Praetor
Posted on Thu Jan 14th, 2021 @ 6:24pm by Bomoor Thort & Thane
1,784 words; about a 9 minute read
Chapter:
Chapter VI: The Last Bastion
Location: Palatial District, Ravelin, Bastion
Timeline: Late Afternoon (Day Two, Week Four)
OLD
"You couldn't make it up, could you?" Thane said somewhat whimsically, actually managing a lopsided grin for his friend, perhaps being the first time he had mustered some sort of humour since they had entered Imperial Space. "The two of us, sneaking into the last remnant of an ancient empire, armed with medical underwear and hopping onto a service train into a palace."
Seemingly caught off guard by Thane's light-hearted turn, Bomoor went to speak and then stopped. He glimpsed that faint slither of familiar blue in his Human eyes and they both shared a brief pang of recollection to those many moments before the dive into action on their various expeditions as young Knights of the Reborn Order.
"I don't know, Thane. Seems like something we'd do."
NEW
The carriage Thane and Bomoor had secreted themselves into was both utilitarian and open; there were boxes and all manner of equipment securely-fastened and locked-down all about them, allowing both former Jedi to be perfectly obscured from the windows that were situated at either end, where passengers in other sections were residing. Interestingly, perhaps as many of the carriages were also utilised for more passenger-focused purposes, the roof of the carriage was almost entirely transparent, offering an unadulterated view of the dimming-afternoon Bastion skies overhead.
They had only been nestled within the service train for a short period of time, as it moved quickly out of the district they had found themselves in towards their intended destination. Through the windows, they had seen that they had departed the more built-up areas of the capitol city and were now heading out towards the palatial district, with a spit of water separating the two sectors from one another. They were yet to be able to see the Disra Palace, though.
"Everything is exceptionally uniform," Thane observed to his friend, resting a hand on one of the containers, which was remarkably unblemished and, predictably, had the sigil of the Bastion Moff Empire emblazoned across most of its sides. "And clean."
“Yet the buildings and roads seem to follow the flow to the natural landscape underneath, rather than bend it to their will,” Bomoor added, his eyes looking down at a bridge far below that connected two sectors either side of the water, “I expected the capital Imperial planet to be a swarming ecumenopolis like Coruscant; long since stripped of its resources. But this is, as you say, ‘clean’”
The train slowed as it approached another platform and a handful of people could be seen loading into other carriages further along. The brief pause allowed them to catch a few glimpses at the activity in the sector; this part of the city was full of more varied individuals, mostly well-dressed and some donning official-looking uniforms but all of the people seemed to carry themselves with a certain dignity, despite simply going about their daily business. It was a subtle difference in movement, but distinct from the slouched, sluggish movement that seemed to entrap the people of other great cities in the galaxy.
“I didn't anticipate seeing a city full of white-clad troopers like the ones in the reference library,” the Ithorian hummed, thoughtfully, “But these people don’t appear to be under a tyrannical system of oppression, either.”
Thane’s answer to his friend was a comfortable silence, as his gold-flecked eyes examined the horizon and cityscape beyond with great interest. The pair remained that way for a short time, as the locomotive soon began pulling away from the city to traverse a long bridge that extended between two disparate landmasses that together still formed part of this capital city.
The setting sun still caught the metal and glass of the sleek skyscrapers in the quarter they were moving away from, just as it refracted from the rippling azure seawater beneath them. There was a cool serenity to the vista, which seemed both stark against, and complimentary of, the utilitarian and orderly designs of Bastion’s first city, as well as the fascist undertones that the country obviously carried – a truth known even to outsiders such as Thane and Bomoor, raised on stories of the Palpatinian empires of old.
Whilst the former Jedi’s eyes were still locked on the increasingly-distant district they were departing, a shadow fell over the carriage, blotting out the dimming day’s light that had just previously been streaming through the transparent ceiling of their vehicle. Immediately, both Thane and Bomoor turned to face the source of this sudden darkness, which clearly stretched far out and around them.
The Shipyards of Bastion Music
As their eyes lifted upwards to sight the source, they were greeted by an unexpected visage. Extending out for miles and suspended far above them in the air, obscured only by its angle and the positioning of the train, was a large mass of metal, clearly in the shape of a gargantuan arrowhead. Held aloft in the air by great repulsor-engines streaming great plumes of fuel, they were tethered to the behemoth construction, preventing its exceptional mass from collapsing into the ocean below.
Dozens of small craft zipped about the massive frame, pulling machinery and other components across the hull of the remarkable, incomplete machine. Similarly, small figures could be seen traversing the miles-long hull, and a number of patrolling vessels kept a steadfast perimeter within the vicinity. Even from this distance, the truth of this marvel of engineering was obvious to both the Sith Lord and his Ithorian companion.
The great and recognisable curvature of the oversized dual reactors beneath it belied the enormous power this dreadnought of a craft would be capable of, which was made all the more obvious by the dozens of massive ion engines situated at its broad stern, and the innumerable weapons systems dotted across its unnatural landscape of a superstructure. Turbolasers that dwarfed even some cargo freighters were boasted at all angles of the vessel, and state-of-the-art armaments that eluded recognition were commonplace, belying the modernity and investment behind this display of imperial might and tyranny, which could single-handedly obliterate a Judicial fleet or glass an Outer Rim world.
It was a Star Destroyer – a kind and size unseen in any recorded history.
And it was almost complete.
Initially, Thane remained silent, captivated by the great beast that extended across the heavens above them, which blocked out the sunlight so broadly and completely. His mind was racing, drawn to the dreadnought and the implications of its existence and nature, just as Bomoor undoubtedly was. There was a small flare of expanding gold encircling his pupils as the considerations grew deeper, and their purpose on Bastion became imperative.
“All war is deception,” the Caanan finally muttered, a hand now resting on the transparisteel windows, as if it gave him some connection to the enormous Star Destroyer beyond. “And there is a great deal of deception regarding this world. Regarding GalactaWerks.”
Equally stunned and enthralled, Bomoor initially could only muster the word, “Incredible,” as his near-black eyes were transected by the mighty spear-like vessel. As usual, it was hard to tell between them who was feeling the most for what they saw, practically viewing it as one through two pairs of eyes fixed out through the transparisteel towards the mighty ship.
As their carriage sped along relative to the ship, it almost appeared as though the static ship crept slowly through the city’s skyline, slipping in and out of the skyscrapers like a shadowy hand reaching across the world. Then, without warning, it was gone as their view was replaced by darkness, punctuated with intermittent flashes of light, indicating they had entered a tunnel of some kind.
Like the breaking of a trance, Bomoor stepped back from the window and wrapped his long fingers about a support pole in the centre of the carriage, “People don’t build ships like that in a planetary dock anymore; it’s just too inefficient, not to mention a menace to the environment. They’re really going out of their way to keep this a secret.”
There was a cold silence as the muted rushing of the transport through the tunnel was all they could hear, before the Ithorian echoed his friend’s thought with a murmur, “GalactaWerks.”
"Bastion has no use for a vessel of those proportions," Thane said, although it was less clear whether it was a point of conversation or an internal thought given voice. He did not look at Bomoor now, his eyes instead cast down in consideration, his cybernetically-altered hand reaching for his pale chin.
"Standard Star Destroyer classes are enough to police one's restricted borders. That is a weapon of mass destruction, of galactic dominance," the Caanan continued. "A symbol." Finally, Thane's voice took a normal turn and he clearly addressed the Ithorian again. "It seems Theon's suspicions were well-founded - and some. It takes little deduction to determine the very few reasons GalactaWerks would be involved with the Imperials. I just struggle to accept the Moffs have rediscovered their Palpatinian spirit."
"Perhaps not all the Moffs," Bomoor offered a suggestion as he sat back down, the light in the transport growing brighter as they began to reach the exit of the tunnel, "After all this time and the clearly thriving society they have here, there must be some who question the value of an alliance with outsiders. If we are being drawn towards this Tarses, then perhaps he has doubts."
The light of day returned to the carriage and, although now more obscured, the looming triangular shape of the immense Star Destroyer still could be seen between the buildings, but now their transport was slowing down as it approached the next station.
"Imperialism is the doctrine of empire," Thane thought aloud, eyes no longer examining the Star Destroyer, but instead appearing introspective, echoing his tone. "Empires must expand or die, just as with enterprises. Petty conflicts with the Mandalorian state, in which neither side really grasps any new ground as trophies of war, perhaps leave a hunger in the stomachs of many of these petty despots garbed in finery."
As he said the word, the Human tugged at the stolen garb that adorned him uncomfortably, their onwards journey still unimpeded. Having mulled both points to his friend following this grand revelation, he settled on the same conclusion as the Ithorian.
"I think you and I have a great deal to discuss with this Grand Moff, Bomoor." Thane turned his eyes towards the upcoming palace, resplendent amongst the towering structures and fortifications that crowned its district. "A great deal, indeed."
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