A Long Journey to the Throne- Desaria

[Telan Desaria]

Imperial Palace - Coruscant


There are riots. Riots - in paradise.


Great coat about him, Grand Admiral-Baron Telan Desaria stood upon the stone balcony near his office and glared out over Imperial City. The night was colder than most but his blood ran hotter than any Destroyer's ionization reactor. It had been eight weeks since the debacle at Endor and with every day that separated the present from the past's horror, the situation grew worse and worse.


The sound of the Admiral's leather gloves crunching emanated softly from the stone railing as muscles flexed the his grip tightened on the granite. From his perch a hundred levels above the concorse-level of the city-planet, Desaria could see the horizon awash with an orange glow. As his glower pierced the night, he knew a force of some twenty thousand Civil Defense Force officers bolstered by two regiments of storm troopers were quickly mopping up the last defilers of order from the streets. Their riot had ended as quickly as it had begun, but the fires still raged and the streets were still littered with bodies and blood. The stench of death hung over Coruscant alongside its newest companion: unrest.


We gave them order, structure. We brought peace to the masses. Yet their minds remain infected. This Rebellion, it is a disease. It has contaminated every fibre of life. The only way to cure it, to eradicate this epidemic, is to wipe every last Rebel from existence.


The Empire had been in chaos for the last eight weeks. Turmoil raged from system to system, all looking up for guidance that never came. The Moffs had ordered Martial Law but that had done little good. The riots had gotten worse, and demonstrations were popping up even in the most staunch of worlds. Order had lapsed - and that could not be allowed to continue.


We require a singular leader, not a diverse command structure. Too many men are issuing orders and the people are confused, Their guidance must be restored, their faith in the Empire rebuilt.


They must fear defeat and strive for victory. The Empire must become great again and all those who dissented must be dealt with.


Grand Admiral Desaria raised a gloved hand to his visor cap and removed it. His brow furrowed as he peered off into the distance where the flame and brought light to the night. A resolve grew within him the likes of which he had never known.


The Empire needs a leader. I will be that leader.


May the Gods have mercy on all those who defied Order - because I will not.



((OOC Note - thread takes place 3 months following the Battle of Endor))

[R. S. Esalis]

Time alone was such a rare thing, even moreso after the Battle of Endor. Chaos reigned supreme, and the Empire could only reel from the blow delivered. While it had not been defeat over Endor, it certainly had not been a victory either. It had horribly demoralized many, and others began to feel the spark of rebellion spread by the Alliance.

Sitting alone in her office, R. S. Esalis reclined in her leather seat, one hand resting gently atop the glossy surface which was amazingly void of the normal clutter of hardcopies and datapads. Eyes half closed, she let a single finger tap on the teekwood desk.

She had come to her station and rank through her own devices, coming up from the dregs of Imperial beauracracy. With her own hands she had wrested control from Isard, filling her new position with energy, loyalty, and the utmost of devotion. An odd thing considering her life growing up.

But now the noise was getting too loud. Unrest and insanity was prevailent.

And yet not all was lost. Just as she had clawed her way to the top, so would the Empire. Right now the head had been cut off; the death of the Emperor was a staggering blow, and if another was not put into place at the forefront of the Empire, then they would all surely desend into oblivion.

Esalis waited patiently, knowing that her earlier transmission had been recieved and its' recipient would soon be gracing her with his presence.

[Telan Desaria]

The jounrey had ended.


Between floors, anyway. The Office of the Director of Intelligence was twenty levels below the spacious quarters given over to high ranking military commanders. Striding between black-uniformed sentinels carrying heavy blaster rifles, Grand Admiral Desaria thought the position was unsuited its role: with proper Intelligence, many military endeavors had failed.


Like Endor...


Agents were discernible in civilian clothes while more numerous uniformed officers buzzed about in a large ante chamber between the nearby corridor and Desaria's destination. The sprawling clutter of consoles and computers allowed the Director to keep in contact with resources through the Empire - not least of all, it kept her information up to date. She was, after all, never ignorant of events.


A brilliant woman. She is a dangerous female, this one - but an all-too useful ally.


Another pair of guards stood silently outside either door to her office. Turning, the Grand Admiral addressed his personal bodyguard. " Remain here, Malek."


The doors parted and the Grand Admiral entered. There she sat, the Director of Imperial Intelligence: R. S. Esalis. Removing his visor-cap then great coat, he gave a slight bow in her direction. " Madam Director. A pleasure to see you again."

[R. S. Esalis]

She did not rise. Her only greeting was a finger lifted from the surface of her desk followed by a curt nod.

"Grand Admiral. Thank you for responding to my message."

Esalis gestured to one of the chairs before her desk, indicating that he sit.

"I trust you have been as well as possible in these last few months?"

[Telan Desaria]

Both great-coat and cap went upon the unused chair before her desk. The other was occupied as the Grand Admiral seated himself. From there he regarded the most powerful woman in the Emperor's realm.


"I trust you have been as well as possible in these last few months?"


Her comment sent a shudder through the Grand Admiral's spine but his mind quashed any thought of it. Her rise to power was totally reliant on the Fleet, the very Fleet her guest was of a part. She would have been unwise to mention the death of Desaria's son and so did not - Esalis was many things but unwise was not among them. He replied, secure that her words were innocuous.


" As well as can be expected. The Rebellion on Fresia continues but all environs have been crushed. As well as the insurrection at Hilari. I have been far from inactive - before I arrived here, that is."

[R. S. Esalis]

A slow smile, followed by a slight laugh escaped her lips. "You will hardly be inactive here; of that I can assure you."

Esalis leaned forward then, her eyes taking on a look of genuine curious inquiry. "Before business though, I wish to know - how is Vasily?"

She knew enough about Desaria's oldest, but wished to hear it from the Grand Admiral's own mouth.

[Telan Desaria]

A chuckle found its awkward from the lungs to the lips and the Grand Admiral felt his own smile accompany a reply. " He is well enough - he has just earned his own Imperial Cross with the Civil Defense Force on Eriadu."


The smile faded quick enough though: business was more urgent than a family affair. " Madam Director, do you remember when we first met and I told you that the Empire would only survive into eternal greatness with continual vigilance, that the Empire has a track to its destiny?"


The Intelligence commander nodded affirmative.


" I believe the Empire has lost its way. Without someone to guide it, there can be no victory - and the Rebels will seize on our disparate attempts and uncoordinated nature and tear us apart."

[R. S. Esalis]

Esalis leaned back once more, allowing her thoughts to return to the matter at hand.

"It seems that we think along the same lines, Grand Admiral. I remmeber what you said when we met, and it was with that in mind that I requested this meeting with you."

She let her icy gaze dwell on him. "We are without a head. We have no one to lead us and no one to rally behind. An ideal is nothing without a leader.

"This must be remedied, and it must be done quickly before we sink further into chaos - before we become completely lost, as you have said."

[Telan Desaria]

Her mind parallels mine - I remember now the reason for our first embrace.


The Grand Admiral leanred to one side of the chair, removing his black gloves and letting them rest on the breeches of crossed legs. " A situation that must be remedied immediately. More proerply, with immediacy. A ruler cannot be proposed overnight, but one must earn the people's affection and the respect of his peers.


" Let us not mince words, Director: I am no politician. Beyond the small fiefdom on Kuat of my family estate, I know nothing of total command. I am a soldier and I will remain so until my death. However, desperate times call for desperate measures."


Desaria narrowed his gaze and let his emerald eyes pierce into Esalis. " A Regent must be declared until a suitable Emperor can be proclaimed. I do not seek the leadership, but if I must take it to save the Empire then so be it. My goal is the same as any man wearing this uniform - the destruction of the Rebellion and the rebirth of Order."

[R. S. Esalis]

A single brow lofted as Esalis listened to Desaria's words. He was dedicated to his cause, she had to admit. And if he was willing to step up and fill the roll that had been so brutally vacated, then maybe her own proposition would be better recieved than she had hoped.

The Director said nothing for a few seconds, only studying the Grand Admiral as he sat before her. Idly, she reached out to run slender fingers over the keypad built into the desktop. A few brief moments of silence followed before she once more returned her gaze to Desaria.

"It seems that you are but a few steps ahead of me - a situation I will have to remedy."

Esalis allowed a brief smile to grace her features before she went on. "Placing you as a temporary figurehead was something I have been considering for the last few weeks. Your accomplishments over the course of your career and the loyalty with which you serve our Empire has been unwavering. You have nothing but this government's best interests at heart.

"Do you feel you are prepared to shoulder the burden of this endeavor?"

[Telan Desaria]

Seductive and lithe, Director Esalis possessed all the qualities of her predecessor, Ysanne Isard. That head of Intelligence had fallen victim to a woman whose brilliance and ambition exceeded her own: no mean feat since Isard had killed her own father to ascend the ladder of command. The most beautiful flower is oft the most poisonous.


Desaria fell back into the chair and steepled his naked hands. Touching the tips of connected index fingers to his lips, he pondered the course before him. He knew that in his heart he was committing no treason, he was no warlord. There could be no usurpation of rightful authority since no authority existed! The Grand Admiral sighed.


" It is an unwelcome burden, but one I will bear gladly for the restoration of the Empire to its rightful place on the galactic stage. The road to such a position will be long and difficult - I cannot traverse it alone."


Baron Desaria levelled his gaze at the woman who had shared his bed when he was but a second year Cadet on Raltiir, more deadly and mesmerizing than he remembered.


" Will you walk it with me?"

[R. S. Esalis]

"I find it funny," she answered candidly, "that you ask me this after I have already expressed that I feel you capable."

Esalis shifted in her seat, the leather creaking beneath her slight weight. "You know that I am faithful to the Empire, and that I would do anything in my power to preserve it.

"And if placing you as a temporary head will send us on the road to stabilization, then that is what must be done."

[Telan Desaria]

The Grand Admiral lost his smile.


" My hearing works quite well, Madam Director. I need to be sure."


The conversation had terminus Baron Desaria had hoped for. With the Director of Imperial Intelligence at his side, hw would have an apparatus at his disposal that rivalled the Fleet in its effectiveness and the Inquisitoriate itself for ruthlessness. Few could stand in the way of Imperial Glory now.


With considerable deliberation, the Grand Admiral replaced the leather gloves onto his hands. " Stabilization will be but a stepping stone. We shall return Order to the galaxy. The Fleet is already at my command, only a few scattered commandes have dared pledge allegiance to another officer. I will not allow a civil war - I do not want to reign as Regent. But sometimes for the greater good we must do things we would never dream of doing."


Desaria stood. He wrapped his great coat around him and fastened the belt at his wasit. Another fluid movement of his arm brought the white visor-cap onto his head - now he would finally depart Coruscant for the openness of space in which he had made his name. Pressing matters awaited his attention.


Regarding the seated woman, he allowed a twinkle to return to his eye. He was happily married but could not - nor could any man - resist the beauty her soul was wrapped within. " You are as enticing as I remember. Gloria Imperium Madam Director."


The Grand Admiral departed. They would meet again soon.

[Telan Desaria]

Inner Rim, Imperial Territory


With renewed vigor, the Rebels fell upon the prow of the Ravager again, this time quickly smashing asunder what shields had brought back online. What had once been a pristinely-armored Victory-class Star Destroyer was now pock-mocked with holes from missile blasts and scored with every impact of a laser bolt. All of the TIEs that had been launched were now drifting pieces of debris - there was no defense against thirty snubfighters and a half-dozen gunships.


The warship's bridge was among the Rebel's first targets and had been smashed accordingly - what remained of the command staff looked on in horror from the recessed secondary bridge. Gunships painted a dull grey with the flared wings of the Alliance Crest upon each engine housing moved with great speed, slashing into the dorsal armor and running off as large-bore weapons fired in vain.


" Damnit - our ships should have been here by now. Transmit again!"


Communications officers got quickly to work when Lieutenant-Commander Iodin turned about, many wondering if he was willing the enemy ships to explode. They did not, and damage reports continued to trickle in. The Rebels had jammed all circuits with alarming precision but had missed one channel over which another distress call was sent. All hopes of the five thousand crewmen aboard were pinned to Governor Wait Cantrell.



* * *


It was a hearty laugh that boomed when the portly politician received word of the Ravager's predicament. His jowels undulated in a disgusting scene, sickening the arrived Naval Captain with his gesture and very presence. Try as he might, the corpulent Governor would not permit any of Nespit V's seven ship defense flotilla to be dispatched barely twenty-minutes' distance, claiming the threat of pirate attack or even Rebel assault was too great.


" Imperial soldiers are dying!" Captain Aleraat screamed, railing against his superior. His fists were balled on either side of his waste and had he not a residue of duty he would have torn the man limb from limb.


" I will not save five thousand and doom fifty! This world's inhabitants will remain protected - I have sworn my oath to defend them and I shall do so."


Aleraat felt his loyalty wane and had no time for games. The truth was but one fact at his fingers and he let the Governor know it. " You oath be damned - you won't permit me to go because Admiral Ravis' son commanded that ship and you want Ravis to suffer. You are placing your own petty differences with an Imperial officer over the survival of a battleship's crew! You cannot jeopardize lives over your daughter's choice of husband-"


The governor came to his feet faster than Aleraat would have thought possible though his face turned as red as the Suns of Mimban. " Impudent fool - I am Governor here and I decide what can and cannot be done. Ravis is a fool and should not have sent his ship out so far - he will pay the price not me!"


Aleraat felt a strong hand on either arm and knew his argument had gone too far. The thugs employed as the Palace Guard drug him off at their pay-master's whim but Aleraat did not resist. He thought only of dying soldiers and the pointlessness of their death.




Thirty-six minutes later, die they did.

[R. S. Esalis]

Alone once again, Esalis sat quietly, leaning back in her seat as she regarded the now empty chair before her desk. Thoughts of the future and how to encourage this new development into fruition preceded over all, and she let her weight shift to one side, resting an elbow on the armrest.

Where to go from here was a small gap to be traversed, and Esalis mulled over her options. She had been so buried in - well, everything - since news of the Emperor's death had reached Coruscant. But the Empire itself still trudged on; albeit with a bit more of a panicked step in its' gait. The question of who would take the helm - permanently or temporarily - was something that pilfered through the back of everyone's minds. For now, Desaria serving as a temporary fill-in seemed the most viable. He was a soldier yes, but he had loyalty to the Empire. Until a concrete leader could be found, the Grand Admiral seemed the best choice.

Another shift and she was now leaning on the opposite armrest.

So now. Esalis thought of those in the upper echelons of the Imperial engine.

Executor Sevon - at last report he'd galloped off to some remote world in search of a runaway Jedi; there was no swaying him from that, Esalis knew as much. The man was nothing short of possessed when going after something he wanted.

Grand Inquisitor Tear - Possibly. She would have to stop by his office at some point. Ask about his... health, or some such nicety as that. The Grand Inquisitor could be a headache at times, though more often than not she rather enjoyed his eccentric company.

Chancellor Anar - Oh she would let the man be - he had enough of his own tortures at the moment. She would see him, of that she was sure, but for the moment she decided it best not to add herself into the already brilliantly confused puzzle that surrounded the Chancellor.

There were so many more to consider, and as it seemed the Director had time enough she did just that; sitting alone in her office with nothing but her thoughts.

Outside the doors to Esalis' office, another officer strode purposefully forward, a thin clipboard with but a few hardcopies attached to it - hardcopies containing the latest news from Nespit V.

[Telan Desaria]

" A refil, sir?"


" Thank you, Exdee," Grand Admiral Desaria replied as the shinny bronze droid added more caf to his porcelin cup. He sipped it and raised to eye level the pad upon which sat his meal's reading material - a casualty report.


Not a day went by where a list was not brought before the Grand Admiral detailing every capital ship loss in the Empire's realm. The list was growing longer every day, and in some cases details were wholly absent. Not too terribly long before, three heavy cruisers were reported as missing in action and no addendum was affixed anywhere. There could be no greater reminder that the Rebels had infiltrated High Command.


Desaria's mood soured when his eyes reviewed the largest vessel lost - a Victory-class Star Destroyer. As the ship's name and manifest scrolled down, he stabbed a little harder than normal a piece of ham on his plate. It never made it to his mouth when he read the circumstance of that warship's end. Reinforcements were nearby, less than eight minutes' distance out. While not of a substantial nature, they would have been more than adequate to drive off the Rebels and haul the stricken VSD from the field.


A deep growl emanated from his throat and but was kept in check by firm military discipline. He read on - orders to remain in orbit of Nespit V, a back-water trading post of no strategic significance, were issued to the small defense flotilla by the Governor himself.


Attached to the report was a brief snibbt from the Office of the Director of Intelligence. ...Governor Cantrell has a daughter, aged 24. She chose to marry the son of Admiral Aeric Ravis who commands the sector defense fleet. At the time of the engagement, the Ravager was commanded by Acting-Captain G. X. Ravis. As a result of the Governor's refusal, the ship was lost - along with it Admiral Ravis's son.


The growl won its battle with Imperial discipline. Desaria slammed the report down on the table. Such things happened in the Empire - because ambition was rewarded over singular loyalty. Rather than fortify a belief in the righteousness of the Imperial way of life and promote loyalty to the Empire as a whole, the Emperor had encouraged a type of petty bickering among his dominion. That bickering had resulted in far too many good officers' deaths.


Such actions cannot be tolerated if we are to defeat the Rebellion and restore order to the galaxy. Victory can come only through vigilance and sacrifice: loyalty to the group must prevail over loyalty to the individual. These acts must stop.


The Grand Admiral keyed his intercom. " Malek - ready my shuttle and order the Relentless to be ready for departure. Course to be set for Nespit V - maximum speed."


Stop it shall - I will set the example here and now - the New Order begins today!

[Telan Desaria]

Nespit V was an out of the way world, with no strategic significant whatsoever. It lay along only a few sparesely used hyperspace lanes and was frequented by pirates as much as legitimate traders. The world was a waypoint to weary travelers en route to destinations beyond, but rarely they stayed. Nespit V - all worlds in the system for that matter - was a cold place owing to the death of its sun so many centuries ago.


Were it not for a small respository for proton torpedo warheads constructed in an annex near the only true city on the planet, the Imperial Navy would have had no presence there at all. When like a knife the Star Destroyer Relentless made its entrance at an unusued jump-point, all eyes averted to the stars. Not minutes later, the arrival of a battleship was on every tongue.


Between the orbiting frigates and pickets and the massive warship was only electronic data transfer - and that told a very nervous Acting-Captain that a Grand Admiral was now in his system. Sweating profusely, he keyed the comm unit.


" Commander Vatis of the Cruiser Thunderclap - welcome to Nes-"


A tall figure stood before a command chair on the open bridge of the Relentless, looking very angry as he stared at the two-dimensional projection of a squeamish officer. He cut the young man off with a wave of his hand. " Silence Commander. Rendezvous with me at Governor Cantrell's residence in twenty minutes. A delay will not be tolerated."


The link was severed and Grand Admiral Desaria strode purposefully towards his waiting Lambda-class Shuttle.