The Long Goodbye
SUBMITTED BY: EN Khadgar / Iota 1-2 /
ISD Chimaera / Imperial Navy
HOLONET REGISTRATION: <khadgar1@shaw.ca>
SUBMITTED ON: 2008.04.29
It is nine years after the
Within the context of the
larger Galactic Civil War, a smaller civil war has been in progress for several
years in the Greater Estioch Cluster. Supreme Moff Stephen Zanaris leads the
Imperial
On the Imperial Union capital
world of Genevieve, an agent in the employ of the Union’s Intelligence service,
known as “Khadgar”, was approaching the Supreme Moff’s palace in Imperial Center and receive his latest
assignment. During his approach to the palace, he is unaware of the interest
vested in his fate…
Supreme Moff Stephen Zanaris
sat behind a desk in his office looking intently at a computer console situated
at the center of the desk. Zanaris was a portly man with black hair and thick
eyebrows. He wore a white uniform with a gold epaulet on either shoulder. Across his chest were a number
of medals and an insignia that closely resembled the traditional Grand Moff insignia.
“Kingfisher to Carp,” Zanaris said to the screen of the computer console.
“Kingfisher,” was the reply spoken
in a gravely voice by the contact on the other end of the communication line,
whose image appeared on the screen. There was a brief pause before the response
continued, “You have failed to uphold your end. You have allowed Dukhat to linger in the Greater Estioch
Cluster virtually unhindered. There is also the fact that you are at risk of
being exposed by one of your own agents close to learning the truth. You are
becoming useless to us, and useless things have a way of disappearing.”
“The agent will be dealt with soon,”
Zanaris said quietly, conveniently avoiding the
subject of the dismal state of the war.
“I should hope so. You hopefully
realize that if you are compromised we cannot help you.”
Zanaris
nodded gravely and simply said, “Yes.”
“Very well.
Keep me informed of your progress.” With that the image of the contact on the
screen faded to a blue screen with a green Imperial insignia on it.
* * *
Within the palace at
Zanaris
entered the command center and was greeted by his
second in command, Moff Dargis
Brook. Brook had previously had a full Moff’s
commission in the Greater Estioch Cluster, but under Zanaris had been relegated to carrying out simple tasks in
the command center and serving as an apologist for Zanaris’ policies.
“Sir,” Brook said when Zanaris entered the room, “the fleet is ready to commence
the attack on your order.”
Zanaris
nodded at this information and lumbered across the command center
until reaching his command chair from which he could command the battle ahead.
As was frequently the case, Moff Brook stood tall
beside the command chair with his arms behind his back awaiting the commands of
the Supreme Moff. He had neatly combed brown hair and
generally had a neutral expression on his face in contrast to the intense and
worn look of his superior.
“Signal the Pandora,” Zanaris
said in a raised voice, “I want this attack commenced before Dukhat smashes our fleet to pieces! Is that clear?”
“Yes sir,” Brook
replied in an unassuming voice. He walked down from the command platform and
toward the terminals in the corner of the room. Within minutes small
representations of six Star Destroyers and support ships appeared on the
screen.
Zanaris
stood up and watched with intense interest as the representations of Star
Destroyers and their support glided across the screen. Soon the Union fleet
entered hyperspace and the map shifted to a new location where a dense cluster
of enemy capital ships approached the Union fleet. Moff
Brook resumed his usual position at the Supreme Moff’s
side as the enemy fleet approached the Union battle fleet. Within minutes, one
of the enemy ships erupted in an explosion and faded from the screen.
A slight grin appeared
on Zanaris’ face and he said emphatically, “We have
them!” Unfortunately for him, a Union Star Destroyer and Dreadnought faded from
the screen shortly after.
Brook leaned close to Zanaris and said in a low voice, “Two of ours, sir.” As he
said that another Union Dreadnought faded from the screen and he said to Zanaris, “Shall we withdraw them, sir?”
“Never,” Zanaris said sharply, “continue the attack.”
As another Union Star
Destroyer faded from the map, Brook said, “That was the Inflexible, sir.”
Zanaris
frowned and said quietly, “Pull them back.” As the remaining Union forces
withdrew, the Supreme Moff continued in a louder
voice, “Why? Why? Why? Why can we not defeat them?”
Brook replied his usual
neutral voice, “Inexperience. They are brave, but many of the most experienced
officers retired or died long ago.”
Zanaris
sat in his command chair and said, “Inexperience?” He considered this briefly
and said, “Bring me the Academy Commandant.”
The two stormtroopers at the exit quickly compiled with this order
and within ten minutes the Commandant of the
“General Sorrel,” Zanaris said, “our recent engagement with Dukhat’s ships proves that you have failed to train
officers sufficiently for service in the Imperial Navy.”
“But Excellency,”
Sorrel stammered, “the recruits filtering in are young and our losses are
crippling!”
“Silence!” Zanaris
bellowed and continued, “Do not blame the Imperial Union for your personal
failings, general.” He motioned to the stormtroopers
flanking the Commandant, “I want this man assured a place on the first wave of
TIE Fighters that next engages Dukhat’s forces.”
Resigned to his fate, General
Sorrel did not resist and was conveyed from the command center
by the two stormtroopers.
* * *
Khadgar was walking along a street
and approaching Zanaris’ palace, which served as the
headquarters for Intelligence as well as the Imperial Union overall. He glanced
to either side of him and shook his head. After the Battle of Endor he had agreed to make Genevieve and its capital city
of
As he was mulling over
the state of the city, Khadgar heard sirens sound out
all around him. Another damned bombing
raid, he thought. The Imperial Union still had significant fleets, but they
were unable to guard the entire
In response to the
raid, Khadgar dove for cover in a nearby alley and
awaited the end of the raid. The bombing raids in themselves did little damage,
but the effect on morale was devastating. As the bombers glided away into the
atmosphere of Genevieve, Khadgar resumed his walk
toward the palace. Upon reaching the main entrance, he presented his
identification to a stormtrooper and was admitted to
the palace. He arrived in time to see the face of Moff
Zanaris appear on a monitor situated just inside the
entrance of the palace.
“Citizens of
Genevieve,” he said in his oft-used loud voice, “once more the hated forces of Moff Dukhat have attempted to
break the resolve of the Imperial Union. However, we remain strong. I ask that
you remain loyal, secure in the knowledge that we will overcome the mutinous
scum of Ackros and deliver a crushing blow to Moff Dukhat. We will have our
victory!” After the speech the screen faded to a blue backdrop with a green
Imperial insignia and a short version of the patriotic Imperial March theme was
emitted from somewhere on the monitor.
Khadgar was generally
unimpressed by these speeches and thought privately that the Imperial Union
should sue for peace with Moff Dukhat
and end the fruitless war. After pausing to watch the speech he continued down
a corridor and arrived at a turbolift. After riding
the lift up a number of floors he walked down another corridor and arrived at
the main Imperial Intelligence office. He pressed a button beside the door and
was quickly admitted into the waiting room.
The secretary behind the
reception desk looked up briefly from her work and said, “He’s expecting you.”
The head of Intelligence was
known simply by his title, “The Advisor”. The Advisor was a greying
man sitting behind his desk and motioned for Khadgar
to approach when he entered the room. “Please, have a seat.” As Khadgar was sitting down, he said, “Tea?” and offered a pot
of hot water and tea bags from his desk.
“Thanks,” Khadgar
said and started to prepare himself a cup while the Advisor started to ask him
about his recent work.
“What have you discovered?”
the Advisor prompted.
“I am close to tracking the
source of the leak from this palace,” Khadgar
replied. Some highly classified information was known to be leaking from inside
the palace itself and Khadgar was attempting to find
the source of the leak.
“It was too bad about Reesing,” the Advisor said quietly. Reesing
had been an agent under Khadgar’s command that had
been eliminated recently under mysterious circumstances while investigating the
leaks from the palace.
Khadgar frowned and said,
“Yes,” in an equally quiet voice.
“How do you feel about the
affair?”
“I’m not happy about it,
certainly,” Khadgar said awkwardly.
“This must be very trying.
Perhaps you’re feeling burnt out? We understand that sort of thing here.”
Khadgar could see where
this was going, “I’m an agent, Advisor, and intend to continue as one.”
“There is a position here
that would suit you.”
“I want to find the source of
that leak,” Khadgar insisted.
“Very well,” the Advisor
conceded, “we have a lead on man named Jundt
suspected of ties to Dukhat’s people. He may be tied
to your problem.”
Khadgar nodded. He had
heard of this Jundt and respected his record in the
army. It was yet another case where today’s traitor was yesterday’s celebrated
officer. But if Jundt really was connected to the
leaks from the palace, Khadgar had to find him and
put a stop to his activities. “I will start immediately,” he concluded.
“Excellent,” the Advisor said
simply.
* * *
Khadgar went to what he considered a
prime source of information, a local tavern called the Swarthy Bantha. The clientele was
generally less than stellar, but that is exactly what Khadgar
needed. He entered the tavern and situated himself in close proximity to
several tables.
One of the tavern
patrons said a little too loudly, “What's the difference between Moff Zanaris and a dead commlink? Nothing, try talking to
him!"
It wasn’t long before a
man in a trench coat approached him, tapped him on the shoulder and escorted
him outside.
Rookie, Khadgar thought. A lot of these
newer agents dragged in the first person that uttered a treasonous couple of
sentences rather than waiting for more valuable information. In this case he
did not mind, however, since he was able to take the seat of the offender.
One of the other
patrons scoffed, “Who are you?”
“Just
a man looking for some information.”
“Oh
yeah?”
Khadgar
lowered his voice, “I have some valuable data that a certain Mr. Jundt might like to have.”
The anonymous tavern
patron cast a knowing glance to the others sitting at the table and grinned
slightly, “I see. And what makes you think we can tell you anything?”
“Well, I just thought
you might like this list of Imperial agents operating in Genevieve. I guess
not.” Khadgar conveniently neglected to mention that
it was a list of dead agents such as Reesing.
“Not bad, let’s see
it.”
Khadgar
produced a chip from his pocket and handed it to the woman.
She inserted it into a
portable console and examined it for a few moments. “You can meet one of Jundt’s contacts at what is left of the publications
building,” she said, returning the chip to Khadgar.
“Thank you,” he replied. But
he was feeling uneasy. That was easy. Too
easy, he thought. Still, he thought he should have a look at the old
publications building.
* * *
Moff Zanaris was once
again contacting someone from his desk. “Zanaris to
Larch, come in.”
A man appeared on Zanaris’ console screen and said, “I am here, your
Excellency.”
“General Larch, are you
prepared?”
“He will not escape,
Excellency. Once again the beauty and glory of one of your designs benefits the
Empire.”
“Very
good, General Larch. If you do not fail me, it will be a great boost to
your career.”
General Larch was
enthusiastic about this prospect and said, “I will not fail you, Excellency!”
* * *
The old publications house was a relatively short distance from the Swarthy Bantha,
so Khadgar went there on foot and mercifully avoided
the decrepit Genevieve transit system. As he approached, he could see that the
building itself was still intact. He observed as much as possible of the
building from a distance, but could not deduce anything about the building from
its exterior. He reluctantly approached the building from the back and moved
towards an aging door. The door was marked “RESTRICTED” and locked, but it was
old and did not stop Khadgar’s foot. After the door
fell, Khadgar cautiously entered the building. He
found himself in a large room full of crates. Upon closer inspection, he was
shocked to discover the insignia of the Rebellion on several of the crates.
Khadgar
did not have long to consider the implications of this, because suddenly a
number of stormtroopers appeared from behind various
crates and surrounded him. Once it was clear that he would surrender quietly,
an officer appeared from behind one of the crates.
“What have we here? A spy?” General Larch said.
“Yes, one of ours,” Khadgar replied.
“I should think not,”
Larch said, “I believe his Excellency should hear of this treason personally.”
Khadgar was escorted
quietly to the command center of the palace for an
unwanted personal visit to Moff Zanaris
himself. After entering the command center, the stormtroopers urged Khadgar to
the bottom of Moff Zanaris’
command platform.
“This traitor was found
in the old publications house to deliver supplies to those who would sabotage
the Imperial Union on behalf of Dukhat,” General
Larch said.
Moff
Zanaris stood from his command chair. “What were you
doing in that publications house?” he said to Khadgar.
“I was investigating
the activities of a suspected spy named Jundt.”
Zanaris
turned around and addressed the three officers working at the terminal toward
the back of the room, “What do you have on this ‘Jundt’?”
After a minute, one of
the officers replied, “He died several days ago, Excellency.”
“Don’t try and play me
for a fool. As I suspected, you’re obviously one of Dukhat’s
spies. There is but one penalty for spies and saboteurs from Ackros. General Larch, see to it that this man is executed
quickly.”
Khadgar
was shocked; he had committed no crime and was slated to be executed based on
circumstantial evidence. He attempted to muster a defense,
“Supreme Moff, I never-“.
“Hold your tongue,
spy,” Zanaris snapped, “You may proceed, General
Larch.”
General Larch bowed,
“Very wise, Excellency. It shall be done immediately.” He motioned to the two stormtroopers, who escorted Khadgar
out of the command center and down a long corridor.
Khadgar
had earned a positive reputation among a number of officers in the Imperial
Union, so Moff Brook was selected to deliver a speech
explaining the reasons for his execution in an attempt to suppress any doubts.
The speech broadcast on monitors across the city and was preceded by footage of
Khadgar entering the publications house and examining
the crates, which were shown to bear the Rebellion’s insignia. “People of
Genevieve,” Brook began, “I bring you grave news. What you have just seen is
evidence that one of our trusted agents, Khadgar, is
actually a spy on behalf of Moff Dukhat.
He has been part of an underground network smuggling Rebel supplies provided by
Ackros to spies and saboteurs operating here.
Therefore, he will be executed for his actions. I know that some of you may
have doubted Moff Zanaris’
actions, but we ask for your continued loyalty. Only with your support can we
continue this war and finally defeat Dukhat and his
mutineers.”
As the speech was
concluding, Khadgar was nearing the site of his
would-be execution. However, there was a space of time in which he, the two stormtroopers and a passing officer were alone in a
corridor. Unexpectedly, the passing officer raised a blaster and shot one of
the stormtroopers. Not one to waste an opportunity, Khadgar brought his elbow swiftly to the chest of the other
stormtrooper and made sure that he quickly hit the
floor of the corridor.
“Who are-“ Khadgar began.
“Be quiet! Follow me,
quickly!” the unknown officer said.
After quickly but
quietly moving through a number of corridors, the pair arrived at a door.
“Stay low when we get
in,” the woman said. She pushed some buttons beside the door and it slid open.
Khadgar
quickly went through the door following the woman’s lead. She crouched hastily
shuffled behind a collection of crates. She carefully opened one of the crates
and motioned toward the inside.
“In there?” Khadgar said skeptically.
“That’s right; it’s
either that or another trip to the Supreme Moff.”
Khadgar hesitated a moment but entered the crate, which was
then sealed behind him.
* * *
Khadgar lost track of how long he
was in the crate. He felt very cramped and was anxious. He had no idea where he
was going and how we would get there. For several hours he stayed in the crate,
which was moved from time to time. It seemed like this was the end of his long
goodbye to the Imperial Union. Eventually the crate was opened. Khadgar staggered out of the crate and stretched after
spending hours in the confining crate.
“Welcome, Khadgar,” a female officer said.
Khadgar
quickly stood and faced the officer. “Where am I?” he said.
The officer chuckled
slightly and said, “You are on Elrood, capital world
of the Galactic Empire Reborn. We know your record and had you extracted from
your appointment with death. Our trade route with Moff
Zanaris does have some use. I am here to offer you a
chance to join us if you wish.”
Khadgar
considered the offer. He had heard of this “Galactic Empire” from the outside,
but did not know a lot about its internal workings. From what he had heard, it
was better than living under Moff Zanaris’
reign. Relations between the Galactic Empire and Moff
Zanaris had become somewhat tense of late due to a
close relationship between the Galactic Empire and Moff
Dukhat. However, as yet the Galactic Empire had not
been involved in the civil war in the Greater Estioch
Cluster. Khadgar returned to the conversation
abruptly, “I accept,” he started, “with the condition that I am allowed to
pilot a starfighter.” He had been an Intelligence
agent for some years, but before that had been trained as a pilot. He yearned
to once again return to the cockpit of a TIE Fighter.
“We are always looking
for experienced pilots. If you will follow me, we will leave for the