Chapter 4: Harmon's past
The children sat around a hologram projector within the grand admiral’s personal quarters. Harmon stood by and began to push buttons on the control panel. “My mother was a high ranking officer of the old Galactic Empire. Her name was Rae Sloane. She was present at the Battle of Endor, serving as Vice Admiral.”
Within moments of button pushing and explaining, the hologram projector turned on. Briefly, the hologram went static, before taking the form of a rectangular shaped screen of a recording. A dark skinned, muscular woman with brown eyes, black hair, and wearing an imperial officer uniform was shown on the command bridge of a star destroyer. A space battle was erupting outside in space. Laser bolts fired from different directions from rebel and imperial ships, fighters from both factions engaged each other in dogfights, and explosions from ships and fighters. Despite all the activity, the woman officer watched the space battle with a neutral expression.
“Ma’am!” The voice from a bridge crew member got her attention, as she turned to face him. “We lost contact with the garrison on Endor!”
“Hail them on priority channels.” She ordered swiftly.
The bridge crew member pushed some buttons on his control station. A hologram of an imperial officer appeared before the Vice Admiral, holding a comlink in one hand, and blaster in the other.
“This is squad 18, we are under attack by the locals!” The officer reported in distress, through the sounds of blaster fire, and the battle cries of Ewoks. He took cover and fired some shots in the process. “The base's shield generators had taken significant damage but were still holding up!”
Rae turned to the bridge crew members on communications. “Monitor everything on this channel.”
“Yes, vice admiral!” A crew member said.
A loud explosion erupted from outside in the vacuum of space that got the Vice Admiral’s attention. She looks to the direction of the explosion. Out in space, Rae saw a close by star destroyer explode after getting hit by enemy fire from rebel ships.
Within a span of minutes, other Imperial fleet ships gradually suffered more and more casualties before her eyes. Rebel fighters and battle cruisers began to somehow take out more of the imperial fleet than expected. It was at that moment; Rae gave out new orders. “Prepare for a mop-up operation.”
However, just at that moment, another report came in from a crew member on communications. “Vice Admiral! The shield base on the forest moon has been destroyed!”
“Then the Death Star is vulnerable.” Rae said. A slight hint of concern came to her, as she realized that the battle was beginning to turn in the favor of the rebels. She thought for a moment, before speaking up. “We must change our tactics.”
The command Rae had said took the crew on the bridge by surprise. They all began to look at each other questionably, as they knew that this was against the orders of their emperor.
“No!” The objection of an officer caught the attention of the bridge crew. “We must maintain our current orders!”
Rae just ignored the objecting officer, as she contacted the imperial fighters on radio. “All fighters, retreat and do not pursuit the rebel fighters into the Death Star.”
“I will bring you before court-martial!”
The officer’s threat failed to even faze the vice admiral, as she gave further commands. “Bring us into a flanking position next to the Executor, we must protect the flagship. And open an audio link to the command bridge.”
“Yes, ma’am!” One of the other officers said.
Following their vice admiral’s orders, the crew maneuvered the Vigilance towards above the fleet’s flagship. From their position, they opened fire on everything that attempted to go near the Executor. A sudden explosion from the Executor’s command bridge caught Rae’s attention, only to see one of the shield generator domes destroyed by rebel fighters. The voices of the Executor’s crew could be heard through the audio link not even a few seconds after that.
“Sir! We've lost our bridge deflector shield!” A star destroyer crew member said through the audio link.
“Intensify the forward batteries, I don't want anything to get through.”
The children, excluding Keen Eye and Lily Pad, knew that voice belonged to the Fleet Admiral of the Imperial Navy, Admiral Firmus Piett. As they had watched Return of the Jedi, they knew exactly what was going to happen at that moment. The twins watched on at all the battle that was happening on the recording. It was unlike anything they had ever seen before.
They then noticed a very small object, that looked like a small speck, come up from the Executor's superstructure. Scootaloo and Co knew that it was an A-Wing Starfighter of the Rebel Alliance careening towards the Super Star Destroyers’ command bridge.
Admiral Piett could be heard through the audio link yelling, “Intensify forward firepower!”
“Too late!” Piett's subordinate yelled.
The audio link to the Executor went static right when the rebel A-wing collided into the Executor's bridge, despite Rae’s best efforts to protect it. The vice admiral and crew could do nothing but watch, as the Super Star Destroyer’s command bridge turned into a fiery wreck. Without its command structure, the Executor lost its primary power and began to list to port, plunging into the Death Star's gravity well. The star dreadnought soon collided with the battle station surface, and exploded upon impact, reducing the once mighty dreadnought into a massive fireball.
“Damn!” Sloane hissed, with a hint of frustration in her voice. She then turned to the crew at communication. “Contact the Emperor!”
“Ma’am, we lost contact with the Emperor.” A fellow officer reported.
The vice admiral stayed silent for a moment, thinking of what to do. With the Executor lost, and the emperor dead, this had turned into an impossible situation. Rae also figured that it would just be a matter of time before the Rebels will possibly destroy the new Death Star. With this realization, she sighed, as she knew there was no other option. “Then this battle is lost. Prepare to make a retreat!”
“No! This battle won’t be lost, we will not give up!” The officer further protesting caused a frustrated groan from Rae. “Disobeying the emperor’s orders is an act of treason! You will fa-”
The Imperial officer was suddenly cut-off when the sound of a blaster going off, and a red colored blaster bolt hitting him square in the chest. His body fell backwards onto the floor of the command bridge with a thud. The crew members that saw what happened glanced at the officer’s now lifeless corpse on the floor, and then at the vice admiral, who was holding an officer’s blaster pistol.
From what the children had witnessed on the recording, Rae Sloane had reached into the front of her uniform, pulled out a blaster pistol, and, without so much as looking to aim, effortlessly shot the protesting officer, killing him. All doing so with a calm expression on her face.
Rae then put her blaster away inside her uniform. “Open a channel with all Imperial frequencies.”
The crew did as she commanded and began to push multiple buttons on their consoles. All while security personal ran up, picked up the dead officer’s corpse, and took it away to be disposed of. After a few moments of button pushing, the task of opening a channel was complete for the Vice Admiral to communicate with all the remaining ships.
“Attention! This is Vice Admiral Sloane in forward command to all surviving forces. Recall your fighters and form up around the Vigilance. Retreat to the Annaj system.”
Within moments, the remaining ships of the Imperial fleet that were still operational did as Rae commanded. Their fighter squadrons withdrew, and soon were making formation around the Vigilance. Then, moments later, the Death Star suddenly exploded into a massive fireball in space. The blast wavering from the mighty battle station flew through the vacuum of space, barely missing the remaining ships of the Imperial fleet, causing them to shake violently.
After the star destroyer stabilized itself, Rae looked at the crew in the command bridge to notice the crew having looks of disbelief, distraught, and doubt. The loss of their new battle station, and the death of their emperor was a heavy blow to the Empire’s morale. Rae also sensed that the crew and personal of the remaining ships were feeling the same. She spoke out, putting on an assuring tone to maintain morale, all while the communication link with the fleet was still open.
“We did lose the battle. As for the war, we'll lose that as well if what's left of the Empire fights as if none of this has happened. If we imagine the Emperor can simply be replaced, or the threat of a fleet action alone will bring rebellious planets to heel. So our responsibility is to prevent that from happening.” Rae Sloane turned to the crew. “Prepare to jump to hyperspace.”
“But Admiral, there are still friendly troops on the forest moon.” One bridge crew member said.
“Then we will not leave anyone behind. Get me a SITREP on the holotank. And prepare transport shuttles.” Rae then spoke on the communicator to the remaining fleet. “All other ships, retreat to hyperspace to the Annaj system!”
Scootaloo and Co watched as all ships, except for the Vigilance, jump to lightspeed. They were fascinated how calm and professional Rae Sloane was acting in a tense situation, showing she truly had earned her high rank. Keen Eye and Lily Pad watched, trying their best to understand.
Rae Sloane soon made her way into the command room of the bridge where the holotank was located. The holotank came to life, and showed a small outpost with an AT-AT, guarded by stormtroopers, scout troopers and officers. Rebel forces, with many of the forest moon natives, were moving in.
“This is Vice Admiral Sloane in forward command. Do you read me?”
A moment later, an officer appeared on the holotank. The same officer from before, taking cover behind some supply creates. “This is Lieutenant Yadri!”
“Report status, Lieutenant.” Rae said.
“The Rebels and natives have taken out the shield generator base! We have retreated to the west supply post!” Lieutenant Yadri quickly sat up, and fired a few shots with his blaster, before taking cover again. “Our forces are barely holding!”
Rae briefly observed the units’ surroundings on the holotank, noticing the AT-AT stationed at the outpost, and calculating what to do. “Hold them off. Transport shuttles with reinforcements are en route to you. I expect they’re attempting to steal the walker. They have to override three control systems to take the walker. Defend those positions for as long as you can! We need every second.”
“Yes, Vice Admiral.” Lieutenant Yadri said.
Throughout many minutes, the battle raged forward on the holotank. The garrison held their enemy back as best they could. The rebel forces soon were making their way to the control systems to try and hijack the AT-AT, as Rae had predicted. The garrison stood their ground and kept fighting, knowing the great danger if the AT-AT fell into the rebel’s hands. It was impressive to see for the children that the imperial troops bravely held their ground, despite being outnumbered.
Soon enough, the transport ships arrived with reinforcements, and landed on the Endor outpost, just in time. Another battalion of Stormtroopers, along with some elite black armored Stormtroopers, ran out of the transport to give aid to the surviving forces. With the reinforcements, the morale of the survivors was reignited, as they fought back. Eventually, after several minutes, the rebel forces began to fullback hastily into the forest.
Lieutenant Yadri spoke into the comlink. “This is Lieutenant Yadri! The Rebels and natives are retreating!”
Rae Sloane, who had been watching the battle on the holotank, spoke out. “Excellent. The rebels overreached! But their force will return to fight revenge. Use this time to evacuate.”
With that said, the surviving Imperial forces soon evacuated the outpost on board the shuttles on the vice admiral’s orders. As the transport shuttles took off, one of the pilots of the shuttles spoke on the radio.
“This is Shuttle Bulwark to Vigilance,” The pilot said. “All personal have been retrieved. We, and Shuttle Disciple, are on route to you now.”
Rae, who had been observing everything happening on the holotank, responded. “Excellent. Proceed to the randevu point.”
“Vice Admiral!” Rae turned her attention to the officer who called to her. His tone was of alert. “Enemy ships are approaching our position!”
Rae quickly pushed multiple buttons on the holotank to set the visual of the orbit of the forest moon of Endor. A hologram showed the Vigilance and four ships, one as large as the star destroyer with three much smaller ships alongside, moving towards it. Scootloo and Co could make out from their shapes that those ships were Rebel ships made up of a Mon Calamari (MC80-b class) Cruiser, along with three Corellian (CR90 class) corvettes. The hologram also showed a large field of debris, what was left of the second Death Star. Observing her surroundings, Rae Sloane calculated her strategy of counterattack, as they needed to buy some time for the shuttles to arrive safely.
“Launch all fighters. And position us in the path of the debris. It will shield much of the enemy’s fire.”
“Yes, ma’am!” The officer said.
The officer rushed to the bridge crew to pass on the vice admirals’ orders. At her orders, they moved the Vigilance into position in front of the debris field to help protect the star destroyer from the MC80’s fire. A tactic she figured, knowing the Rebel capital ships’ tricky tactics, along with the knowledge of rebel forces using asteroid fields to their advantage on occasions.
“Clear us a path to that Mon Calamari Cruiser, we will make those rebels pay!” Sloane explained over the communications, determined to make a fighting retreat as TIE-fighters, bombers and interceptors swarmed out of the hanger bay of the star destroyer. On the holotank, she noticed that the three CR90 corvettes, and a bunch of rebel fighters beginning to charge and mauver within the debris field. “We must destroy the blockade runners first, then we can press on our attack. Bombers, disable them by targeting their main reactors near the primary sensor array, then we can destroy them and open the way.”
The pilots acknowledged Rae’s orders, and began to advance their attack against the corvettes. Much of the fighters and interceptors kept the enemy fighters busy, while the rest, along with the bombers, engaged the corvettes. Forming up into three groups. The bombers began to make their attack run towards the corvettes, with the fighters leading the charge. All this happened while the radio communication was heard.
“Bombers! Form-up!”
“For the Empire!”
“Locking on target!”
“Target locked on!”
“Engage!”
The tie-fighters began to fire at the corvettes with volleys of blaster fire. The corvettes fired back to protect their selves, shooting down a few fighters in the process, but could do little against the swarm. With the corvette’s shields weakened from the attacking fighters, the tie-bombers launched their torpedoes at the weak points located between the primary sensor array and main engines, exploding on impact, causing damage to their hulls. Within moments, each corvette began to show signs of them losing power, as the engines began to fade. The fighters and bombers began to attack the crippled blockade runners, as it was their opportunity to attack and destroy them. The children watched as the rebel corvettes got destroyed, unable to withstand the swarm of fire any longer. Each one exploding, and breaking to pieces in the vacuum of space.
“Blockade runners eliminated. The area is clear. It’s time to press our advantage.” Sloane grinned with confidence as the Star Destroyer moved closer to the Rebel cruiser. Now that the battle was turning in her favor. Not wanting to be too confident, her smile faded, and maintain her composure and focus, as they were not yet out of danger, and that the shuttles had yet to arrive safely. She made an analysis of the rebel cruiser, before she called the pilots again. “All ships, target the sensors, then we can do some real damage.”
Sloane then turned to the crew. “Open fire on the rebel cruiser!”
The crew targeted the turbo lasers and iron cannons on the rebel cruiser, and began to fire barrages upon it as commanded. The rebel cruiser began firing back at the Vigilance, with some of the enemy barrage being shielded by the debris in space as the vice admiral had predicted it would. At that same time, the bombers, protected by the other TIEs, made their way to attack the cruisers’ sensors. Rebel fighters formed up and began to dog fight with the TIE fighters. Both sides were suffering losses. The TIE bombers managed to reach the rebel cruiser and began to bombard the areas of where the sensors were located. With the shields weakened by the Vigilance’s barrage, much of the bombs and torpedos bypassed through, and exploded on impact on the cruiser’s hull. The fighters and bombers continued their assault, dismantling the enemy ship piece by piece from the upper and bottom hull.
Sloane checked the recent analysis of the enemy cruiser, before contacting the fighters once more. “It’s defenses are weakened. Target the rear engines.”
The pilot of one of the shuttles came online again at that moment. “Shuttle Bulwark to Vigilance. We are starting our final approach to your position.”
“Ma’am!” Sloane turned her attention to a crew member on the radar station. “Enemy reinforcements are approaching our position! They’ll be here any minute!”
“Then we don’t have much time.” Sloane said. “All weapons, target the rebel cruiser! Maximum firepower!”
The crew fired another barrage of turbo lasers and iron cannons, more powerful than the previous. Both capital ships fired on each other, with the Mon Calamari rebel cruiser taking more and more damage. The TIE bombers began their assault on the rebel cruiser’s rear engines, firing their torpedoes on the closest engine. Knowing that if just one engine was damaged enough could cause the enemy to shut down the engines from an overload, making the cruiser defenseless. The torpedoes made impact on the closest engine, exploding, and causing great damage, as the engine was reduced to fire and smoke.
As predicted, the engines of the enemy cruiser began to flicker from the damage it sustained, until they shut down. Indicating that the damage to that engine caused them to lose power to their engines.
“There reactor is compromised. Keep firing!” Sloane got on the radio to the shuttles. “Shuttle’s Bulwark and Disciple, you are clear to land in the main hanger.”
“We’re starting our approach.” A shuttle pilot said.
The shuttles safely made their way towards the Vigilance, all while the star destroyer continued its barrage on the now defenseless rebel cruiser. It soon became too much, and the cruiser then went down in a big explosion.
“Enemy ship destroyed. All fighters recall back!” Sloane turned her attention to the bridge crew. “Move the ship out of the debris field, and prepare to retreat to light speed.”
The Vigilance began to turn around, and carefully maneuver its way throughout the debris field. Rebel reinforcements began to make their way towards them, just as both shuttles landed in the main hanger.
“Shuttles have landed.” A crew member said.
Another crew member spoke out. “Our coordinates are set. We are now clear to jump to hyperspace.”
“They may win a few battles, but the war is far from over.” Rae Sloane said, triumphant at her victory.
Rae Sloane stood facing the window of the command bridge. The sound of something powering up was heard, right as stars in the vacuum of space began to turn into lines, as if they were moving past them with great speed. Then in a second, there was a “boom” sound, and the speeding stars outside turning into a blue swirling vortex. After that, the recording fizzled out, indicating that it had ended.
Silence filled the air. The children sat there processing all they had watched on the recording. The twins, Keen Eye and Lily Pad, were in thought, more so than the others. They were piecing together all they saw. Both were unsure of which side was good or evil, and what they were fighting for. Scootaloo, Dinky, and Ray noticed the unsurety of the twins’, as, given the fact that they were from an alternate Equestria, they knew that the twins knew nothing about the Star Wars franchise. They knew that it also meant that Keen Eye and Lily Pad were unaware that the Galactic Empire and the First Order were actually classed as the bad guy factions.
“Wow.” Pipsqueak spoke out, breaking the seemingly long silence. “Even in a grim situation, she knew what to do. You can be proud of her.”
“Of course I am.” Harmon smiled.
“What happened to her?” Dinky asked.
The grand admiral began to scratch his head with an awkward expression before answering. “It’s…complicated. You see, after Endor, the Empire was thrown into chaos, as nobody knew who was supposed to succeed as ruler. As such imperials fought each other or became warlords. Literally two grand admirals killed each other over who should control the Corellian system. My mother, however, came in contact with Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax. He had a large force under his command and control. Thus she became the public face of the Empire that was under Rax’s control.”
There was paused for a moment. Harmon then began pushing some more buttons on the control panel of the hologram projector, searching through archive files as he continued to explain. “But eventually, the New Republic managed to corner his forces on the world of Jakku. Gallius Rax fought the Republic forces with all his might and valor, but he was soon overwhelmed, and was ultimately killed. My mother never quite told me how, but she said it was his dying wish that she would take what was left and rebuild it into the first Order.”
“This file contains his speech he recorded prior to the battle of Jakku before his death.” Pushing a few more buttons, he opened an audio file on the hologram projector. The children listened as the voice of Gallius Rax spoke in the recording.
“Loyal soldiers of the Galactic Empire, madness is at our door. Ruffians and barbarians of the Rebel Alliance have claimed for themselves a government of no legitimacy, a government given over to corrosion, chaos, and the corruption born of alien minds and radical terroristic teachings. It was our own Emperor Palpatine who showed us the weakness that presents itself when a Republic becomes sick with the disease of craven politics and the illness of elite oligarchs who force their agendas upon us.”
“With the death of our beloved Emperor, our own Empire was cast into disorder. It gave strength to the illegitimate, and emboldened them with a fraudulent claim of bringing peace and justice to the galaxy—and yet, for so long, who have been the champions of peace? The only war visited upon the galaxy has been the one brought by the criminal Rebel Alliance.”
“Scattered and lost, we could have perished. After attacking Chandrila and injuring the fraudulent politicians who seek to steal the sanctity of our galaxy, I brought us here to Jakku, unifying our people and our powers in this faraway world—a hard world that has tested our mettle and forged us and sharpened us into a stronger blade. A blade with which we will slit the throats of the traitors that crawl on their bellies toward our door. Soon they come! Soon they try to finish what they started. They want to end the Empire. They want to set up as a tumor on a healthy body, leeching the blood while growing fatter like a parasite. They deny our legitimacy. They lie about the stability and sanity we created for the galaxy. For those are their truest weapons: deception and delusion. We must not give in. We must not believe that they are right. We must see them as they are:”
“Brutes and barbarians! They are subhuman. They are alien to us in the truest sense of the word and are deserving of no mercy from us. This is our zero hour, and I call you now to do your duty by the light of the glorious Galactic Empire. The battle to come is not a fight for Jakku or even a fight for the Empire. It is a fight for all the galaxy. If we fail here, we fail everywhere. We fail our loved ones. We fail our children. We fail all who crave constancy and light in these dark times.”
“We pursue no other aim than freedom from oppression, liberty from lies, emancipation from depravity.”
“Today is the day we fight back and reclaim our galaxy.”
“Today is the day the New Republic dies at the Empire's hand.”
“Today we take our future!”
“The battle is upon us. Go! Go and drag them down to the ground and break their necks with your boots! Take their heads! End their tyranny!”
The recorded speech ended, and Scootaloo spoke out. “Wow! That is a very well made speech.”
“Yes. But this wasn’t the end of the war.” Harmon Sloane pointed the children’s attention to the art on the wall. “The art on the wall. I have those for a certain reason.”
Lily Pad tilted her head curiously. “And that is?”.
The Grand Admiral grinned at the little filly’s curiosity. “A Grand Admiral once said: To defeat an enemy, you must know them. Not simply their battle tactics, but their history. Philosophy. Art.”
Ray ponded briefly, as he had heard that saying before. He suddenly blinked with surprise at realizing where and who had said that. “Wait! That saying. That was Grand Admiral Thrawn! Captain Ian worked with him a few times. And my father told me also of him.”
“That, and the fact we saw him from watching that Rebels series brought to us.” Scootaloo thought to herself, silently glad that Ray did not mention that.
“That’s right.” Harmon said. His voice had a slight hint of pity. “He was one of the best leaders the Empire ever had. Shortly before Endor, he was sent into the Unknown Regions to build up the Empire here. Four years later after that, Thrawn came back and managed to unify the remaining Imperial forces under his command. He almost managed to defeat the New Republic, hadn’t it been for his bodyguard, who killed him.”
“What happened after that?” Scootaloo asked.
Harmon continued to explain, with a puzzled sound to his voice. “Well, I never managed to get accurate reports, but it was said the Emperor had somehow returned after Thrawn’s death. Whoever that really was, it also wreaked havoc on the New Republic before being defeated and the Empire scrambled again without a leader.” He then weakly smiled. “But then, Thrawn’s former right hand, Gilad Pellaeon managed to gain control of a section of the Empire and moved to the outer rim. He had the right sense to understand there was no winning of war, so he came to peace with the Republic, ensuring the Empire would survive. He ended a bloody war that lasted over twenty-one years.”
“Wow…” The six children were speechless.
Harmon sighed, and spoke with an uneased tone. “But peace didn’t last long.”
“What do you mean?” Keen Eye asked. “What happened?”
“A few years after the Pellaeon-Gavrisom treaty, the galaxy got attacked once again. By the Yuuzhan Vong.”
Scootaloo tilted her head. “The Yuu-what-now?”
“The Yuuzhan Vong, or simply “The Vong” for short.” Harmon said. “They were a dangerous, nomadic extra-galactic sentient species of far outlanders that came from another galaxy. From what we found out, they used advanced biotechnology in every field of life, and were masters of adaptation and subterfuge. With brute force and terror tactics, the Vong invaded the galaxy from the galactic north. The ill-prepared and inefficient New Republic government could only repel them with the help of Pellaeon. Ironic, as high command saw both Thrawn and Pellaeon as valuable additions once the time would come. And with the galaxy still trying to recover from the outlanders, it might be soon.”
None of the children could imagine what Harmon meant by the last thing he said. The uneased sound in his voice made it all the more questionable. They continued to listen, as Harmon continued to explain.
“The war against the Vong was won after four years, but it came at a great price. So many lives were lost in defeating them. Even the revived Jedi order was brought to the brink of being wiped out completely. The Vong invasion resulted in countless species in the galaxy being rendered extinct and entire planets deemed uninhabitable. Stripped of any traces of life they once had.”
Dinky’s eyes went small at the grand admirals’ explanation of the Vong. “Oh dear… That’s terrible.”
Harmon glanced at Dinky. “To class it as terrible is an understatement. What the Yuuzhan Vong did to races they conquered were unspeakable.”
“And what about the First Order?” Dinky asked.
“We were spared throughout all those conflicts. It was the orders of the Supreme Leader to focus on building up our forces, so we just watched on.” Harmon let out a somber sigh. “If we did get involved, many planets and people would’ve possibly been saved.”
The children noticed the look of regret upon the Grand Admirals’ face. Keen Eye and Lily Pad were confused as to why the First Order’s Supreme Leader would order not to get involved. Scootaloo and Co, meanwhile, understood the real reason, as they had seen the Star Wars movies. They knew the real reason was so that the Republic was weakened greatly enough for the Order to make their presence known, and to try and take over the galaxy. Scootaloo, Dinky, and Ray noticed that Keen Eye and Lily Pad were thinking of questioning this, making the three of them a little tense, for they knew that the twins were unaware of many things. Such as the fact that the First Order were originally the bad guys.
“Um... Harmon.” Pipsqueak spoke up after a moment of silence. “Sorry for changing the subject, but you showed us who your mother is, but you didn’t say about your father.”
Ray blinked in this realization. “Yeah. Who is your father?”
Scootaloo and Dinky relaxed themselves at the subject being changed, silently relieved that the twins did not get the chance to question the grand admiral. In addition, it also was one good question about Harmon that aroused their curiosity.
Harmon lowered his head. “Well…Believe it or not… it’s Soontir Fel.”
“What?!” Ray exclaimed in shock, “Soontir Fel? As in 'one of the best imperial pilots' Soontir Fel? But he’s married!”
Harmon let out a chuckle that was a mix of nervousness and embarrassment. “Indeed. He and my mother never told me how it happened, but he still loved me like his own son. As far as they told me, my father was traveling as his transport had an engine failure and got stranded, with my mother saving him.”
“I…see…” Ray mumbled, trying to make sense of what Harmon was explaining.
The grand admiral then let out a sigh. “Not that this matters anymore.”
“Why?” Ray asked.
Harmon slightly trembled. “A few years ago, my parents were traveling to a planet of the First Order, but never arrived. We managed to locate what remained of their shuttle on a remote planet close by, but their bodies were never found. From what we figured, their shuttle crash landed. Whether it was engine failure or they were shot down, taken prisoner or killed, we do not know. Despite no proof of their deaths, both my parents were claimed as dead on record. But something gives me this feeling that they are not dead. So I hope every day they’re still alive and out there somewhere.”
Slowly, the children tried to process this information. Keen Eye and Lily Pad felt sorry for the loss of Harmon’s parents. Scootaloo and Co thought about it, and knew it was indeed a mystery of what happened to Harmon’s parents. Although they had a silent suspicion of what might have happened, but, not to jump to conclusions, decided to keep it to themselves, at least for the time being.
Dinky then smiled weakly. “That’s a good attitude. Hope dies last.”
Harmon replied with a weak smile of his own. “Indeed. My mother founded the First Order as a purer version of the Empire. She realized that the Empire had been wrong to rule by terror, and disagreed with the idea of enslaving alien species. She knew that it was one of the major things that turned people against the Empire. But, unfortunately, the First Order continues the ethnocentric xenophobic ways that had existed within the Empire, which had viewed aliens as slave labor.”
Harmon noticed his words caused the foals to tremble with fear, with their irises and pupils shrinking. Seeing that he made them frightened, he held up a hand with an honest smile. “Don’t worry. I already made sure that none of you will not be harmed by my fellow soldiers and crew. Besides, if I had meant harm, I wouldn’t have ordered my troops to stand down and offer you shelter.”
Slowly, the foals understood the grand admiral’s point, and nodded, realizing he was right. Scootaloo and Co knew that he could have ordered for them to either be taken prisoner and being subjected to unspeakable interrogations, or even be fatally shot on the spot, if he so desired. Either way would have been dreadful, especially to the twins who knew nothing, being from an alternate universe. The thought of Keen Eye and Lily Pad experiencing such interrogations they saw in the movies made them shiver. They would never forgive themselves if anything happened to those two foals. They were relieved that the man had different intentions.
Lily Pad spoke out to Harmon. “Thank you…for helping us.”
“Just doing what I believe is right. It’s like I said before: I don’t harm children. And I promise to make sure that your world won’t suffer by the First Order.”
“W-what do you mean?” Pipsqueak asked.
Harmon’s expression became one of unease. “You see, many of our Stormtroopers are recruited from children, many can be as young as from birth. They come from poor, impoverished Outer Rim worlds, where lawlessness was rampant and the residents had few to no prospects in life. Due to these horrific conditions, many of the people happily surrender their children to the First Order willingly, either hoping they would have a better life or simply desiring payment and one fewer mouth to feed. In a way, we help them, but being a Stormtrooper isn’t really that much better.”
“Then…can we change the subject?”
Harmon Sloane nodded understandingly at Ray’s suggestion. “Sure thing. Perhaps I should explain why I took after Thrawn. It was not only because he worked with my mother at times, or because he was such a tactical genius, but also because he did not punish those who failed him. Instead, he made them learn from their mistakes, rewarding them when they improved or were creative. He also listened to what both advisors and men had to say, taking their opinions into consideration. And due to that, his men greatly respected him, being proud to serve him and he cared greatly for them. It was the reason why there were far fewer casualties under his command than any other imperial admiral.”
Scootaloo and Ray smiled. They knew Captain Ian was also like Thrawn. Caring for his men, making them learn from mistakes instead of punishing them, and taking their opinions into consideration. That was why his crew were loyal to him no matter what, and why everyone did not hesitate to help Scootaloo when she was lost and found on Endor.
“I sort of take after him, making my men learn from mistakes and taking their opinions into consideration. As such, they respect me and serve with pride.” Harmon cleared his throat. “Although, not everyone shares the same views and loyalty. And I have punished them for things like defiance, insubordination, disloyalty, betrayal and such, depending on the circumstances.”
Scootaloo and Co understood as they recalled the Lieutenant that was with Harmon earlier. How he argued with how they should be taken prisoner in the detention area, and got yelled at for almost defying his orders. Threatening demotion, and trash labor if he did not follow the grand admiral’s orders. When they thought about it, they could see the funny side to it, as Ray recalled being told that trash labor on a star destroyer’s trash compactors can be one of the lowest, smelliest, most unpleasant positions anyone can be demoted to.
“Additionally, I also study enemy tactics, culture, and art to figure out how best to fight them effectively. As such, I am experienced and made my rank just, compared to the other younger officers who barely have experience.”
“And who did you fight?” Scootaloo asked.
“Pirates and other criminals that tried to steal or rob us, but also Resistance forces.”
Scootaloo tilted her head. “Resistance?”
“Yes. The Republic is aware of us, but doesn’t consider us much of a threat. Princess Leia Organa, who had been one of the leaders of the Rebel Alliance during the Galactic Civil War, does take us seriously and formed a paramilitary outfit called the Resistance. And despite using outdated and aging equipment, and being undermanned, they are still fiery fighters. Something I have respect for.”
Keen Eye and Lily Pad blinked questionably at what Harmon explained, and Lily Pad spoke out. “Wait. There’s a princess here?”
“Kinda.” Ray said. “But she’s not the kind of princess you might think she is.”
“What do you mean?” Keen Eye asked.
Ray scratched his head, awkwardly trying to explain. “Well, she's a human like myself, not a powerful alicorn pony princess like the kind of princesses you two know of.”
“Oh.” The twins raised an eyebrow unsurely.
Not wanting to make things too awkward, Scootaloo decided to change the subject. “Uh-ha. Anyway, your ship is an Imperial Star Destroyer?”
“Not directly.” Harmon went over to the hologram projector, and pushed a few buttons. Upon pushing the buttons, a hologram model of an Imperial Star Destroyer appeared. “This is an Imperial Star Destroyer.” He pushed a few more buttons, and a projection of another ship appeared next to it a moment later. The other ship was similar in shape, but had different looks, and made the Imperial Star Destroyer dwarf in size. “And this is my ship. The Augur, a Resurgent-class Star Destroyer.”
“Ooh.” Scootaloo, Dinky, Pipsqueak, and Ray looked in awe at the size difference between the two battle cruisers.
Keen Eye curiously tilted his head. “How big are these star destroyer things anyway?”
“About a mile long.” Ray said.
Keen Eye and Lily Pad turned to Ray, wide-eyed with shock at his answer, while exclaiming in unison, “A mile long?!”
Ray nodded and mildly shrugged, all while trying to hide an amused smile at the twins reaction. “Give or take a few meters.”
Keen Eye glanced back at the Star Destroyer hologram. “Whoa! That’s huge!”
“That’s almost as long as the apple orchard at Sweet Apple Acres back home!” Lily Pad said.
Harmon let out a small chuckle. “Indeed. The Star Destroyers of the Empire were approximately one thousand, six hundred metric meters in length, and could hold to up to forty-seven thousand crew and stormtroopers. These massive warships were used as the backbone of the Imperial Navy.” The hologram of the Imperial Star Destroyer zoomed in to the command bridge and rear engines as he explained. “But as mighty as these warships were, they did have weaknesses. Like the two shield generators and the command bridge. As well as little to no defenses of the rear engines, which the rebellion used all to their advantage.”
The hologram on the hologram projector then focused on the larger star destroyer as Harmon spoke. “The First Order, on the other hand, uses a new and improved design of Star Destroyers known as a Resurgent-class. Which is based on it, emulating the dagger-shaped design, but almost twice the length. Learning lessons from the star destroyers’ flaws, as well as the loss of the Executor during the Battle of Endor, the Resurgent-class destroyer has better features.” Parts of the Resurgent-class star destroyer were pointed out with x-rays, cutaways, and places being highlighted in color as Harmon explained. “Like an off-center, better protected command bridge. Along with increased redundancy in command and control systems and height is reduced. And is equipped with better shields and defense weaponry systems.”
“That’s so interesting.” Scootaloo said.
Harmon glances toward the children. “In fact, instead of just telling you, why don’t I show you.” He then switched off the hologram projector, and gestured the children to follow. “Come, I will show you around.”
And with that, the six children then got up and followed the grand admiral out of his quarters. Scootaloo and Co saw it as an opportunity to see and learn as much as they could about the First Order’s Resurgent-class destroyer. And they saw it as an opportunity for Keen Eye and Lily Pad too, as they knew that they had to learn as much as they could about this alternate universe, if they were to get them back home safely, and hopefully unharmed.