The Office of the Emperor

Shel gave a humble nod to the Emperor as his hand on her shoulder guided her back up to her feet. She knew this lesson already, otherwise she and her crew would not have pushed themselves so hard in the Unknown. But she knew that in times of doubt and wavering courage, the memory of a sworn oath could inspire and turn ones heart to hope, even in the vast empty void.

=Shel=
You are wise to not put all your faith in words, but it was not just for your benefit that I took that Oath. Now I will have this to look back on when the road becomes dangerous and all paths are dark. I renew my oath, so I am no longer bound to dead and fallen Emperor, but to this new and just one. If it is deeds you seek, than place me at the head of an armada and I will use my gift in Battle Meditation to lead our forces to victory, send me back to the void, or do with me as you wish. I am at your disposable, my Emperor.

Galactic Alliance Remnants? She had much to catch up on it seemed. Though some rest for her and her crew would be welcome. It would give them time to adjust to the new Empire. Giving another bow to the Emperor, Shel took a step back. Absorbing as much about this room as she could, smells, sounds, feelings, and the Force imprints left by those who came before and who are currently standing their. It truly was a cacophony of light and dark mingling together. Many great and terrible acts and decisions had been made here. Acts of war and aggression, but also acts of justice and peace.

=Shel=
I will remember your words. And if you need, my contact details are also on that datapad. I will inform my crew that until further notice, they are on shore-leave. But we will be ready when you call.

She would then wait for her escort to take her back to the landing pad and shuttle.

With the barrel of a rifle stabbing into his back, Lucien was herded into the Emperor's office. While he would normally have been impressed with the degree of craftsmanship shown in the creation of such a room, he was far more preoccupied in brainstorming ways to destroy part of the room to escape. The Emperor's curious gaze was met with the defiant, and resolute face of a man who could not care less who he was standing in the presence of.

"Bold question. I'm assuming I don't have a choice in answering?"

The stone-faced Imperial Knights in the room gave him all the answer he needed.

"I don't know. Apparently, I was separated from him at a young age. But that could be a lie, I'm not going to play internal affairs for you."

It was understandable why Garrick might have wanted to conceal the details of his past marriage; it had not ended well for anyone involved. With the deaths of his mother, brother, and sister, along with his own disappearance, Garrick took the fall for it exceptionally hard. He now preferred to bury those memories and pretend none of it had ever happened, instead of remaining resigned to his work. In addition, the circumstances surrounding Lucien's birth were questionable at best, and it was not something Garrick felt needed to be brought up again. Although neither Lucien nor Nicademus were aware of this fact, Garrick had made the decision that it was a piece of information that could be safely overlooked.

"Why am I even here? Aren't you going to send me off to one of your little labor camps? Or better yet, kill me where I stand?"

"If he believes I would ever fight for your cause, he must be crazy." He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts before continuing, "I joined the Galactic Alliance because they offered something better. A chance of peace, of order. Now I see I was misguided in that thought. They were too weak to achieve anything. But why would I fight for you, the sworn enemy of my cause, whose ideology I have devoted my entire life to destroying?"

There was more truth to this statement than would first seem. Following the Battle of Mon Cala, Lucien had come to accept that the Galactic Alliance, nor any iteration of it, would ever achieve their goal of galactic peace. But, from what he had seen and heard, the First Order did not even attempt peace. Sacking planets, killing innocents, the list of stories he had heard time and time again went on and on. True, some of them were likely fabricated, but it was unlikely he had been living a lie ever since he had first signed on with the Alliance's military. In addition, after the attack on Theed, any doubt in his mind about the veracity of these stories had been abolished in his mind. Although there were the politicians to consider. They never seemed willing to help anyone, and seemed to have caused the most problems of all.

Nicademus' point did have merit; both organizations ostensibly had a similar goal. Autocracy may have seemed distasteful, but the fact of the matter was that the Galactic Alliance had fallen into disarray, and now was made up of a number of anarchic Rebels. Rebels who might separate a child from their family for their end goal. And the Sith were nothing but anarchy, not even attempting to persevere under the pretense of order, but rather chaos and destruction. Still, events such as Naboo had left a scar through the integrity of the First Order.

"I will accept your offer, on two conditions. Firstly, explain what happened at Naboo, and how that fits into the idea of preserving order. Secondly, I want permission to search the Imperial archives for records on my family."

Lucien paused for a moment, looking straight at the Emperor with an emotionless face.

"There are some unanswered questions there that I need to understand."

Silence filled the room for a moment after the recording ended, as Lucien recoiled in horror and shock to what had just been revealed to him.

"They... they lied to me. They lied to me and I didn't even realize how far it went. All those years of loyalty... for nothing."

The look of horror on Lucien's face when he heard this news quickly gave way to one of seething rage which matched the one the Emperor wore on his face. He had been lied to. Lied to by his superiors. The attack on Naboo was not the intention of the First Order, but simply the ambition of a single officer, who had been harshly punished for his actions. He had been told the attack was some sort of intentional strike at the civilians on the planet. Worse still, he had been ordered to reciprocate that very lie to his men. If he had been lied to about this, what else had the Alliance lied to him about? How many other stories had been fabricated by the members of the Alliance, meant simply to deceive both the average soldier and the common man alike? What if the entire cause that they claimed they were fighting for was merely a lie, meant to cover up some ugly truth. Who knew what else they had been lying about... or what their plans were for the galaxy at large. The Imperial Knights present would have certainly been able to tell what he was thinking, but one did not need force sensitivity to see the betrayal in Lucien's eyes. Taking a moment to regain his composure, he responded to the Emperor's words.

"The Galactic Alliance was made up of liars. Liars and cheats. Regardless of my previous sentiments towards your organization, it's clear to me now that you as a leader would at least be honest to your soldiers. Something the Alliance's leadership was clearly not. And I would be happy to fight alongside anyone who pledges to exterminate those backstabbers from the galaxy."

Ona was somewhat nervous. She had been called to the Emperor's office with seemingly no reason or rhyme, as she had not interacted with the man before, nor taken part in anything that could be considered 'meritorious service'. Quite frankly, she had done nothing out of the ordinary as opposed to her normal routine, which made this all the more nerve-wracking. As she approached the grand doors to the office, two stormtroopers took her aside, confiscating her blaster pistol as well as her communicator, and checked her code cylinders to make sure she had proper clearance to enter. After a moment, the lock flicked green and the portal into the space beyond the door opened up.

Dressed in her standard Imperial uniform, the young Veed looked ready to meet such an important figure as the Emperor. Her metal cuffs had been shined to a fault, and her durasteel breastplate looked about as ceremonial as it ever could. Her rank plaque had been meticulously cleaned, and her uniform had been ironed such that no flaws could appear in the grey fabric.

Stepping into the office, Ona looked to her left and right. It certainly was a grand space, and one of the most unique she had seen as well. Even throughout planetary invasions of the most luxurious, grand worlds, she had never been in a space that was quite like this. Folding her arms behind her back, she noted the large window that seemed to overlook the city. Upon closer inspection, however, she realized it was not a window, but instead a holoscreen that took up the entirety of the back of the room. Stepping further in, she nearly jumped as the door sealed behind her in a sudden manner. She had never been quite on edge like this before, in spite of the number of dangerous situations she had voluntarily exposed herself to over the years. At least there she knew she was in control. Here, however, whatever control she had was stripped away, and seemed to funnel towards one point in the room. The very farthest point of the balcony-like structure of the office. At that point of the room was a desk, and behind the desk, she saw a shock of red hair. Hair that could only belong to one person in the Empire.

Taking a deep breath, she spoke authoritatively enough that the man could hear her.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

Ona sighed. There it was again, her grandfather. Always following her like a shadow. She always had wanted to be recognized as something beyond her father, made famous by her own achievements rather than her family name. She had served diligently, but this was, in effect, in the intention of being remembered by the sweat of her own brow. Staying perfectly still, she nodded her head.

"Thank you, sir."

However, it could have been worse. At least she knew that she had not been called to the office for something she had done wrong, which set her at least somewhat at ease. Some of the tension in her back vanished, now knowing that this conversation was not a reprimand for something she had done wrong. Though she was still nervous and was tempted to look about for the exits to the room. However, it would not do to show fear in front of someone like him. Not to mention the fact that a large part of Imperial High Command was here, including the man she had worked with on some recent starfighter projects. If high command saw her in a nervous state, it would be likely that whatever chance she had to get a promotion and pursue her interests would be dashed to pieces in a meeting that was seemingly meant to congratulate her for something she had done. It would have been almost painfully ironic.

However, she could not have anticipated the question the Emperor asked next, nor could she have anticipated that the Demolisher was brought up in the first place. It was currently all the rage in Imperial circles, with several Admirals giving up the use of their older bombers for the new variant. She had Garrick to thank for that. Were it not for his combat expertise, she would never have been able to create the fighter that she did.

"Well, sir, it was rather simple. With the existence of bombers such as the K-Wing and B-Wing among our enemies, I felt it necessary to create a heavy bomber to match it. However, rather than slow strikes, it was designed for rapid response. The tide in the galaxy is changing, and we need to be able to react to threats quickly, and with a large amount of force. While the other bombers the order use have either the capability to hit hard or react quickly, none have the blend of both that is the demolisher. That, I suppose, was the methodology behind its creation."