New Beginnings

[Chask274]

Vaxus stood over the white haired, golden-eyed woman, his vibrosword leveled at her throat. Their fight had been long and hard, but he finally had her beat and was ready to deal the killing blow. He raised the bladed weapon over his head, preparing to bring it down on her head, when the report of a blaster pistol rang out. Looking down in shock, he noticed the all too familiar sleek chrome-plated pistol in the woman's hand, and the smoking hole in his leg. With a scream, he collpased into and the world went dark.

The Zabrak sat bolt upright in his bunk breathing hard, the faint smell of charred flesh and melted armorweave still lingering in his nose. Sighing, he swung his legs over onto the floor and put his head in his hands, noting with a twitch of irritation the dull pain in his hip as he maneuvered his new prosthetic around. It'd been a just over a month since he'd be released from the hospital after recuperating from the surgery that had installed the artificial limb, yet his body was still adjusting to it. 'The doctors said it would take quite a while before it felt even remotely natural,' he mentally chided himself, 'so stop whining ad be happy it isn't worse.'

Standing up, he moved over to his quarter's refresher station, walking with a slight limp. After a short shower, he dressed himself in his armour and walked out into the corridor of the Desolator, heading towards the armory to pick a few things. As he walked, he triggered his comlink and contacted the hangar crew chief. "Have my personal fighter prepped and fueled for take-off, I'm heading planetside."

 

[Chask274]

After collecting his weapons from the ship's amory, Vaxus made his way to the hangar and prepared to depart for the frozen planet below. Some may question why a high ranking member of the Imperial Legion needed to bring a full loadout with him to one of the most well defended planets in Empire territory. Such questions came only from those who had never stepped foot on Ziost, a planet built on combat and survival of the fittest. Guiding his starfighter through the hangar containment field and out into the void, the Zabrak looked out through the viewport at his homeworld.

It had been too long since he'd been home.

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"Attention unidentified fighter, this is Citadel Control. You are entering restricted airspace without the proper clearance, Trooper, turn back or be fired on. There will be no further warnings." Reaching over, Vaxus snapped on his transmitter and keyed his comms' mic switch.

"This is Commander Vaxus Tallav. If you so much as point one of those emplacements at my ship, I will personally come down there and rip your throat out. Am I understood?" There was a pause as the technician was undoubtedly cross-checking transponder codes, before his reply came back, his voice markedly more reserved and nervous.

"Un...Understood, Commander. I apologize for the mix-up, your codes hadn't been added to my terminal yet. You are clear to land at Citadel pad 3.382."

"Acknowledged, Control, Tallav out." Flying his small ship to the indicated pad, Vaxus set it down gently and crawled out of the cockpit, acknowledging the aide awaiting him with a curt nod.

"Commander Tallav, welcome to the Citadel. I trust the flight went well?" The man got a simple nod in reply before Vaxus was walking towards the door into the main building.

"This is my first time at the Citadel as a Commander. I've been told I have an office and personal quarters here, would you mind showing me to the office?" With a quick and eager affirmative, the aide took the lead and escorted the armored man through the ornate corridors of the massive complex before arriving in front of a set of sturdy double wooden doors. Inside was a sizeable square room, simply furnished with an imposing wooden desk two thirds of the way to the back wall, a leather chair behind that desk facing the door, and a simple coffee table with a few chairs and a sofa off to one side. The back wall was dominated by a massive plate glass window that provided a view of the Citadel defense wall, and the very tops of a distant mountain range. Taking a seat at his desk, Vaxus looked up at the aide with an appreciative smile. "Thank you for your help. Before you, go, I have one last request of you. Down in New Adasta, at the amphibious training course, there's a man named Leo Schmidt. He's an officer in the Stormtrooper Corps. Tell him he is to report here at once."