skin, bone, and arrogance
FIV Concordia was entering its fifth year of service and had just completed a wide-ranging retrofit to make repairs, upgrade systems, and refurbish the ship's luxurious interiors. Concordia was, to all exterior appearances, a Resurgent-class Star Destroyer with a nifty red paint job. But her interior was anything but typical. The ship served as the mobile headquarters of the Grand Moff, Natasi Fortan. It was as much a mobile embassy, flying hotel, and office as it was a warship. Some of its hangar space had been moved or rearranged to make room for luxurious staterooms, including an expansive suite for the Grand Moff, dining and conference facilities, and an observation lounge that was as awe-inspiring as it was atypical. To top it off, the Concordia was a tremendous strategic asset, thanks to its complement of highly trained shock troopers and its Sith meditation sphere, used to great effect during the Omega Crisis to deploy, strengthen, and amplify battle meditation for First Order forces. There were larger and more powerful ships in the First Order's arsenal, but there wasn't a single one in the fleet that embodied the might and magnificence of the First Order more than the Concordia.
Natasi was pleased to be back aboard after the ship's time in drydock. There was nothing like the smell of deck polish and being able to see one's reflection in the deck plates. She stood in one of the smaller hangars of the ship, having just disembarked her shuttle, and surveyed the troops arrayed in an honor guard around the ramp. They were members of the First Imperial Shock Troopers division -- lovingly named Fortan's FIST after their honorary Colonel-in-Chief and the fact that they were assigned to Concordia and Battlegroup Nebula, Natasi's own ship and battlegroup. She was scheduled to be greeted by Colonel [member="Rolf Amsel"], the legion commander of the FIST, as well as the new commanding officer of the Concordia, [member="Kou'ha Escala"] and the Supreme Commander himself, [member="Asharad Graush"].
It was a ceremonial occasion, something for the media and the public. They needed to see Natasi, who had been gone from the public eye for some months and was enjoying a renewal of her own service, like her flagship. They needed to see Graush, a figure whose popularity among the people had reached dizzying heights as a result of his prosecution of the war. Amsel, too, was viewed as a hero; his actions on Kaeshana alone had earned him a place in the hearts of millions following the reportage of Lydia Finn-Camden. And Escala would be a celebrity in their own right if they played their cards right.
The Grand Moff tugged her black jacket in place and began to stroll down the aisle, pausing to visit and shake hands with the men lining the ramp as she waited for the others to arrive.