"What did he mean by what he said?" wondered Brand out loud. He was sitting in his apartment in downtown Grand Isle, watching the holonews of the Grand Marshal's resignation.

Rumors in the high command had been flying around about Simon's attempt to perform a coup de'tat against Emporer Hyfe. But that had'nt happened.

Instead, the Supreme Commander of Imperial forces had turned in his resignation. And before anyone could stop him, he was gone, vanished into the unknown. Not into just an unknown region, but an unknown fate as well.

Which left the leader of the Mid-Rim Protectorate in a sort of bind, at the moment. For when he had heard the news that a coup was coming, he had ordered the forces under his command on full alert, intending to aid the ascension of Simon Kaine to Emporer of the Empire. He had even told his top commanders of his intent.

Which meant that, traveling as words do, other people would find out about his intentions.

Which, if Simon had executed a coup detat', would have been fine. The new Emporer would have accepted Park into the fold.

But, that didn't happen. Simon had went away, had abandonded his followers. Park Alexei Kraken had been left hanging high and dry by perhaps the only other person he truly knew and trusted within the Empire. Other than Telan Desaria, that is.

Not only that, but the information of his intentions would find their way into the hands of the new supreme commander, Bhindi Drayson, Kraken's longtime rival of a sorts, and essentially the head of Imperial Intelligence. And the Emporer that he would have helped to overthrow, Daemon Hyfe, was still in power.

Now, as Brand understood it, Park didn't really hate either Emporer Hyfe or Admiral Drayson, it's not like he wanted them dead.

But the thing is, those two probably wouldn't see it that way when they read the intelligence of his intentions. Or former intentions.

Which brought Brand back to the conversation he had with the governer last night...

* * *

"I called you here tonight to inform you that I will be leaving for a while." said Kraken, placing a hand upon the shoulder of Admiral Brand.

"Leaving? Why? Don't tell me you are running away from the Empire too?" questioned Brand, alarm noted in his eyes and expression.

"No no no. But, after the...incident..., I thought it would be best to lay low for a while. Officially, we are going on a family vacation. Unofficially, I want both me and my family to be out of the line of fire, at least until the new Supreme Commander's...intentions, become known to me." reassured Kraken, his eyes becoming a little red.

"I would hate to see you demoted sir, after all, they were just words. But, what does this have to do with me?" inquired Brand.

"As always, you will be in charge until my return. But I wanted to know, that I have always valued your service to me and the Empire. Therefore, should something happen to me, you will be placed in charge of the Protectorate." said Kraken, smiling as his eyes began to mist, before turning about and leaving a stunned Brand gawking in his wake...

* * *

Now, Brand turned the T.V. off, and stood up from his chair, no, he told himself, Park's chair, which he was just temporarily sitting in, to stare out the window of the governer's mansion.

Across the city, at the military spaceport, a single Lambda shuttle was sitting on a platform, flanked by a pair of TIE Defenders. A heavy military guard was present, and Brand identified the ship as Park's personal shuttle, the Tranquility.

Brand walked back to the desk and retrieved an enhanced viewing scope from one of the drawers, walked back to the viewport, and observed Park and his family moving into the shuttle, along with their luggage handlers and personal servants.

The military escort saluted, and when Park and his family had entered into the shuttle, marched off in formation. Both the shuttle and the two TIE Defenders ignited their repulsorlifts, and began to lift off from the spaceport.

Brand was beginning to turn away when a flash of light caught his attention. He turned back, and to his horror, saw the flaming wrecklage of the Tranquility raining onto the spaceport below. A fireball rose into the sky as the remains of the shuttle rained down.

The TIE Defender escort broke, and alarms broke out as Brand stared horrified at the scene before him...

Was it Bhindi's intelligence agents who did this? thought Brand while working down his third glass of lomin-ale this evening.

Or perhaps a rival goverment, once which Park had campaigned against in the past. The Contegorian Confederation comes to mind...

Setting the glass down, Brand got up from the bar, paying out a few credits for the drinks, and collecting his hat and coat on the way out.

It was raining in Grand Isle, the way it normally does during the summer months. Being that the volanic island city was situated in the tropics region of the planet, the downpour was quite heavy, so Brand waited for a hovertaxi to drive by before heading out into the rain.

Even though it was only six feet from the curb to the waiting taxi, he was still drenched once he got inside.

"Where to, Commander?" asked the civilian taxicab driver.

"Military headquarters building. Don't worry, I'll use my authorization to let you enter." said the Admiral, before relaxing in the padded leather seating.

Did Park know that something was going to happen to him?

Brand's thoughts continued about the conversation from three nights ago now. It's been two days since the bombing of the Tranquility, and still no idea who was behind it, although they found fragments of the explosives.

Security had espically been heavy, which had to mean it was an inside job. The usual people were being questioned, including investigators who had come by his house earlier in the day.

Brand handed his military I.D. to the driver, who passed it on to the gate guard that they were stopped at. The officer offered up a smart salute before standing back, allowing the taxicab to proceed through the gate and onto the base.

"I hope his children are okay." thought Brand outloud.

"Sir?" questioned the taxi driver.

"Nothing, forget it. Stop here, I will be getting out." said Brand, handing a credchip forward to the driver.

"As you wish sir. At least the rain has stopped." replied the driver, settling the hovercraft down on the walk and unsealing the doors.

Brand watched the taxicab drive away before heading torwards the main H.Q. building, anticipating the relentless chaos that was probably going on within it's walls...

To Brand's suprise, the headquarters building was mostly quiet. A few individuals went about their tasks as always, but most of the commanders present were silent, and he could feel a chill creeping up his neck as all eyes were on him as he entered into the building.

"Gentlemen, comrades, fellow commanders, I assume everyone has heard the news, and knows all the details?" he asked to begin the meeting. They all nodded, and with that, it was time to begin the meeting.

"The first question among many, I assume, is that who will replace our dearly departed vice-admiral as leader of the Mid-Rim Protectorate? The answer to that question, according to the governer's last wishes, was to be me." stated Brand in a calm but slightly shaky voice. A slight murmur began among the junior officers, but was silenced by stares from the more senior ones.

"However, in as much as I would like to obey the governer's wishes, I am here today to announce that I will not be taking over as governer." Brand had to wait a moment as a general outcry began, making sitting motions with his hands to calm everyone down. "Instead, the position will filled temporarily by one of my friends, Admiral Carson, until a more permanent person can be put into charge."

"But what will you be doing that would not allow you to fill in as the governer?" spoke up the commander for the Isht planetery sector fleet.

"I will be on a mission, for the Empire, that will take me out of contact for at least several weeks, possibly much longer." replied Brand.

"I will now take my leave of you all, I wish you my fondest wishes in contiuing to serve the Empire. Gloria Imperium." said Brand in farewell, slapping his right fist across his chest in salute, before departing the war room. It may not have been in uproar as he expected when he first entered, but it was certainly that way when he left.

Outside, he met his personal assistant and his hovercar.

"Word from orbit sir. Your flagship has arrived."

"Good. It'll only take me six hours at the most to pack my things and say my goodbyes. Then, I will say adios to this unfriendly planet, and depart for the unknown." commented Brand as he got into the hovercar and sped off.