Door Of Changes: A Star Wars Story

Chapter 2: From the Shadows- Part 1

It is the year 22 BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin). It has been ten standard years since that day.

Ten years since Imperial Captain Margos Florin and his crew left the Second Death Star above the forest moon of Endor to the past, at least a long way until the formation of the Galactic Empire.

Throughout that time, the Armando has been docked on the same forest moon they left...36 years from now? Or was it ten years ago?. The crew ended up constructing a base of operations on the moon's surface, including a dockyard for the star destroyer.

The Armando crew remains skeptical over Darth Vader's orders. They had undying loyalty to the emperor, to the Empire, and yet, for oblivious strange reasons the very same emperor has chosen them to be expendable in his "contingency plan."

But perhaps the most "treasonous," most despicable order given by the emperor's apprentice, is to ally with the enemy, Luke Skywalker, who was responsible for killing their comrades on the first Death Star and only strengthen the rebel scum. Instead, the supreme chancellor, the Galactic Republic, and the Sith Lords not yet in power are the enemies. Not to mention the Third Brother revealed Palpatine was also known as Darth Sidious, the secret Sith Lord during the Clone Wars.

So that just complicates the situation. And as you may expect, not everyone has agreed with Darth Vader's explanation.

Imperial Officer Glaucon sighed as he got out of the ship cafe, having eaten some berries and other mixed fruits and vegetables gathered from the trees of Endor. The imperial cooks knew that because of their 13-year stay in the past, the entire crew cannot survive solely on their own rations, so they resorted to farming crops on the moon below.

Glaucon is one of the earlier officers to be enlisted into Margos Florin's crew. He was one of the officers in charge of security footage in the lower decks, having been joined in the empire's navy three years before the Armando ship was taken back in time. Even though he was more of a rookie officer, during his training at the Imperial Naval Academy on Coruscant, Glaucon was training to be in recon tactics. The young man unfortunately dropped out due to his stress over fighting in the stormtrooper ranks, so he chose security instead. Glaucon believed that the change would prevent him from being drafted as a stormtrooper instead.

Unfortunately, the captain has files on all of the crew's lives. And Glaucon was reminded of that fact when the loudspeaker called his name to the briefing room. Originally he was heading back to his security office, but...well, duty calls. The officer sighed as he walked up to the elevator, where it took him to the upper deck, where the briefing room and the bridge are.

Along the way, Officer Glaucon thought about the purpose behind the meeting. The biggest idea so far was that he might be enlisted into the spy program since almost every officer has been given the burden to watch the developing situation in the galaxy. If memory serves, the Clone Wars are set to begin within a few days, so the Separatists must be intensifying their independence movement. He repositioned his imperial hat as he walked inside the briefing room.

Officer Glaucon soon found himself standing amongst a crowd of stormtroopers without their helmets on and other personnel, each in standing formation. Captain Margos stood in front of a hologram monitor, his eyes fixed upon the newly arriving officer. Removing his hands from resting on the monitor, he repositioned his posture and spoke to the crowd.

"Alright, officers, troopers, and enlisted, you have been selected into the Imperial spy program. As many of you are aware, the Clone Wars are set to begin within this standard week. I'm dividing all of you into separate groups, and you will be stationed on separate planets. Sargent Gujak, Officer Uther, Troopers Arthren, Judy, and Eren, you will be in T-squad. You will travel to Tatooine to spy on the Tusken camps in the main deserts. Your primary objective is to locate Shmi Skywalker, Anakin's mother and await her rescue by her Jedi son. As soon as the Jedi leaves the planet, you will do the same shortly afterward.

"Officer Glaucon Dakidim, Junior Lieutenant* Jarcliff Ton Royak, and Officer Carjos Colback, you will be grouped together into C-squad. Your mission is to travel to the Republic's capital, Coruscant, and spy on the Senate and the Jedi. If any of them make mention of us, or act suspicious, as in they seem to sense your presence, report it to radio control immediately and evacuate to a further distance. This goes for all of you," Margos announced, "if the targets sense or discover your presence, report it to radio control and evacuate the area with extreme caution.

"Officer Barbrey, Squad Leader Gordon, Trooper Prajona, and Officer Trimfrill, you are N-squad. Your planet is Naboo, and you will spy on the Jedi and Senator Amidala. If they appear to sense your presence, or if they make mention of us, report it to radio control. You will be stationed until they leave for Tatooine."

And he assigned the rest to G-squad (Geonosis to watch the Separatist army and council) and K-squad (Kamino, to spy on the Jedi Master, Obi-wan Kenobi, and the Kaminoans), and then dismissed them. Junior Lieutenant Jarcliff was put in charge of C-squad, despite him not having any recon experience at all in his Imperial career.

All squad members had to go into their general quarters and use their civilian clothing as disguises, well for C-squad that is.

And they all were curious as to how this mission will go.

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So here it is, part 1 of the second chapter of Door of Changes. Thank you for reading, and feedback is appreciated. May the Force be with you!

*Jarcliff ended up getting demoted from Lieutenant to Junior Lieutenant due to an "issue" that occurred last year. Everything else is classified.

Published on: 04/04/2022