained standing with his arms casually folded over his chest. When Admiral [member="Anthony Wintershed"] finished speaking, the dark-skinned Admiral afforded the man a simple nod of his head. "I will be frank with you, Admiral. I'm not incredibly big on trust for former servants of the Sith, regardless of how much they claim to be reformed. I leave redemption in the hands of the monks in the Jedi Order. They are true believers in second, third, even fourth chances it would seem."

Uncrossing his arms, Caid walked closer to the Admiral and took the seat next to his, purposefully putting his visitor at the head of the table. "I know that you can appreciate the situation I am faced with. If this arrangement is granted, we would of course need some sort of show of good faith. I believe that you are passionate about opposing the Sith, but it is not just me you must convince. This is the Republic, and I answer to its people. They are the ones you must convince. I'm sure you understand the sensitivity of the situation?" Caid had a great idea, but he was holding back...for just this moment.

 

[Anthony Wintershed]

The Admiral nods his head, understanding the situation clearly. "Of course, if we were in opposite roles, I would be just as skeptical as you are. If I need to prove myself with the Jedi, I will. If I need to prove myself to the Republic and it's citizens I will." He would then take off his officers cap, laying it on the table before looking back to the Grand Admiral. "The only way to do that is to put me on the front lines, hell, if I must liberate Coruscant myself, I will if it means downfall of the Sith Order." He would then lean back in the chair, looking back towards the Grand Admiral, awaiting a reply from the man, knowing the man had something up his sleeve.

[member="Caid Centurion"]

 

[Caid Centurion]

Caid raised a single hand as if to stop [member="Anthony Wintershed"]'s nonsensical thoughts about retaking Coruscant on his own. "I don't require anything quite so...rash, Admiral. However, there has been quite a growing controversy of sorts over a few other systems which are presently engaged in quite the august rebellion. Republic forces are presently engaged with other priorities, but your force's assistance might do quite nicely." Not to mention that if the Admiral failed, it would in no way change the Republic's situation. Alderaan was mostly a lost cause in Caid's head, and he certainly wouldn't be authorizing the loss of any further Republic life to work towards its liberation.

The Imperials, however, he had no qualms with throwing the strength of their efforts into the task. It certainly was not a pointless operation, there were certainly still some officials on Alderaan that could quite logically stand an extraction. "What do you know of Alderaan's current status, Admiral?"

 

[Anthony Wintershed]

The Admiral would nod his head, listening to the words of the Grand Admiral. After the Grand Admiral was done speaking, Wintershed himself spoke. "Sadly I do not. I have spent my time in the Unknown Regions for the past few years, so enlighten men if you would."

[member="Caid Centurion"]

 

[Caid Centurion]

"Very well." Standing once more, Caid made his way over to a small control console at the edge of the room. Within a matter of moments, the holographic display of the random system was quickly replaced by a rather obvious rendition of Alderaan. It appeared peaceful, tranquil. With the push of a button, the display phased out and refocused into something entirely different. Based on latest intelligence and estimates, Caid activated the most up-to-date overlay for the system. It wasn't much, but it clearly displayed a very...contorted planet. "In short, it belongs to the One Sith. For whatever reason, the planet was heavily vongformed. Intelligence from the ground is sparse, but that is due largely in part to preferred procedures of our operative and contacts."

Deactivating the display, Caid returned to his seat. "It, like most of their systems, is fairly well defended. Further more, I think you will find that technology in general has come quite a long way since...well...you were last active in any definitive form of engagement. However, I digress. We've received some recent requests for extraction of some key Alderaanian personnel still on the planet. The mission is not particularly sexy, but you can rest assured it will not be as easy as simply picking them up and playing bus driver." Leaning back slightly in his seat, Caid leveled [member="Anthony Wintershed"] with a steady gaze. "If you can complete these without incident, we may yet be able to talk further about a more official working relationship. Until that time, however, I think it is likely in both our best interests if we keep this arrangement strictly off-book."

 

[Anthony Wintershed]

The Admiral would nod his head, looking over the planet and listening to the words of the Grand Admiral. He would shake his head. "Vongforming......" He would sigh. "It should of died after the Vong War." He would then look to the Grand Admiral and nod his head. "I will try to get them out if possible. Do they have their own means of getting up to my fleet, or do I need to send men down?" He would then await the Grand Admirals answer.

[member="Caid Centurion"]