Requisition Eins

[Shikari]

Courscant
​

Shikari's Vector-Class shuttle flew through the atmosphere of Courscant and into the bright lights of the massive city-planet below. Shikari rose from her seat in back and walked up to the cockpit, standing behind her two pilots as they brought the ship through the busy air-traffic of the city and flew towards the government district. Courscant was as busy as ever, a constant hub of social and industrial activity. It was the planet that never slept, as it were. In truth, Shikari didn't like Courscant much. There were too many beings around. You were constantly surrounded on all sides by unknown. One had to have their guard up at all times and remain in tune with the force in order to protect one's back from any possibilities. As a Sith Crusader, Shikari should have been perfectly safe on the central, ruling planet of the Imperial Republica, but no one was ever truly safe in this place. Not unless you were spending time in one of the sith temples. Only a fool would enter one of those places seeking to attack a sith. But even there, one had to watch one's back against other unruly sith, so... Not much better. Shikari wouldn't truly feel comfortable on this planet until she could pull into orbit in her own man-o-war, and that time hadn't come yet.

In truth, that was actually why she was here, to speak with someone at the Imperial Resource Allocation office to try to acquire an Imperial Corvette for her own command. Now that she was a Crusader, the possibility existed that she she could claim such a prize, but the fact that she had only just been promoted, and still was of relatively low standing made the possibilities slim. "Crusader" was a rather broad title within the sith hierarchy. There were crusaders who commanded large armies and warships, and then there were crusaders who travelled the galaxy in their own little fighters, dealing with the reality of traversing hyperspace in a tiny little cockpit. Well, that was something Shikari was tired of, and if she had her way, she would put an end to it right here. As her shuttle reached the landing pads and dropped it's landing gear, she turned and walked to the mid section of the shuttle where the ramp was beginning to lower. If this didn't work, she would have to find some other recourse to increase her command.

 

[The Storyteller]

Rear Admiral Altmann was angry. Not with anything, or anyone, in particular: just angry.

His recent "promotion" to Rear Admiral was not helping matters. As Commodore of a fleet on the fringes of the Empire, he had been lord of all he surveyed. Yes there were reports to file and admirals to report to, but that was far off and non existent.

Now, however, he was ruled by lists: lists of ships, lists of men, lists of supplies, lists of equipment, lists of bloody lists. This was a job for a clerk, not a decorated war hero.

Deep down, Altmann knew what this was punishment for. Yes the inquiry had cleared him of all blame in that particular embarrassing incident on that awful moon; but this is what the navy did to its embarrassments: fanfared them with promotion before leaving them to dry out in a forgotten office somewhere, with only lists for company.

We'll see about that he told himself as he sat down to his daily task of planning his glorious return to relevance. A task that had yielded so far no results.

As his mind whirred with fantasy, he looked down at his to-do list.

Another list!

_____________​

As the shuttle ramp lowered, if Shikari was hoping for a warm welcome to the capital, she was sadly doomed to disappointment.

All that would greet her would be a battered naval protocol droid. "We have no scheduled arrivals today," it barked. A casual observer might be both impressed and confused that the programmers had, first, aimed for the particular tone of voice of a put-upon parking official and, second, managed to achieve it.

 

[Harrison Fletch]

.

Harrison stepped out of his unmarked Intelligence vehicle, and walked up the steps of the Imperial Resource Allocation office. His boots clicked as he walked up the grand marble steps. Harrison walked past the door and through security, up the turbo lifts, finally reaching the proper floor. Harrison was not here on a mission, just a small task he had been asked to help. He was here today at the office to meet with two particularly high individuals in the Empire. Rear Admiral Altmann, and Lady Crusader, Shikari. Both highly established individuals with power and influence Harrison desired. His task here was to help in the possible transaction of an Imperial Corvette. Harrison sighed the military needed as many assets and ships it could get....not give it away as some prize to some newly promoted Sith. Nonetheless, Harrison stepped out of the turbo lift, walking to the office of the Admiral in somewhat high hopes. Hey, maybe I could ask for some troops while I'm here. Harrison saved the thought for later, and stopped at the door, noticing a old worn naval protocol droid. " We have no scheduled arrivals today" Harrison sighed, stupid droids, they never get anything right, such disrespect to officers. Not like it was their fault, they were programmed to be snotty little children like machines. This one looked like it was particularly programmed to function like a bitch. "I am Special Officer, Harrison Fletch from the Imperial Security Bureau here to meet with Rear Admiral Altmann, and Crusader Shikari. Please recheck your data, as I was scheduled to be here." Harrison matched the droid's attitude, and smirked, stupid little droid doesn't know who I am.

@Yuan @Ulysses

 

[Shikari]

Shikari pushed past the annoying Droid as it yapped at her. Her U5 security Droid stepped down the shuttle ramp behind her and followed in her steps, clutching it's rifle and glancing over at the protocol Droid curiously, though saying nothing. "I am Crusader Shikari Gale, here to see Rear Admiral Altmann. Double check your records and then check with the central office, because clearly you are mistaken." If the protocol Droid had anything else to say, Shikari would just keep walking on. She didn't really care what the droid's argument would be, but all those checks she just told it to run should have it's processors working overtime for a few minutes while she left the premises.

Walking to the lift nearby, Shikari made her way in with her guard and hit the floor button. The lift shot upwards at a diagonal angle, flying up the side of the massive building. Shikari watched the traffic of the massive city planet move by as it was reflected in the walls of the buildings all around like thousands of tiny mirrors. It was beautiful in it's own sort of way.

As the lift reached the designated floor, Shikari checked to make sure she had her lightsabers in place on her belt. Stepping out onto the floor revealed a less-than-impressive view. The hallways ahead, while relatively large were bland and grey. None of the oppyulence of the capitol had seeped through into this area. It was strictly business. Up ahead though, she saw a familiar face. "Agent Harrison. I appreciate you being punctual. Is this Droid giving you a hard time? I should think that an intelligence officer such as yourself would know how to handle a protocol Droid." Shikari turned to the Droid. "Double check your schedule, then cross check it with the Imperial Merchant Fleet office's schedules as they sometimes get confused, then run a diagnostic on yourself to ensure that all information found is accurate." Shikari turned back to Harrison. "Now, if you would be so kind as to accompany me." Shikari made her way through the door to their side and began walking down the entry corridor to the Rear Admiral's office.

@Harrison Fletch

 

[The Storyteller]

The shortness of the new arrivals with the droid did not go unnoticed by the Rear Admiral's adjutant, Commander Norris, who happened to walk into the vestibule at that moment.

He didn't believe in droid rights - it didn't even occur to him as a concept that could be believed in or not - and he would have said something similar to them himself. Nonetheless, these droids were droids of the Imperial Navy. That commanded respect from outsiders who hadn't earned the privileges of rank.

His tone was therefore suspicious and defensive as he greeted the office's visitors.

"Good afternoon, can I help you?"

What this really meant was who do you think you are and what are you doing in my headquarters? He was better brought up than that, however.

 

[Harrison Fletch]

.

Harrison was about to tell the droid to go piss off and barge into the office when someone came up behind him. Harrison turned around and smiled as Crusader Shikari approached him. "Crusader Shikari, about time you showed up....a few seconds alone with this droid would make anyone go crazy. Only thing i learned at my time with Intelligence was how to destruct droids...it takes time to reason with or try to negotiate with droids. After you." Harrison followed the Crusader into the office and as they headed towards the rear admiral's office, when someone stopped them. Harrison observed the man, noting the rank on his uniform, a commander. Harrison watched as the man spoke, not registering the words coming out of the man, but instead focusing on his posture and attentiveness. "help you?" Was what Harrison caught. Harrison didn't know whether or not he should respond or the Crusader, so the air was filled with awkward silence.

@Yuan @Ulysses

 

[Shikari]

Shikari moved past the annoyingly trunchant Droid who was now caught up in checking and rechecking long lists of data, only to be greeted by an equally trunchant secretary (cause that's what his position amounted to) who seemed to be into better mood than whoever had set the droid's voice modulator. In fact, the two were so similar, Shikari wondered if this man might not have been the one who did the job.

Shikari have the man a level stare over her half mask. "I am Crusader Shikari Gale of the Sith order. This is Agent Harrison Fletch of the Imperial Intelligence Division. We have an appointment to meet with Rear Admiral Altmann, and we would prefer not to be late." It was true that Shikari had sent the request in for this meeting some time before, but she had not received confirmation of their appointment. She hoped this peon would not be a bother to them.

@Brick

 

[The Storyteller]

"Good afternoon," Norris repeated, with no more warmth than the previous iteration. He checked his datapad.

"Crusader Gale, Agent Fletch, the Admiral has whole fleets to attend to in defence of the Empire and has ordered that he is not to be disturbed. I shall see what I can do to help; I make no promises though." The commander put special emphasis on the respective ranks of his interlocutors and his superior. Between the different organs of the Empire, there was no strict conversion of seniority. While a commander in the Navy clearly outranked a simple agent, a Sith crusader had a similar rank that it wasn't clear who took precedence over whom. To avoid the standoff, Norris had invoked his commanding officer, who outranked them all.

He invited the guests into his office. If his guests thought he was a mere clerk or secretary, this would disabuse them. The study was grand and imposing. It had a high vaulted ceiling and grand pieces of artwork standing on the wall: the size of a human, one on each wall other than the one with the door and depicting great space battles of the past. In each corner was the bust of a famous naval hero from the early days of the Empire.

Norris pulled out a second chair for the guests' side of the large desk. Even the chairs were far from Spartan. Not overly ornate, but large and comfortable. He then circled round to the far side of the desk and took his own seat.

"Yes?" He simply asked.

 

[Harrison Fletch]

.

Harrison watched the man's expression as the Crusader spoke. Harrison watched the man in slight amusement, the man wondering what to do. Harrison was annoyed for being delayed, but nonetheless remained calm. When the commander invited them in, Harrison followed him. Harrison sat in one of the seats and waited for Shikari, of course he could speak up, but to follow protocols, the higher ranking official would speak first.

@Yuan @Ulysses