Meeting the XO [Freya Vanadis]

== Admonisher Bridge ==

The three ISD’s of Blood Fang Task Group were aligned in proper attack posture. They had just received the latest report from their freighter and detailed information was sent to all commands. Everyone knew their job…

“Captain, we have a contact dropping out of hyperspace in front of us.”

Immediately Tarrick’s stomach froze. Somehow, with all their security, something had gone wrong. A bogey appeared within minutes of launching a major mission.

“What class of ship?”

“It is an Imperial Shuttle, sir. And it is requesting to dock with the Admonisher.”

“Put the shuttle through to me.”

“Aye, sir.”

Tarrick made his way over to the communications station. A holo of an attractive woman appeared.

“This is Captain Tarrick Ragnus of the Admonisher. You need to be quick with your request.”

Clad in black uniform adorned with rank insignia, Commander Vanadis sat back in the copilot's seat, hands casually placed on the handles. Straightening her posture, she greeted the Captain with a measured smile.

"Greetings, Captain Ragnus." she said boldly, leaning in just a notch - "I am Commander Freya Vanadis. Your first officer."

Just before Tarrick was able to voice his bewilderment with such a forced shift in his staff, Freya let her smile widen. Her watery eyes narrowed a bit, intently peering into the screen.

"Orders of the Admiral, Captain. I'll explain further aboard the Admonisher. Permission to dock." added Vanadis, then pressed the comm button, terminating the link. There was nothing left to say; Ragnus better do what he was told.

Permission granted to land in the forward Officer's Hangar. Admonisher out." Having her land in the forward hangar would cut down the time it took Commander Vanadis to get to the bridge. With the mission counting down, time was of the essence.

Tarrick looked over at his current XO, Commander Valtross, wondering what would prompt his sudden removal from the position of XO. It was either going to be very good news... or very bad news.

"Continue the countdown as planned. We cannot delay our actions." Still the timer counted down. Tarrick estimated that they would have 5 minutes by the time that Vanadis reached the bridge until they entered hyperspace. Hopefully that would be enough to settle whatever had prompted her arrival.

Moments later, the bridge doors opened and Tarrick saw a woman with blonde hair walk with purpose onto the bridge. She was wearing the uniform of an Imperial Officer with the rank of a Commander. With a nod of his head, he sent a message to Commander Valtross to join him at the back of the bridge. There, they would meet Commander Vanadis.

"Commander Vanadis, I am Captain Ragnus and this is my XO, Commander Valtross. May I see your transfer orders?"

Endless confidence radiated from Freya as she approached two men, greeting them with a stiff salute. The impeccability of her appearance, the perfection of posture forged in years of training at Carida Academy, the way she wore that bland, androgynous uniform adorned with the Imperial crest...rendered greater men speechless. Women were such a rarity in high ranks of the Imperial Navy, a rare, exotic flower stemming out of the most inhospitable of places.

"A pleasure to meet you, Captain." she retorted, then diverted her gaze to the XO, sporting a bemused smile - "Commander Valtross and I go way back... to Academy days."

She handed the datapad over, containing direct transfer orders from Admiral North himself. Usually, such matters were not handled by the Admiral, but Vanadis was a special case. Her father - the Moff of Koros - had influence around the galaxy, nourishing an array of strings Freya could always pull.

"Congratulations, Valtross. You finally get your own ship. Well deserved." the blonde woman added, clasping hands behind back.

Tarrick quickly scanned through the orders. Normally he would have taken the time to read it thoroughly and have a sit down meeting with the new officer, but with only 3 minutes to spare, time wasn't available. He did see the reason behind the change. Commander Valtross was being promoted to Commanding Officer of the Vanguard. While his rank wouldn't change for a time, he was one step closer to his own command.

"Congratulations, Commander Valtross. It seems that you are the new Commanding Officer of the Vanguard. While you still will be reporting to me, you have some semi-independence in running your ship."

Commander Valtross opened his mouth to speak, but shut it again, speechless with the promotion. "Thank you sir", was all he could hoarsely get out.

Tarrick looked down at Vanadis' bio. She had excelled in science, but proven very adaptable to being a fleet officer. Tarrick had never worked with a female Second before. This could be very interesting... or very disasterous.

"Well this isn't time to switch commands now, so Commander Valtross, you can run the Vanguard from the auxiliary comm station. Commander Vanadis, a more formal and official welcome will come after our next mission. Until then, you might just have to take this mission on the fly. We are due to leave for Bespin in less than 2 minutes. We are to relieve the current garrison until Admiral North can bring his fleet in behind us. Also, Minister Tagge is moving her base out to Bespin and the Imperials will be building a base that orbits Cloud City. Inquisitors will be on hand to followup on Jedi rumours there and commandos have already been dispatched to help recon the area. We could be walking into a huge trap, or nothing more than a changing of the guard. We won't know until we get there."

"Any questions?"