Inside, We All Know, Only the Strong Survie (Invite)

[Roderik von Brinkerhoff]

It was genuine interest that Roderik offered [member="Avicus DuSang"] with a brief nod of his head.

"It would be a privilege to read." He was always one to pick up something new, be it a strategic or tactical doctrine that was foreign to his way of thought, or any piece of information that could somehow be gleaned to assist in the cockpit - the only place that truly mattered to the veteran pilot. Anything that shed additional light on battle meditation and its application to his function in the battlefield would be worthwhile to read.

Roderik caught the expression [member="Natasi Fortan"] sent me, and replied with a smile, before being caught up in the toast and conclusion of the dinner.

Plans were already weaving in his head, of how to utilize this battle meditation in the performance of his duties -- although he was careful not to over-analyze prior to reading the literature to be provided. He was, however, quite excited, almost palpably so, to see a live demonstration of the technology and aforementioned Force ability.

 

[Avicus DuSang]

Avicus left to retrieve the book for [member="Roderik von Brinkerhoff"] while Viktor left to retrieve [member="Natasi Fortan"]'s coat. The servants of the manor silently entering the room and clearing the table. Viktor returned with the Moff's coat as he and Sebastian escorted the group to the Decadence. Avicus was the last to board, handing a tome that was atleast a few centuries old to the Captain. The Dichotomy of the Dark Side by Avicus DuSang.

"It's not my best work, but it makes for good introductions."

The ship took off, leaving Dosuun's atmosphere. The planet becoming nearly indistinguishable from the stars along the horizon as they traveled further out into the Dosuun System. At the edge of the system resided a cloud of frozen debris. The Decadence flew up to an asteroid that had a large compound built into it. One of the smaller hangar bay doors opened upon the Decadence's approach.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Station X."

The yacht landed, and the group left the ship to be welcomed by a small group of stormtroopers and First Order Engineers. "This is our Chief Engineer on the Concordia, Doctor Aziel Ramnos." The middle-aged man approached the group, shaking hands with everyone. "Moff Fortan. Captain von Brinkerhoff. Lieutenant Fortan. It's an honor to meet you all, really. Welcome to Station X." His enthusiasm was beaming, nearly sickening.

"Doctor, Moff Fortan is here to see her ship."

"Oh yes. Of course. Right this way, please." The Chief Engineer lead them out of the hangar bay and through a series of corridors. The dark panels of the corridors began to light up as it was revealed they were windows. Lights began falling on the silhouette of a Star Destroyer. As it became illuminated, the red striped vessel was in display for all. The Concordia was a sight to behold.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Natasi allowed [member="Viktor DuSang"] to help her into her coat and smiled her thanks over her shoulder. "While we go to the visit, Viktor, would you mind telling me how your security improvements suggestions were integrated into the ship's design? I don't expect enemies to be able to board her, but I do wonder if... you never know. Someone could stow aboard. Some Stormtrooper assigned to me could ... snap." She shivered, pulling her coat tighter around her slight frame, her gaze avoiding DuSang's for a moment as she pretended to fiddle with her cuffs. Weeks at the hands of a vicious tormentor on Hoth, an attempted kidnapping on Lanteeb, and another from her own apartment had made her wary, almost to the point of paranoia. She had plentiful enemies, it seemed, and with things unsettled between herself and -- she refused to finish the thought, but to ignore stormtroopers or pilots as a possible assailants was foolish to the point of stupidity.

She listened to Viktor's response as they journeyed on. When they arrived to the Station X, Natasi was all-business again, except for a distinctly distracted look in her dark eyes.

Natasi greeted Dr. Ramnos alongside [member="Roderik von Brinkerhoff"] and [member="Pierce Fortan III"], then followed him to the display chamber. She felt her pulse begin to race as the contours of the Concordia were illuminated, then the details: weapons emplacements, command towers, hangar bays, viewports, the red stripes denoting that she was first and foremost a consular vessel, concerned with peace rather than war. "Dr. Ramnos -- can we go aboard?"

 

[Viktor DuSang]

Her thoughts traveled to past incursions. He placed a hand atop [member="Natasi Fortan"]'s as he gave her a reassuring smile. "My Lady, I am here to ensure nothing like that ever happens again." He escorted her onto the Decadence, sitting beside her as he pulled out his datapad. "Unfortunately, there's nothing that can be done to keep her 100% free from being boarded.

"However, she'll be situated in the center of the fleet, so any enemies we encounter will have a lot to go through in order to just get to the ship. Those that get close will have over 3,000 cannons to deal with. And if there is an incident leading to enemy forces aboard her, I know a Sith Lord who takes that sort of thing very personally..." Yellow eyes drifted to his father before returning to the Moff. "And if they're somehow able to get through the various lines of defense and my father, your suite doubles as a titanium-lined panic room with it's own sustained atmosphere and three months worth of rations."

Her safety was his priority, afterall. He took a heavy interest in the design of Concordia. As the ship landed within the hidden base, Viktor lead the Moff off of the ship. Yellow eyes rested on her, her racing heartbeat bringing a smile to his lips. "Of course." the Chief Engineer said. "This way, please." Leading the team down another corridor, he reached a large crimson door. He stood in front of it, typing in a keycode as the doors opened up.

"Moff Fortan, gentlemen, welcome to the Condordia."

 

[Roderik von Brinkerhoff]

Roderik spent most of the shuttle ride in brief bouts of conversation with [member="Pierce Fortan III"], punctuated by hurried skimming of the book [member="Avicus DuSang"] had supplied him regarding battle meditation and its applications. It had more, to which Roderik was sure to read as well, but his mind was focused on first discerning the practicality of the technique. The demonstration would do a better, more immediate job of reassuring the excited squadron leader.

Upon their arrival the captain remained quiet, only speaking to render his pleasantries as appropriate. Such as greeting the chief engineer, Doctor Aziel Ramnos.

As they were lead further by [member="Viktor DuSang"], to the Concordia itself, Roderik could not help but grow in his excited anticipation. The Concordia was to be his home-among-the-stars, as well, and the relationship between a starfighter pilot and his carrier-ship was almost as special as the relationship between fighter pilot and his own TIE.

[member="Natasi Fortan"]

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Natasi held her breath as the door opened, then broke into a smile as she stepped forward. She could still smell deck polish, fresh paint -- the smell of woodworking and wood polish wafting from faraway. She followed the delegation, her head on a swivel all the way, dark eyes scanning this hallway and that bulkhead, taking in as much as she could. The Grand Moff in waiting turned her head towards [member="Roderik von Brinkerhoff"], lofting her eyebrows as if to say what do you think about all this? before turning her attention back towards the tour.

"I'd like to see the staterooms and diplomatic areas, please," said Natasi, glancing over towards [member="Avicus DuSang"]. "Admiral, perhaps you can take Captain von Brinkerhoff and Lieutenant Fortan to survey the TIE bay and other docking facilities? They'll need to get an idea for it so they can plan their readiness rosters. They and other key officers will likely be aboard the Concordia while the others are aboard a carrier." She paused and then jerked her head towards Avicus' son. "Viktor and the Doctor can show me around, if that's satisfactory?"

 

[Avicus DuSang]

Excitement buzzed in the air. He gave a gracious bow to [member="Natasi Fortan"]. "A splendid idea, madame." As Dr. Ranmos and [member="Viktor DuSang"] lead the Grand Moff to her suites, yellow eyes landed on [member="Roderik von Brinkerhoff"] and [member="Pierce Fortan III"]. "Gentlemen, shall we?" he said, clasping his hands behind his back as he lead the pair to the nearby lift.

Stepping off, olive fingers danced along the walls of the ship. True, it was the Grand Moff's ship. But the Dark God was Concordia's commanding officer. It was his ship as well. There were days he would fly out to the station just to stand on the bridge and soak it all in. She was a magnificent ship, testament to the Grand Moff's vision and his own ambitions.

The trio of officers stepped into the hangar, as Avicus motioned to the rows of TIEs. "We're very lucky to have you gentlemen among our ranks. Your achievements are the topic of many conversations among the senior officers."

 

[Roderik von Brinkerhoff]

Roderik stepped out of the turbolift and onto the durasteel deck, immediately finding that he could not help but smile broadly as he surveyed the hangar bay with Admiral [member="Avicus DuSang"] and Lieutenant [member="Pierce Fortan III"]. As it was known to happen; each man thought himself the master of his own little domain. While the overall ship fell under the purview of the Grand Moff [member="Natasi Fortan"], and the Admiral was the ships' designated commanding officer, here - in the hangar bays that would some day be housing the TIE/sf's of the 100th Fighter Squadron - he was king.

The starfighter captain looked out, imaging the rows of TIE's being attended by the veteran maintenance crews he employed, imagined the chaotic but strangely beautiful choreography of movement in every which direction. Every step taken with careful precision, routes of travel pre-planned as to not encroach a ferrying transport approach, or the launch or recovery of any number of fighters.

His daydream was interrupted by the voice of the Admiral, snapping him back into reality.

"I'm grateful for your confidence, Admiral. We both are," He paused to offer a nod in recognition to [member="Pierce Fortan III"]. The two did make an excellent combination, both as wingmen, and as commanding and executive officers of the 100th. The squadron they ran was a perfect mixture of earnest professionalism (from Roderik, naturally), and rebellious raw talent and cockpit discipline (from Pierce, the rascal.)

"With these kind of lodgings, I can only imagine where our stars ascend from here, eh, Lieutenant?"

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Lieutenant Fortan touched his cap. "Hard to go up from here, unless it were to serve on the Supreme Leader's flagship. But as he hasn't yet got one, I don't see the point in hoping for it." He smiled tightly at [member="Roderik von Brinkerhoff"]. The ambition in his commanding officer was apparent, which could be either very bad or very good for Pierce, depending on whose toes that ambition trod upon. But that was a concern for another night, if at all. Pierce couldn't see Roderik getting off side.

He turned his attention back to [member="Avicus DuSang"].

"The docking facilities look up to snuff, Admiral -- not that I'd expect anything less. Is there a way I could take a peek at the -- Sith -- thingie?" He flushed a little. "The, ah... meditation -- doodad." He pulled his cap off and raked his fingers through his hair anxiously, giving DuSang an apologetic smile. "Sorry, what was it again?"

 

[Avicus DuSang]

[member="Roderik von Brinkerhoff"] and [member="Pierce Fortan III"] seemed genuinely pleased with the ship. They would do proud by the Grand Moff and, by extention, the First Order. Avicus could only chuckle. "Gentlemen, let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet. There are still many glorious tours of duty to be fulfilled upon Concordia first."

The Admiral's teeth began to grit as he listened to Pierce. "Meditation Sphere, Lieutenant. Please do not refer to the First Order's strategically significant asset as a doodad." Clasping his hands behind his back, he turned on his heels, walking out of the hangar. "This way, gentlemen."

Their steps echoed down the empty corridors as they approached a door with two armed Navy officers standing outside. They looked to the Admiral, giving him a firm salute. Avicus returned the gesture, pulling a chain that hung around his neck until he pulled a key out of his uniform. The two officers did the same, turning to the door. The three keys were inserted into three slots.

"On my mark. 3.. 2.. 1.. Mark." The keys were turned and the doors opened up into a large room filled with various wires and cables. At the center of the room, and a center of the wires and cables, levitated the Meditation Sphere. "I needn't stress how top secret this project is, gentlemen. As I said in the presentation, parts of the structure are missing, but it is fully functional."

Avicus turned to the pair of pilots, giving them a rather interesting grin. "But the real display isn't in how it looks, but what it can do. Why don't you two head back to the hangar and take a TIE out. We'll show Moff Fortan how valuable this asset can be to our cause."

 

[Roderik von Brinkerhoff]

Roderik shot a glance at [member="Pierce Fortan III"] that read 'its a meditation sphere, and it's going to be awesome'. The mere thought of it continued to send shocks of excitement throughout his body, but the idea that it might be too good to be true, was still ever-present in his mind, deep down.

It was this kernel of hesitancy that gave him pause when [member="Avicus DuSang"] suggested they take to the cockpit and see for themselves. He had not anticipated that the live demonstration would be using Pierce and himself as the subjects. But the thought and hesitancy was brushed aside in a greater wave of excitement. How else would he really know it worked, if not to see it for himself? To feel it for himself? That wasn't the sort of experience you wanted to have for the first time in actual combat, no matter the potential boon involved.

He looked again at Pierce, as if to gauge his reaction to the news of this revelation as well. He gave the Lieutenant a slight nod of his head, affirming his interest to at least try it out. He wouldn't order Pierce to use this Force enhancement if he was not comfortable himself with the idea.

"Tempting, Admiral. Count me in."

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Pierce, for his part, looked delighted at the prospect of becoming a guinea pig. He looked at [member="Roderik von Brinkerhoff"] and nodded his head twice, smiling broadly. "Jolly good," he said, all embarrassment about forgetting the name of the meditation sphere completely forgotten. He looked down at himself. "Not sure I'll be able to work the pedals with these shoes instead of my flight boots, but I know for sure these dinner jackets aren't going to be regulation. But I won't tell if you won't."

He went to one of the nearby TIE fighters, hurrying up the ladder with all the excitement of a child on Life Day morning. He settled into the seat -- sad, only a regular plastic TIE today, but still -- and began the pre-flight. When things were cooking, he strapped himself in and ran through some additional preparations. He took his cap off, tucked it between his seat and the bulkhead, and tucked his glasses into his breast pocket so they wouldn't go flying across the TIE when it went this way, that way, and the other.

"Ready to launch," said the young Lieutenant as soon as the pre-flight was completed.

[member="Avicus DuSang"]

 

[Avicus DuSang]

Getting on the comm, Avicus patched his way into [member="Natasi Fortan"]'s room. "Moff Fortan, we're about to demonstrate the capabilities of the Meditation Sphere. Tell my son to be less of a showoff, and to set up the holoprojector in the conference room." With that, he stepped into the Sphere. A few clicks of a few switches and the Sphere came to life. The lights throughout the entire ship flickered, if only for a moment. Cold, soft whispers being heard coming from the darkness.

The massive door to the space station opened up, allowing [member="Roderik von Brinkerhoff"] and [member="Pierce Fortan III"] to fly the TIE out into open space. "This will be a relatively easy exercise for you gentleman. The station is surrounded by asteroids." He pulled up the Galactic Map in the Sphere, zooming into the Dosuun System. Marking three asteroids, the marked locations popped up on Captain Brinkerhoff's HUD.

"A time trial for you to fly through these relays. You'll have three attempts to make the best time. That'll be our control. Then I'll use the Sphere to assist you. Three more runs and we'll compare the times. Simple enough, n'est-ce pas? Make us proud, gentlemen."

 

[Roderik von Brinkerhoff]

"I'm sure our secret is safe with the Admiral." Roderik afforded [member="Avicus DuSang"] a firm salute, along with a sly grin before turning to head with [member="Pierce Fortan III"] back in the direction of the hangar bay.

The two split at the nearest row of TIE Fighters, Pierce excitedly climbing into the cockpit of one while the captain spoke with the warrant officer on duty, explaining to the man that the two vessels were being 'requisitioned' temporarily. There was little fuss, with Roderik merely requiring to sign off a few forms on a datapad.

After that, Roderik was climbing into the cockpit of his own TIE Fighter. It was not as comfortable as his traditional TIE/sf starfighter, cramped and invoking an underlying sense of foreboding with the minimized life support systems. But even the basic First Order TIE Fighter maintained some advantages over other, previous incarnations - such as fielding deflector shields.

The captain conducted a similar startup procedure to Pierce, faithfully enduring the pre-flight inspection checklist that he had long, long ago fully committed to memory. One of the benefits of standardized service vessels, such as the twin ion engine starfighter he flew, was the ease in which familiarity was gained in any new or old variant of the craft.

"Understood, Admiral." The captain unconsciously leaned forward to speak into the cockpit's default backup comm-link housed near the base of the cockpit view port, before he flipped the comm-link to its designated Flight channel, ostensibly to privately communicate with Pierce from this point, while still receiving from the Admiral's channel.

"We're cleared for manual release. The watch commander is holding off all traffic until we're departed. I never liked the automated launches, anyways."

With that, he throttled forward a notch, and pulled back on his control yoke, causing the TIE Fighter to lift up from the deck, hovering momentarily before Roderik pushed forward on the throttle at a steady pace, forcing the fighter to accelerate forward in a controlled manner, as to not fully disregard safety protocols.

When the fighter had departed the confines of the hangar bay by some moderate distance, Roderik opened up the throttle completely.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Pierce clicked his communicator to the appropriate channel and said, the crisp salute apparent in his voice, "Understood, Admiral," before switching over to the channel to the TIE piloted by [member="Roderik von Brinkerhoff"]. "Affirmative, Captain," he said, in a mockingly stern version of Roderik's usual demeanor. The smirk was there, audible over the line. "Couldn't disagree more, though. Automated launch is usually when I mix my first cocktail. You don't expect me to drink my gin without tonic, do you? Like an animal, Roderik. An animal," he repeated firmly.

This was a joke. He didn't have any gin in his fighter. He didn't have any room for it, worst luck, more's the pity, etc.

"Hey Stash," he called over the line again, after an ingenious idea struck him. "Shall we make it interesting? Tenner on the winner? And no remarks about knowing what's in my pay packet and asking if I can afford it. I can always borrow from mummy." He smirked at the idea of his sainted -- and, he added after glancing at his watch and seeing what time it was back home, half in the bag -- mother wagering on a race through the asteroid fields.

Anyway, he maneuvered his TIE into position for the race. "How 'bout it, Cap?"

 

[Roderik von Brinkerhoff]

As if to demonstrate his willingness to participate in this little bet of his, Roderik brought his TIE Fighter into an wide angled loop, maneuvering both with yoke control, and jockeying his starfighter with throttle control into position just astern of the TIE Fighter flown by [member="Pierce Fortan III"], before once again hitting the throttle control all the way forward just long enough to zoom his ship alongside Pierce's - before matching the speed of his racing opponent as they flew into position to start.

"It's your money to lose, Smoke, old chap." He mimicked Pierce's voice as he said old chap.

Roderik was confident in his abilities as a pilot against most everybody, save for a select few. Certainly he was self-assured of his rating as superior in all qualities to the rabble that existed outside of the First Order. Among his brethren and compatriots in the First Order's Starfighter Corps, he thought himself within the top bracket. He was prideful, perhaps to a fault, of his prowess as not only a starfighter pilot but also a commander of other starfighter pilots. But it was not an unwarranted assumption, as Roderik had all but devoted himself to the profession - forsaking all else, including his personal life. Instead, he studied manuals and technical documents of any relevance to the field of starfighter combat, learned what they could impart to that field, and then moved on to creating a functional practice out of what he discovered.

In this regard, he was only truly fearful of being bested by a small handful of men and women -- those whom he had taken a personal interest in, by way of tutoring and mentoring on a deeper level than he did the average squadron-mate. The select few whom he believed had a brighter future in the Starfighter Corps than they themselves might have realized. People he saw with real talent to grow.

People like Pierce.

Roderik wasn't sure if he would win this bet, but he sure wasn't going to show it - instead, he rolled his TIE quickly to the left, and then quickly to the right. A little aerobatic showmanship to rattle Pierce.

[member="Avicus DuSang"]

 

[Viktor DuSang]

Yellow eyes shot to the intercom as the voice of [member="Avicus DuSang"] went through the Grand Moff's suite. Straightening up his suit, he tossed his nose in the air. His gaze moving to [member="Natasi Fortan"]. "This way, my Lady."

Stepping into the conference room, he shut the blinds, the lights flickering as the Meditation Sphere came to life. In the darkness, shadows whispered to him. His eyes darted around, but there was no one there except for himself, the Grand Moff, and the Chief Engineer. Pushing a few buttons from the head of the table, the holoprojector popping up the nearby asteroid field. Two red dots were illuminated, the fighters piloted by [member="Roderik von Brinkerhoff"] and [member="Pierce Fortan III"]. Three asteroids were lit up as well. A small clock appeared at the bottom of each man's fighters, the computer ready to track their time.

"We're ready when you are, gentlemen."

 

[Natasi Fortan]

"Lose," Pierce retorted with a chuckle. "Me? Lose!" It was as if defeat had never entered into his imagination. One of these days, he was going to outfly [member="Roderik von Brinkerhoff"], at which point he would have snatched the pebble out of the master's hand or whatever ridiculous thing and then -- ohh, then -- he would never let von Brinkerhoff hear the end of it. And it had to happen at some point, so why not today? Why not now? "Keep flapping in that space breeze, Stash," he called over the line, keeping his fighter completely straight. "By the way, this is also a metaphor for my love life. While others flap about uselessly, Pierce Fortan remains ... upright and ready for action at all times."

They lined up at the starting line and then -- they were off!

Pierce slammed the thrust and rocketed off, pressing himself into the crash cushion of his seat. The asteroid course was designed to be difficult; not only were the rocks constantly moving, they were occasionally changing direction at rapid pace, requiring the Lieutenant to be on his toes. He threw the ship into a spiral dive around an asteroid, then yanked back on the yoke, flying directly through the first waypoint, ahead of Roderik. "Get that credit chit ready for me, boyo!" he shouted over the line as he throttled the ship towards the next beacon.

 

[Roderik von Brinkerhoff]

The TIE Fighter piloted by Roderik kept in steady pace with the TIE flown by [member="Pierce Fortan III"], mirroring the same trajectory towards the first beacon. For the duration of the straight-away Roderik would attempt no maneuvering, but rather would stay in close proximity with his lag pursuit flight path. Any maneuvering would dampen his over-all engine power output, causing his craft to slow significantly compared to that of his racing opponent.

When the time came to curve past the first asteroid Roderik adopted the same strategy of initiating a spiral dive, but did so with a tighter turn radius - causing his inertial compensator to work overtime to prevent dangerous levels of gravitational acceleration from occurring. Roderik was without the added benefit of a distinctive Imperial flight suit - which doubled as a g-suit, limiting the pooling of blood in the extremities in the case of high G-Force maneuvering. Roderik was able to physiologically handle the stress on his body because of his rigorous exercise and dietary planning.

The result was Roderik's craft temporarily overtaking Pierce's only moments after the excited chatter on the comm net.

"Don't speak too soon!" Roderik chimed back, his voice coming across equally as excited as their two starfighters jockeyed for position coming through the second asteroid beacon at a relative tie.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

"You're cheating!" Pierce called with a joyful chuckle, but of course [member="Roderik von Brinkerhoff"] wasn't cheating. He was too gentlemanly to do that. He accelerated, past a speed he considered safe for the conditions, in order to catch up with Roderik's TIE, but by the time they reached the second beacon, he had very nearly lost control of the TIE twice, so he throttled back a little, content to remain neck-and-neck with his commanding officer through the second beacon and beyond. The race continued, as they looped back through the asteroids another pair of times, with Captain von Brinkerhoff squeaking out a win.

"You squeaked it," Pierce shouted over the com channel. "No -- listen -- I know there's no sound in space but I heard the squeak. Distinctly," said Pierce firmly.

He opened the channel back to [member="Avicus DuSang"] aboard the Concordia. "Ready for the meld, Admiral. Before we proceed, is there anything we should know?"