16 BBY
Outer Rim
Aboard the Stark Harrow
Fifth Week of Deployment
The Outer Rim was as he had imagined it to be, …..or most of it was it was.
It was a rough place, lacking a lot of peoples, key infrastructures, consistent stability and order.
It lacked a lot of urban resources the other inner sectors of the galaxy had commonly and wasted due to its abundance. So through this it was somewhat like the country side instead of like a city or fully urbanized area. Perhaps like upstate New York, compared to city New York.
And yet still the empire was trying its best to contain and eradicate the infection that had built up here. Pirates, smugglers, slavers, separatist holdouts, early rebellious anti imperial/ republican worlds, you name it all and it could be found here. Long lost hostile species, death worlds, toxic nebulas, space creatures though rare and abandoned vessels.
But contrary to a many beliefs; the outer rim or some parts of it were very developed.
There were a few city wide worlds spread out amongst this sector of the Galaxy, those like Taris, Botajef, Uchinao, Axxila, even Nar Shadaa the cesspit it was, could be called a city wide world .
A ecumenopolis.
And there were dozens more that were beginning to take steps in becoming similar to their predecessors in the core and these worlds in regards to urban development and commerce.
Looking out through the transparisteel viewport in to the dark void, he had come to appreciate the comfort of being amidst a city's surface, no matter how undeveloped or backwater it was, fresh air would always be better than the stale recycled air on this ship. It reminded him ever so deeply of his time spent in his younger years at his corporate Job. Cold air conditioned air, a silent atmosphere as he sat around a computer for 8 hours a day. Some days it was meetings with managers and coworkers yet it always remained the same.
And the Stark Harrow with its unending expectations, repetitious protocols and day to day activities reminded him in some ways so similarly to this past life.
The life of a ordinary powerless civilian. And here now he smiled with pride, he was that of the military branch now..... He belonged to something larger than himself , he belonged to the empire! And since these past few weeks he had, arrested, killed indirectly and perhaps sealed the fates of three dozen law breakers to imperial prison camps.
The Empire was not its predecessor of the toothless tiger that was the old republic. In here we projected power no matter how far we needed to. And the Tarkin Doctrine had also saturated its way into the new way of life, and the ever increasing military industrial complex was working tirelessly to see that this was made a reality.
Physically..... not just ideologically.
And these missions were apart of this physical endeavor. It was dangerous work... yes. And I had fit right in.
And I loved it. I loved this life. And I loved being apart of the armed force.
"Hail the damn Empire."
Five weeks aboard the Stark Harrow had been enough to strip away any illusions I had. The Gozanti-class assault carrier was not that of the most illustrious posting but it was nice . She was a remodeled and upgraded ship, but was still draft, and was always endlessly repurposed. Escort duty one day, cargo transport another, customs interdiction the next, then troop transport when needed.
And now we were serving as a interceptor against small armed illegal ships and even scouts. We basically served as police,mediators, soldiers, cargo carriers, surveyors and even scientists as funny as it sounded in space.
And Captain Renfrey Milhorn commanded her.
A competent man. Brilliant in his own right and he was rather easy going, which was a plus for those that served under him. He was a chill guy, and one doesn't really find much of his kind lying around in such an expansive galaxy.
Milhorn was also charismatic and had always made vocal his dream of wanting to retire on a tropical vacationer's planet. And at these moments he'd often speak about opening his own fine dining restaurant. A close contrast to the life he lived as a chef prior to military life.
He was stern when needed but never someone we'd call unfair or obnoxious and these characteristics had placed him above half the officers I'd encountered in the Academy. He understood logistics, he was experienced, he respected procedure, he knew how to teach and most importantly he listened to those beneath him. This was a man that knew how to command and yet for all his time in the republic navy and now the empire, he was merely relegated to Captaincy of a small cruiser though it didn't really seem to bother him as he was planning to retire in a few short years.
I had challenged him verbally from time to time on philosophical topics, political science and Naval strategy, and as his age had levied he was a man that had learned much through experience and so was never lacking the answers to my queries.
I had come to learn that his former Senior Lieutenant/ First weapons officer had been transferred away and by the way he spoke of it . It seemed as if he was promoted, there was no doubt of it.
"Sir," I heard a call from behind.
I turned to look upon the face of the officer.
This man was the First Navigational officer of the Stark Harrow.
A man in his late twenties, Junior Lieutenant Fergus Dile, a man older than he was. And one could at times see the discomfort he held in reporting to one younger than himself, but he knew how to stay his tongue and respect his superiors no matter what personal feelings he may have.
Dile was overseer on all that was navigation, ship piloting, ship movement, and ship docking.
He oversaw a number of approximately three enlisted and two junior officers . One of whom was Raith as he had studied Navigation and its tenets back at the Imperial academy.
These men would plot and calculate safe routes to take for hyperspace and navigate properly at subsonic speeds through regular space.
"The reports you requested on D'qar, Asbestos and Calanon's subsectors", Dile says handing me a datapad.
There had been reports of an increase in Pirate activities around these areas though they had not been given the chance to do a standard patrol. Recent events had seen these worlds being connected to other pirate gangs and smugglers within the wider area.
They used these planets and sectors to offload and trade their illegal goods where it would be bought and distributed from there to God knows where else into the wider galaxy.
It was a fools errand to think that they could stop smuggling. Smuggling was profitable in all walks of life, and piracy which was more prominent here was a occupation that lead many to riches and equally to a fast grave if you weren't careful. And many pirates were but that.
"I'll go through thoroughly at a later time." I told him before returning the device.
"Have the file sent to my data mail though", I added, specifying what I wanted done.
"As you wish sir", he nodded not seeing any problems there.
It seemed he was gonna say something else but was interrupted.
His attention.... "our attention".... had be drawn by another deck officer.
We now watched Dane kallig berate his underling who seemed to have spilled caf on one of our targeting computer consoles.
'Sigh'
By naval charter and regulations we weren't prohibited from drinking on the bridge as this generally allowed us to keep hydrated and alert during watch. However, precautions are usually taken to prevent spills on sensitive equipment.
The crew was experienced enough to know that liquids should be kept in holders and not placed in spill prone areas but it seemed like some incident had happened where such a precaution wasn't taken or perhaps was but an accident ensued.
I made my way towards them.
"Sir, I apologize ! I'll have a technician brought up immediately to have it checked and fixed!" Dane stated immediately upon my quick visit.
The Bridge of the Stark Harrow wasn't large there wasn't any crew pits here. It wasn't a mile long Star destroyer after all. It was one floor of differing sections that had no partitions which wasn't necessary . To the front and center sat the pilots . To their left, their other brethren of the navigational crew, and to their right sat the weapons and sensory systems operators. Both comprised of enlisted and junior officers.
And to the rear right side of the deck, located closer to the bridge's exit were our communication stations.
"Do it, and quickly Master Chief, We should be leaving in the next four hours," I said to him calmly. There was no need to be a nuisance about such a small issue.
One of the targeting screens seemed to have frozen yet the extent of it seems to be fixable with the spare parts we had on board. The technician could take care of it within the hour at most.
Hopefully the circuit wasn't fried.
The man nodded briskly before stepping away to the communication's section.
A message to the technical support staff was no doubt gonna be sent off and one of their own would run on up to sort this issue out.
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