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Deep Into the Dark

Commander La Forge was awakened by the beeping of his holonet terminal. He crossed the room to his desk and pressed the answer button. "What," he said, annoyed.

"Did I catch you at a bad moment, Mr. La Forge?"

La Forge snapped to attention. "Sorry, sir, Vice Admiral, sir! I was sleeping and thought it w-"

Fel interrupted. "Don't worry about it, commander. Or should I say, captain. I've got a request from Calder that you receive the brevet rank of captain to command in his absence."

"Thank you, sir... Was there something you needed?" La Forge asked, rubbing his eyes.

The blue, glowing holo of Vice Admiral Fel precisely conveyed his angular features, to the detail that La Forge could notice the narrowing of his eyes. "The time for action is now. I'm issuing orders that the Chimaera move out to the Outer Sectors. You should find your PDA has the detailed orders downloaded to it already."

La Forge looked, and indeed they were exactly where the Vice Admiral said they would be. "I've got them, Admiral."

"Excellent. It's unfortunate we've had to send you out before the resupply exchange takes place, but you'll have to hold the Sector Group together until the rescheduled meeting. If Admiral Polanski has made one thing clear to me, it's that the Chimaera is to come back in one piece. I don't blame him: It is the flagship, and losing it would send the wrong message about Imperial forces to the enemy."

"I promise I'll bring her back in one piece, sir, don't worry."

"You'd best get going, comman- captain. The Chimaera needs to jump to hyperspace in fifteen minutes to make an appointment."

"On my way, sir," La Forge said, before saluting quickly.

Fel returned the salute and the holo faded out, leaving La Forge in the dark again to contemplate the promise he had just made...

Line Captain Wedge looked up from the console in the conference room and turned around to find Vice Admiral Fel standing a meter behind him, and he jumped back in surprise. "Sithspawn, sir, how do you do that?"

Fel smiled. "I have a little talent for walking softly. It was very handy when I was captain... it's a neat way to catch people not at their posts or chatting instead of working."

Wedge returned the smile. "I still wish you wouldn't use it on me," he said with a wink.

"Can't help it. It's habit now," Fel said as he handed over a datapad to Wedge. "I want all your pilots in the simulator as soon as possible. Even though we're docked at the shipyards."

"To prepare for the rendez-vous?"

"Something like that. It's more general than that, though... we need to be prepared for what lies out there, not just for the resupply."

"I'll make sure they get right on it, Admiral." Wedge pocketed the datapad and left the briefing room.

Vice Admiral Fel moved to the large transparent wall and looked out. Past the edge of the shipyards, far out in the distance, the VSD Adamant rumbled on, barely visible, patrolling the system to ensure there were no surprises. Beyond that tiny speck of a capital ship, beyond several sectors of Imperial space, past the fringes of Imperial-friendly territory, there are far too many questions and far too few answers...

Colonel Jagged Fel thumbed through the datapad handed to him by Army Lieutenant Mitchell about an hour before. The colonel paced the halls of the Chimaera, eager to be out in the field once again rather than cooped up in the ship. He had been awakened by the jump to lightspeed; it was something he'd never quite gotten used to.

The latest orders from General Jansen were short and to the point. The colonel read them, transmitted them to the rest of the company, then procured a cup of caf and began writing.

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