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Now the Story Starts Again...

The room erupted in applause as Fel took the podium. "Thank you, thank you..."

The room on the shipyard was packed almost as full as it had been all those weeks ago... the last time the Chimaera was ready to launch. Only this time, the Nemesis and the Warhammer were parked right in front of and behind the Chimaera. Even though that ship was not going anywhere yet... nobody was eager for a repeat.

Fel adjusted the microphone with his right hand and winced. It was still a bit sore from the knockout punch he'd laid on Vek'din. Punching somebody in the head is a good way to injure your hand, but it had finally made the rambling maniac shut up...

At least nobody of high command had been too seriously injured. It was dangerous sending them all in like that, but Admiral Fel had been very insistent. But here he was.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome once again! This is the Chimaera relaunch party... take two..." Fel was smiling this time at least. "You may notice we had another sandbox cake made. Unfortunately, we did not get a refund on the previous one, but we'll take it out of La Forge's salary."

The room laughed a bit, except La Forge, who glared at Fel.

"But that's not all the good news. We've got another couple of promotions to announce...! Please give your congratulations to Commander Muscat and Lieutenant Alex!"

More cheering. The two officers stood and waved from their seats, both smiling widely.

"Commander Muscat," Fel continued, "now joins Commander Laithlis in the Society of the Full Commander - something into which I was inducted by then-Commander Patrick Calder. See Laithlis after the show for the ceremony."

Laithlis was just as puzzled as the rest of the room.

"And Mr. Alex joins the rank of commanders after several years of strong Imperial service aboard the flagship. He had never sought higher rank until recently, but he has truly earned it after his extensive career... Congratulations, Lieutenant!

Fel continued. "La Forge has graciously decided to cut short his speech today. I think it's because he's afraid if he talks too long his ship will run away again. Before I hand it over to the good captain, let me just speak a bit about the theft and recovery of the Chimaera.

"The Chimaera was hijacked by a delusional man named Vek'din, from Effetfal, Commodore Vortagh's homeworld. He held great power in the Force to dominate minds, and it is clear he used this power for his own gain to take the Chimaera.

"In the chaos, as we got to our ships, my lovely wife, Intelligence Agent Starlit, took a shuttle and boarded the Chimaera. From there she was able to signal us, and we learned the destination of the ship. Once the ship was located, it was a simple operation to retake it, since they had no idea we were onto them.

"Vek'din barricaded himself on the bridge, so a small team comprised of High Command members backed up by Army troops stormed the bridge. There we found Vek'din, but his powers were quite considerable. However, like many megalomaniacs, he likes to talk about his power and his grand plans to remake the universe with him as the centre.

"Between keeping him distracted with the Army troops, and Brigadier Jagged Fel, Agent Starlit, and Captain La Forge attacking him, we were able to keep him enough off balance that he never saw my right fist coming. I figured one of Brigadier Jagged Fel or Starlit would stun him first, but the opportunity presented itself, and well...

"After that, it was a simple matter to bring the Flagship back here and get it ready for flight again. However, Commodore Vortagh and Commander Steel have gone back to Effetfal to ensure that Vek'din faces justice, and so you will notice them absent from the room. It is unfortunate that they can't remain with us, but they will see this through.

"For now, though, I've done enough talking. Let's welcome Captain La Forge to the podium..." Fel stepped aside and joined the applause as La Forge stepped up from the High Command table to the podium.

"Thank you, Admiral," La Forge began. "First of all, I'm really glad that we have the Chimaera back... Being a captain is a much less rewarding experience when you don't have a ship to command, you know?"

La Forge spoke for nearly twenty minutes as the officers in the room ate the sandbox-shaped cake... Many of them oblivious to what La Forge was saying...

The Nemesis bridge was abnormally quiet, but it made sense, since most of the crew was recovering from the party on the shipyard. Wedge paced, excited. No more babysitting the Chimaera here at the shipyard...

Which meant it was time to go get some Rebels! The chase of the Chimaera had really messed with Wedge's plans for taking the fight to the Rebels... And probably set back the Empire's efforts in the sector for a while. He pulled up the map on his datapad and gave it a quick look.

Imperial Territory was relatively fragile along the Muunilinst - Geonosis axis... There was a chance that the Rebels had taken most of it already and without the Empire finding out.

Wedge began tapping away at the datapad. Time to make a proposal to Admiral Fel... to take the Nemesis out to Muunilinst and find out what was going on.

Lieutenant Alex shined his rank plaque incessantly. It was bigger than he was used to, and he wanted to keep it clean. He was one of the last Chimaera personnel on the VSD-II Warhammer...

Clearing out his stuff hadn't been easy. This ship had been like a home to him, even if only a temporary one. And now, as a newly minted lieutenant, he was off to the Chimaera.

Alex had never really intended to take command rank in the Empire. For several years he was happy just being an ensign - taking the fight to the enemy from his TIE. Serving as an Ensign was all he'd really wanted to do.

But times were tougher now - the Empire short on people, the Outer Sectors campaign. A thousand more factors that meant it was time for Ensign Alex to step up and take command.

He looked down at the new RIP again. Lieutenant Alex. He wondered if he should have done it sooner...

His datapad beeped twice. He'd received an official notice from high command. He pulled it up and it was from Admiral Fel. Alex opened it excitedly to find a new pilot had been assigned to the squadron. Day one and he'd already had good fortune... Alex smiled. He was going to enjoy being a squadron leader.

General Jansen was in a bind. Without Vek'din, it was going to be difficult to handle the holocron pieces. He needed somebody who would be able to resist the holocron's charms... Otherwise this wasn't going to work.

No officer he could immediately think of had sufficient training to do that. Vek'din had been the only one for several sectors that he knew of...

Well - he had an idea. The only other people who might know of such a person were Admiral Fel, Admiral Polanski... and Agent Starlit.

Polanski knew of nobody else. He'd investigated that route. And Fel had said to ask Starlit. So Jansen brought up his holonet terminal and paged Fel's wife.

A moment later, she answered via holonet audio-visual chat. "Agent Starlit here. Go ahead, General..."

"I was referred to you by Fel - he says you might be able to find a handler for the holocron..."

Starlit frowned for a moment. "I don't personally know of anybody, but I'll tell you what - I'll get in touch with a few people and we'll see what they know. I've got lots of contacts, at least."

"I'll transmit to you the requirements later tonight," the General said. "But whomever it is needs to be able to stand up to the powers of a holocron."

"You don't make it easy for me, do you, General?" Starlit laughed. "I'll let you know."

"Thanks. Jansen out."

La Forge triumphantly boarded the flagship. His ship. It was finally ready. And this time, nobody was going to steal it from him.

The ship was a bustling centre of activity. Lots of troops boarding and moving about. Drills in the hallway. Pilots flying craft into the hangar, bearing supplies, more troops, and some technical staff to do last minute fixes.

Even the bridge was a bit of a mess. Mechanics everywhere, adjusting, fixing, testing. Sparks sometimes shot out from an errant panel or two. La Forge took the tour route that Wedge had recommended - taking in all the major areas of the vessel in a relatively efficient manner.

It would certainly take time for everyone to be familiarized with everything aboard the Star Destroyer. That's why Admiral Fel had given them a Blue Milk run to kick off. Every crew needs time to adjust to a new ship, and the Chimaera had gone through enough as it was that it was basically a new ship, born out of the ashes of the old.

A rising, burning, unstoppable phoenix. The ultimate symbol of the Empire... Reborn.

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