Admiral Stanton

# Admiral Darion Stanton

### 'Humble' Beginnings

Stanton was born at an unknown year on Kuat, with his engineering skills allowing him to easily find a job with the Republic as a weapons designer later in his life. By the start of the Clone Wars, Stanton had become disillusioned with the Republic, believing that the morals and principles of the Republic had been on a downward spiral; in turn causing him to defect to the Separatists during the mid-point of the war. He would see little action until the end of the war, serving as Vice Admiral to a much older Separatist Admiral until his capture by the Republic. This had given him plenty of time to work on his project, and it is rumored that the droid pod that had crashed into the Admiral's cell was a deliberate act by Stanton to kill him and prevent word from escaping about his plans.

### The Promotion

After the 'untimely' capture and 'execution' of his superior officer, Stanton was promoted to Admiral of the Separatist Fifth Fleet. This had the effect of giving Stanton full command over his predecessor's assets, as well as a more cushy and important position to execute his plans from. From his command cruiser, a Recusant-class Dreadnought 'Defiant,' he would mount the prototype of his new weapon, to massive success.

### Prototype Run

The first known usage of his weapon; the Ultra-Velocity Device MK-1, was seen during a Republic operation on [Location Withheld] to sabotage a research and supply complex for the device. Knowing the Republic was catching on to his plan, he would make quick work of the Arquitens and Acclamator-class cruisers hovering above the surface; destroying them with unprecedented strength. After taking out their assault fleet, he would turn his sights on the depot, which was actively being raided by the Republic forces.

In a move that surprised the Republic forces, he opened fire on the depot, causing the munitions inside to violently detonate, destroying an incomplete MK-2 Prototype, and vaporizing several of his own scientists, and several clones.

After the main Valkyrie Task Force arrived to the planet, Stanton would flee the system with his fleet.

### General Down

Several days after his engagement at [Location Withheld], he would be seen with his fleet above the asteroid SQ-221, where the Separatists had established a base built into and on the rock face; doubling as a research complex, military base, and refueling depot. It would be discovered that Stanton was providing air support for a Separatist General who had been using the asteroid as his base of operations.

Shortly after Republic forces arrived at the asteroid, they would find themselves up against a massive Separatist armada, consisting of both the General and Admiral's ships. For the Republic, the ground battle would fare much better than the space battle above, with the Republic succeeding in capturing the base, but accidentally killing the General in the crossfire.

This had inadvertently caused the failure of the entire Republic operation, as both Stanton and the Republic were meant to extract the now-dead general.

Hearing that the General was now dead, he would begin a full fire-bombing of the entire base, rendering the entire complex destroyed, and killing many Republic forces. Stanton would thereafter take command of the General's remaining ships, only increasing the size of his already sizable armada.

### The Mark-2

With much more equipment to work with after the Republic's failure at SQ-221, he switched his flagship to a Providence-class Dreadnought, the 'Steel Monger.' He would quickly install heavy armor plating all across the vessel, and attaching the recently-completed MK-2 Ultra-Velocity Device to the bottom of the hull. The Mark-2 would see action about a week later during an operation to take a Separatist command post on the planet of Solon.

Knowing the dangers the device posed, the Republic sent three Venator-class Star Destroyers and two Arquitens-class Light Cruisers into combat with the Admiral's armada; which was only partially present at the battle. This increase in firepower would prove almost entirely useless as the Mark-2 easily cut through two of the Venators and one of the Arquitens cruisers; sparing only the Fortitude and the Valkyrie, which barely clung on long enough for the battle to come to a close.

Stanton would be forced to retreat after realizing the planet had completely fallen to Republic control on the surface.

### The 'Dark Wrath'

Weeks would go without sightings of Stanton or his fleet, until scanners in the Anaxes sector detected a heavily-plated Lucrehulk-class Battlecruiser with a device mounted on the bottom presumed to be the MK-3 Ultra-Velocity Device. Stanton's main goal appeared to have been wiping out the Anaxes Garrison with one concentrated blast that could penetrate their shields and obliterate the base; securing the sector for the CIS. Upon seeing his return, the forces on and above Anaxes would scramble to push back his fleet, eventually destroying all but the command ship, which seemed impervious to laser-fire. Stanton's downfall however, would be his own weapon.

While his weapon of mass-carnage was a sight to behold, it was also extremely unstable in order to provide such immense firepower. This flaw would be used in full as fighter-craft quickly swarmed and attacked the mounted device hanging below the reactor-sphere of the Lucrehulk. The cannon would explode in a terrific blast, which spread immediately to the reactor and consumed the entire vessel in a massive fireball.

Stanton was incinerated instantly, ending his reign of carnage in the Azure Sector.