Star Wars: Flotsam

Flotsam

Commander Coowins took a long moment to steady himself before entering the briefing room. He had a sickening sense that this meeting was going to be one of those turning points in life. Priests on his homeworld called it a Force premonition but that was just silly religious men trying to explain the unknown. Still, the last six months had been odd. Rumors swirled through the ship of a great defeat to the Empire. It couldn't be true that the Rebels and a secret Wookie army defeated the vanguard of the Imperial Fleet. There couldn't have been a second Death Star destroyed above some moon of the Endor system – of all places. Preposterous. Yet, it was odd that no new orders had come in nor had the Emperor made any appearances or speeches. Even stranger was the order to evacuate and then lay waste to two industrial planets: Ihopek and Narth. The order had come from some Grand Admiral or Moff that Coowins had never heard of and not from the regular chain of command.

Nothing had been normal in the nine months Coowins had spent as executive officer of the Imperial Star Destroyer Gnisnal. There had been the random system glitches allegedly caused by a lack of resources in the supply chain. The shortages in parts and materials were part of the rumors about a second Death Star and the success of the Rebellion. Coowins had enough sense, however, to realize that the shortages were due to an ever-expanding fleet, not another boondoggle battlestation or those terrorists who dare to call themselves freedom fighters. Coowins would never understand why outlaws fancied themselves romantic heroes – out to rescue princesses, cute animals, or to hubristically "save the galaxy." The only thing more cliché was some kid on a backwards planet leaving the rear end of space to save the galaxy. All they did was cause uncertainty and chaos.

Coowins took another moment to steady himself as he entered the briefing room. It wasn't like the Admiral to keep everyone in the dark about a meeting nor was it her style to rouse everyone out of their beds to have a clandestine summit during the alpha shift's rest time. Something was definitely up, and that is why he had that dreaded sixth sense feeling.

Admiral Kylnata Stolty leaned back in her chair as he walked into the briefing room. Unlike most Admirals in the fleet, Stolty kept command of her flagship, though most of her fleet had been summoned away before Coowins arrived on the ship. Coowins wondered if there would be anyone on the holo system or if this was going to be another ship-only briefing.

Sitting around the table was Lieutenant Kessma, the ship's chief helmsman, her posture straight and ridged, but the youthfulness of her eyes betrayed the serious demeanor she tried to maintain. Kessma was near the top of her class at the Imperial Academy and a protégé to Stolty. Coowins liked the young helmsman and remembered when he was the young officer just let into the inner circle. Sitting next to Kessma, was Lieutenant Commander Bonric, a frown etched into his already dour face. He had the disproving look every old man seemed to master. While Bonric's rank seemed low, rumors persisted that he was the secret Imperial Intelligence loyalty officer. People who crossed Bonric did have the strange habit of disappearing to remote posts or dying on unnecessarily dangerous assignments. Coowins made it a point to avoid Bonric. Coowins only had a couple of years left until retirement, and, while he enjoyed his job, he was looking forward to becoming an Imperial Magistrate and spending more time with his wife and kids.

Wing Commander Autem was also sitting at the table, her short cropped black hair struck Coowins as jarring. This was one of the few times he had seen her without her flight suit and helmet, though her hair was such that it could easily be mistaken as a non-regulation helmet. Must be all that time with the helmet on, he thought. Her hair must have been molded into that shape. As commander over the TIE squadrons, Autem spent her time on the flight deck. If she was here, something big was happening. Coowins was surprised for a moment when he didn't see Commander Marlax, but remembered that the Chief Engineer had come down with a rare and nearly unheard-of disease. He was currently in a bacta pod down in the med bay.