Chapter 11 Submission (Unassigned)

SUBMITTED BY: LT Antillies / Aurek Leader / ISD Chimaera / Imperial Navy
HOLONET REGISTRATION: <emperorfrecks@aim.com
SUBMITTED ON: 2008.06.10

        Ramius Antillies walked down the gangplank of the Imperial shuttle that had taken him to the surface of Anaxes, a planet that still exhibited and revered the Empire’s fine naval tradition. The sky was a clear blue and Anaxes’ two suns glistened nearly overhead. There was a slight breeze that made Ramius comfortably cool. He preferred the temperament of planets like Anaxes - it reminded him of his homeworld of Kuat.
        When Line Captain Drazhar had approached Ramius on the Chimaera with the proposal of a short leave, Ramius was mildly surprised. Ramius had thought that the Chimaera was due for a jump out of the Anaxes system shortly, but apparently the rumored Outer Sectors campaign was going well enough that High Command had authorized the leaves of a certain amount of officers. Ramius was pleased that his had been granted, not because he wanted to leave the Chimaera, but because the recycled air could get somewhat stale and it was nice to have your feet planted on solid ground every so often.
        Ramius carried with him only his duffel bag that held some spare uniforms, his datapad, and a pair of civilian clothes, if it became necessary to use them. Ramius gauged that the loyalty of Anaxes was right near the top, but an officer was nothing if not resourceful and prepared. Thus the civilian clothes.
        Strapped to his hip was his blaster holster made of pristine black leather and fitted with an immaculate silver buckle. It was non-regulation and Ramius knew he got strange glances in the cities for wearing it, but Ramius liked it nonetheless. His blaster too was fitted with some very non-regulation parts that blurred the line of legality, but no one had ever looked close enough to notice that.
        A Stormtrooper sergeant approached Ramius.
        “Will you be needing an escort, Sir?”
        Ramius, thinking an escort of some heavily armored and armed Stormtroopers on a very loyal Imperial planet silly, declined. Ramius hefted his duffel and made his way through the spaceport to the central avenue of the city of
Tripoli. While not the capital of Anaxes, Tripoli was larger than a minor city and boasted a population of two million. The city skyline was impressive, with sophisticated buildings made out of both durasteel and glass. The sunlight interacted fabulously with, what must be special, glass.
        Ramius caught a ground car and after feeding the driver a credit line from the travel account CL Drazhar had given him, enjoyed the view from the car’s window. Twenty minutes later, the car arrived at the Grand Imperial Hotel, the place where Ramius was booked.
        The hotel was nothing short of glamorous, with glass chandeliers and gold leafed surfaces – the Emperor had spared no expense. The receptionist was kindly enough but was unimpressed by Ramius’ rank, seeing as there were many higher up officers than he who had a room booked. Ramius thanked her for her assistance and took the turbolift to the eighth floor. His room, 412, was further down the hall from the turbolift and naturally locked. Ramius used his key to gain access and walked into the room. Ramius asked the computer to raise the lighting by five levels, throwing his duffel onto the bed.
        Ramius didn’t feel like unpacking at the moment so instead took the turbolift back down to the main floor and asked the receptionist for directions to the nearest cantina. The receptionist complied and gave Ramius the address of suitable bar that was only five blocks away and went by the name the Sword & Shield.
        Ramius again thanked her and walked out of the main doors, which slid open as he approached. When he reached the Sword & Shield, he was surprised to find a long line that stretched at least fifteen meters from the entrance. Ramius, thinking that he could’ve definitely used a relaxing drink, was about to turn away and go back to the hotel when a sign caught his eye. In bright yellow fiber optics the sign proclaimed “Officers of all types admitted first”.
        Thinking this was too good to be true, Ramius walked to the front of the line and approached the greeter. The greeter, a shapely woman of mid-age, immediately looked up and spoke, “Evening, Lieutenant. Please go right in.”
        Ramius smiled to himself as the door opened and the other patient line occupiers huffed and cursed the damn Imperial officers. Perhaps the loyalty of Anaxes was not so unwavering.
        The Sword & Shield was a low key joint with soft blues and grays coloring the walls and the lights low enough that you almost had to squint just a little. Ramius located the bar and picked out an empty stool. He ordered a Kuat star destroyer, which, in completely contrast to its name, tasted like Lemonade and contained no alcohol.
        The music was mostly constant low tones beating in alternating patterns that could have put a man to sleep. Sabaac and pazaak tables were littered here and there and were mostly packed. Officers of mostly lower to mid rank mingled about with each other and with the gentry of
Tripoli – usually just wealthy businessmen and attractive women. Ramius was content just sipping his drink by himself and in peace.
        Someone, with much force, poked him in the back, right on the shoulder blade.
        “Hey, Buddy! Get out of our seats!”
        Ramius turned, calmly and coolly, toward the interruption to find two capless first class ensigns and two accompanying female companions standing over him.
        Ramius, in his best annoyed tone, said, “Can I help you ensigns with something?”
        The lead ensign looked ready to prod further but happened to glance down at Ramius’ rank insignia. His face went white.
        “Pardon us, sir, we didn’t mean anything.”
        Ramius, while obviously displeased by the behavior of these two Imperial naval officers, did not want to fill out paper work on his leave so decided not to push the issue and instead simply said, “Carry on” and turned back to his drink.
        Just as Ramius lifted the glass to his lips to drink, there was a deafening explosion behind Ramius that threw him over the top of the bar, through some drink dispensers, and behind the opposite counter. Ramius woke several seconds later, his ears still ringing, and shook his head. The sound of blaster fire filled the cantina and Ramius, after a few more seconds recovering, moved cautiously to the other side of the bar, taking care to stay behind the counter.
        Ramius unholstered his heavy blaster pistol, released the safety, and peered over the top of the counter. Fifteen Rebel commandos stood firing in a gigantic hole that used to be a portion of the cantina’s east wall. Ramius was somewhat disturbed to find a gigantic piece of duracrete sticking into the bar’s lowered ceiling that would have collided with the back of his head had the two ensigns not made him turn.
        A group of patrons had flipped some tables and were exchanging fire with the Rebels. Three of the commandos had grabbed one hapless officer and were dragging him toward the hole. Ramius recognized him as the ensign that had spoken to him only moments before. The madness Ramius still somewhat felt at the ensign’s rudeness evaporated as his concern for a fellow officer replaced it.
        Without thinking, Ramius jumped over the bar’s counter, dropped two commandos that were relatively close with two well-placed blaster shots, and moved toward the captured ensign. Still preoccupied with the resisting patrons, the Rebels were unaware of Ramius’ approach, which accounted for the look of surprise on the rebel’s face when Ramius hit the man who was dragging out the ensign with the butt of his pistol. The man slumped to the ground and Ramius shot his helper in the chest as he reached for his gun.
        The Rebels now reacted to their leader’s, or at least who Ramius perceived to be their leader, death. Their blaster muzzles turned to point at Ramius and the ensign. Time stopped for Ramius. He thought his death was surely imminent, but raised his pistol to take as many of the scum with him as he could. Ramius depressed his pistol’s trigger and the beam of energy lanced out into the mass of Rebels and exploded.
        Ramius, somewhat stunned at the horrific new firepower of his weapon, stepped back. He heard the clack of boots on metal and turned to find a squad of Stormtroopers rushing into the gap in the wall. One was holding a belt of grenades.
        The battle with the commandos ended very quickly with some more getting killed and the rest surrendering. The Stormtrooper lieutenant approached Ramius.
        “Looks like you saved the Governor’s boy, Lieutenant. I’m sure he will be pleased. Damn shame this Rebel raid slipped underneath us though; we thought they might have been playing something.”
        Ramius, still somewhat shocked at how the event had transpired, blinked and nodded. The ensign got up off the ground and took his cap out of his back pocket and placed it on his head.
        “Sorry again, Sir,” The ensign said and saluted.
        Ramius returned the salute.
        The Governor of Anaxes promptly rushed down from his mansion and thanked Ramius profusely for his valiant action. Ramius was of course humbled by the Governor’s thanks and said it was nothing less than his duty. After some fanfare and cheers to the hero of the day, Ramius took a shuttle back to the Chimaera. He had had enough excitement for one day.