Gennad wasn't angry, he was far beyond anger. He was absolutely furious as he marched down the hallway towards the captain's quarters, his fists clenched at his sides and jaw set firmly in barely contained rage. Those who saw him coming scurried to get out of his way as he passed without even noticing their presence, fixated as he was on the source of his anger and the memory of recent events that consumed his mind. The Bothan had called him to a meeting in his quarters, but discussing formal matters of mission operations and logistics was the furthest thing from his mind.
He stopped as he came to the door to Captain Bel'far's quarters and knocked twice sharply before it slid open with an audible hiss. He stormed into the modest, yet impeccably clean studio, spotting the Bothan who sat conversing with another individual in two of the four chairs that sat around a small dining table.
Grinding his teeth he crossed the room to stand before the captain, glaring down at him with a look of murderous rage.
"You have some nerve calling me here!" he snarled at the Bothan. "After the disaster we narrowly avoided; no thanks to your glaring incompetence!"
Captain Bel'far looked back at him with a look of annoyance on his feline features. "Please take a seat Commander and I will be happy to hear your qualms with the way I am running this operation," he said, gesturing to the empty chair in front of the pilot.
Gennad grumbled. "I don't want to sit down you kreefing buffoon! Thanks to you my men were almost massacred and my squadron completely destroyed. It's nothing short of a miracle we managed to escape," he said with a sneer.
Bel'far remained impassive. "Fair enough, suit yourself Commander, but I would caution you to watch your tongue when addressing a superior officer. It's not something I am willing to tolerate."
"Nor I," said the other man present.
Gennad glanced over and recognised the other as Lieutenant Auryn, the leader of the task force's commando detachment.
"Stuff it, Auryn! Mind your own business! Nobody likes an ass kisser, you have as much a reason to be reefed off by this as anyone. Your own men barely survived," Gennad said.
Slade stared back at him. "I'm well aware. But I won't stand by as some neanderthal refuses to respect the chain of command and basic etiquette,' he said.
Gennad scoffed. "If we're talking about knowing your place, lead by example and shut ya yap."
The commando narrowed his eyes at the starfighter pilot, without saying a word daring him to do something about it. "You will address superior officers in a calm and respectful manner or I'll take it upon myself to teach you some manners…..the hard way."
Gennad growled in reply and was about to retort when the captain interrupted them.
"Gentlemen! We are all tired, cranky and upset about how the recent operation went, but let's not lose control of ourselves and forget why we are here."
Auryn nodded, not taking his eyes off the glowering man before them. "Of course Captain; I was just reminding the Commander of where he was and in whose company he was present."
"I don't need reminding," Gennad hissed through gritted teeth.
Captain Bal'far sighed, gesturing at the seat once more. "Please Commander Rozhdenst, take a seat and I will happily listen to your critique of the mission. I will refuse to accommodate you until you are willing to meet me halfway and sit and discuss this in a proper and civilised manner."
Gennad glared at them both, but dragged the chair out roughly with one hand and reluctantly sat; some of his anger ebbing away as he did so.
The Bothan smiled. "Thank you Commander Rozhdenst. Now, what is it you want to say?"
Gennad sighed. "Our last operation didn't go quite the way we'd planned it; to put it lightly," he said. "Someone screwed up and we narrowly avoided a disaster as a result. It was by the skill of my pilots and sheer luck that Scavenger squadron wasn't annihilated and our target not destroyed along with Commander Auryn's team. For the good of my men and the intended success of this operation I must insist that this matter is investigated and that those responsible are made accountable for their failure," Rozhdenst said, switching his gaze from one to the other.
Captain Bal'far nodded. "Your concern is noted Commander, and is shared by no small number of us. In my duty as captain it is my role to ensure the success and smooth operation of our missions. Hence I have already began an inquiry into the presence of the Star Destroyer and am in the process of conducting a report for Admrial Ackbar. You, along with the rest of our command staff here will be briefed on its findings once it is complete," Bothan explained.
Rozdenst snorted. "Procedures and reports," he huffed. "Do you people know how to do anything else?"
The Bothan's fur ruffled in irritation. "What would you have me do?" He hissed through clenched teeth. "I'm responsible for this entire operation and the lives of over two hundred personnel. The failure or success of our campaign rests entirely on my shoulders, and I have to live with that every second of every day. So don't you dare insinuate I am not doing all I can Commander; because you would be wrong. Very wrong."
Gennad bit back a response. He didn't doubt the captain's sincerity, but this nonsense obsession with procedures, reports and the general tedium with which the fleet hierarchy operated seemed unnecessary and an ineffective waste of time to him.
Instead he nodded. "Of course Captain. I wouldn't question your dedication to the cause; it's just all this procedural nonsense and stuff drives me insane," he explained.
The Bothan smiled. "Trust me Commander; you are far from alone there."
The door to his quarters hissed open and two other officers entered the room. Gennad recognised them as Captain Xander Riker of the Vulture and Captain Crys Decell the commander of the Stronghold.
Captain Bal'far stood and bid them welcome. "Welcome! Thank you for attending this meeting!" he beamed cheerfully at the other captains as they returned his greeting and echoed those offered by Auryn and Rozhdenst. "I was just finishing up discussing some logistical matters with Commander Auryn, but now that everyone is here we can begin,' he said, waiting for the rest of them to be seated before he resumed his seat.
Rozhdenst echoed the greetings of the new arrivals. Riker was your text book naval officer, capable with a lot of potential, but ultimately unexceptional. Captain Decell however was another matter. A young human woman in her early twenties, she had already clocked up a good five years of experience in the Rebel Alliance, in addition to serving with a local rebel group in her teens. The Stronghold was her first proper command, and although it was more of a portable military base than a ship she had already proved herself more than capable of the job. She could be at the command of a Star Destroyer in just a few short years.
"I know you are all very busy so we will try to keep this short, and I will go into further detail when we conduct our next full mission briefing,' Bal'far began. "But we have finally received our full campaign briefing from the admiralty so we know what missions we will be undertaking and where. They apologise for the delay in relaying the complete campaign parameters, but this is a complicated and sensitive matter that requires detailed planning and organisation if we are to be successful."
"They've done a great job so far," Rozhdenst commented.
Bal'far ignored the sarcasm. "Yes, and as Commander Rozhdenst has pointed out mistakes have already happened, so we can see first hand how vital it is that everything is planned with careful precision to ensure the best possible outcome with minimal losses. We are a small outfit given a large and important assignment, so the odds are stacked against us from the start. But...." he said with a grin that displayed sharp teeth, "I'm not one to ever back away from unfavourable odds. That's where the greatest victories are achieved."
He pressed a button beside him and a hologram burst to life in the centre of the table, displaying a list of missions, mission objectives and summaries of the mission parameters.
"You can see here a list of our campaign missions. Each mission we undertake is to seize a valuable target or resource to add to our battle-group that will assist us in the ultimate goal of this first campaign. Alliance fleet and intelligence services have carefully selected targets for us to acquire that will add to the strength and capability of our battle-group. As you can see there is a list of six missions, the first having already been completed and the final one being our primary objective. I will briefly go over them with you so everyone present has an idea of the overall campaign and I will be sending notes to your data pads so you can update your crews."
The Bothan's claws clacked over a control panel in his seat as the display on the holo adjusted to his commands. "The Alliance will be sending us a squadron of new starfighter recruits taken from the ranks of volunteers with flight experience in one man craft. For the past few months they have been training in starfighter simulators and the best have been selected to form a new squadron to be assigned to our battle-group," Bal'far said, cycling through profiles of the new pilots.
"Fresh recruits? They've barely had any time to train let alone be thrown into a combat situation," Rozhdenst protested. "And I don't know if you've noticed Captain, but we don't have a spare squadron of starfighters just laying around."
Bal'Far grinned. "Very observant Commander. No we don't, which is why we are going to steal some!" he declared. The holo beeped and changed to an image of a cerulean planet rotating slowly on its axis, masses of white cloud drifting through the sky beneath its atmosphere. "This is Quell, an unremarkable planet in the Outer Rim, sitting close to the Mid-Rim border along a strategically irrelevant section of the Salin Corridor hyperspace route. The planet is not far from Lianna, the home of Seinar Fleet Systems and as such it is home to a small imperial base and SFS testing facility for newly commissioned squadrons of TIE fighters. Being a smaller facility it was largely irrelevant until the Empire rolled out the TIE Interceptor and the base was converted to test new squadrons of Interceptors. Our next mission is to travel to Quell and steal a squadron of Interceptors fresh off the assembly line. Then using these stolen TIEs we will outfit our new squadron with starfighters and thus complete the next phase of our mission," Bal'far explained with a nod of satisfaction.
"What?" Rozhdenst exclaimed. "And how in blazes are they going to fly them?"
Bal'far looked at his annoyed expression and chuckled. "The new Reaver Squadron has been preparing for this mission for the past several months. Upon their selection the newly commissioned pilots began training in TIE fighter simulators so they will be experienced with the TIE's controls and mannerisms by the time they get in the pilot's seat," he explained.
Commander Auryn smiled and nodded in approval. "Admiral Ackbar really does think of everything, doesn't he?"
Gennad shrugged in acceptance. "Fair enough, but they're still going to be very green, and where are we going to house them? We barely have enough additional room on base; let along a hangar bay for these Interceptors," he pointed out.
Captain Bal'far's whiskers twitched in irritation. "Commander, if you're going to constantly interrupt this briefing and insist on being contrary to every point raised we're going to have some serious problems!" Bal'far barked, his eyes narrowing at the fighter pilot.
Gennad raised his hands to ward of an imaginary attack. "No offence intended Captian, but I'm just trying to be practical. There's a lot of things to consider and we don't want to skip over anything," he insisted.
Bal'far grunted. "To answer your question Commander Rozhdenst the Vindicator cruiser we recently captured will soon be returning to us fully functioning with a brand new crew at her helm. It will act as the base of operations for Reaver Squadron. The ships we have been assigned to capture are all being assigned to us to help build our taskforce to a sufficient strength so we can pursue our primary target for the campaign," the Bothan explained.
He continued with the briefing and passed over several more mundane missions that included acquiring equipment, weapons and supplies from Imperial depots before he came to one that made the assembled officers sit up in their seats.
The holo display changed to the image of an Interdictor-class Star Destroyer. Almost identical to the Imperial class Star Destroyer the Interdictor had one significant difference from its cousin. On each side of the ship sat two large spherical gravity well projectors, the domed tops protruding above and below the ship's hull. The ship was utilised as a weapon with its gravity well projectors preventing enemy ships from being able to flee by jumping to hyperspace. A useful ability the empire utilised to their advantage against pirates and in raids and invasions of dissident worlds.
"This is the Mynock, a brand new Interdictor-class Star Destroyer currently in the final stages of construction, before undergoing tests and systems checks in the shipyards at Nar Shaddaa," Captain Bal'far said, gesturing at the image slowly rotating above the holo projector. "Its capture will ensure we have some heavy firepower to aid us in the battle with our primary target, and its interdiction field generating ability will prevent said target from escaping, should they attempt to flee. The admiralty have pressed the point home that such a ship would be a vital part of our task-force, ensuring potential targets can't escape from our clutches. Or as I like to call it, pure Sabaac!" the Bothan said with a predatory grin that displayed rows of razor sharp teeth.
The statement drew a round of applause from those gathered and the captain took it as his opportunity to jump to the final part of their plan. "Behold the final stage of our first campaign and the mission that will make or break our operation. Should we make it this far and be successful the admiralty has promised to put significantly more resources at our disposal. Which of course also means promotions all around for those involved."
Riker cheered and everyone but Rozhdenst laughed.
The pilot scoffed and rubbed at the stubble on his chin, staring at the image of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer in the holo.
"This is the Star Destroyer Aggressor, currently running border patrol duties on the Triellus Trade Route between Syvris, Teth and Formos. There's only a handful of minor imperial worlds in this stretch of space, but its significant in that it borders Hutt Space, and the trade route is a long one that spans roughly a third of the galaxy around the Outer Rim," Bal'far explained as the image changed to display a map of that part of the galaxy with the trade route lit up.
The Bothan glanced in Rozhdenst's direction. "Do you have something to add Commander?"
Gennad cleared his throat then gestured at the holo. "The targets for our missions are good ones, no doubt chosen with usefulness, risk factor and accessibility taken into consideration. But I do have a concern over the potential waiting times between ships being captured and reassigned to our group," he said. "We're engaging these ships in combat to capture them and they're hauled off to Alliance shipyards for maintenance, retrofitting and to be assigned crews and all that. My point is how does the Alliance intend to get these ships up and running with new crews in such a narrow time frame?" he asked.
Lieutenant Auryn nodded his agreement. "Repairing ships isn't a quick and easy process, nor is training crews to fly them. Depending on how badly its damaged during its capture we could be talking anywhere from a few weeks to six months spent in dock undergoing repairs," the commando added.
"Right. We can't be sure how long its going to take them to get the new ships to us. All of this has to be done in a specific time frame and there's a good chance the ships simply won't be in a fighting condition when we need them. So where does that leave us?" Rozhdenst asked. Before anyone could reply he added. "There's also the matter of the crews being available, trained and ready on time. Another wild card factor we can't be sure of."
"It's the training them that's of primary concern to me," Captain Decell spoke up. "You're telling us the Alliance doesn't have full crews of trained and combat ready personnel to man these ships, which is understandable. But it also raises some issues."
"Where are they getting them from?" Gennad asked, picking up where she left off. "Even if they're getting crews of people who have flight experience on a commercial or civilian level they're not going to be anywhere near ready for combat situations. It takes several years of training for new recruits to be ready. Someone who served on board a cargo freighter? That's at least another year of training before they would be up to standard," Rozhdenst argued.
"Let alone being ready for the sort of missions we're undertaking," Auryn said. "It's possible that they could be brought up to speed in six months if they're drilled extra hard and given priority to combat missions, but it's only been six months since Endor. So they're going to still be a few months away from baseline readiness? It doesn't instil me with confidence in their abilities and combat effectiveness. A lot of things you just can't teach. It has to be gained with experience and these crews are going to be running low on that."
Captain Bel'far nodded his understanding of their concerns. "Our situation is a difficult and perilous one. No one assumed it was going to be easy or without complications. That's the nature of the beast and we just have to do our best, work with what we have got, and do what we can to ensure we are ready when we need to be," he said. "We will conduct tests on the new crews and their capabilities. And if it is required we will allocate time to provide them with extra drills and training to help bring them to combat effectiveness."
He brought the meeting to a close and bid his officers farewell. "Now go and get some well deserved rest. I have a feeling we are all going to need as much as we can get in the coming weeks and months."