Chapter 1

As he was preparing to slide down the ladder Rian looked over to his R2 unit. “I’ll be back as soon as I can Tubby, the General is already waiting.” Ikner slid down to the floor and heard the little droid’s beeps of protest. R2-2B, or Tubby as he became known after the name 2B was mutated enough, had been with him for three years now. The bright red droid didn’t like being away from him; Ikner thought it was a little like being married. He dropped his helmet at the ladder and headed off towards the General’s office. It was hard not to run, even with the nervousness building up in his stomach. He was asking for a big favor from the Rebellion and he wasn’t sure if he had deserved it yet. Rian moved quickly down the halls of Holo Base, maneuvering around those he would normally have stopped to talk to. Holo Base was buried deep in the natural caverns of Hael’s third moon. Most of the hallways were natural passages in the rock, so they weren’t always level. Reinforcements, walls, and doors were added where needed. He made a quick turn into the antechamber of Reeves’ office just as Tren had noticed him walking and was about to say something. Rian made a note to apologize to the codeslicer later as he stepped into the General’s waiting room.

A silver protocol droid looked up as he entered, it’s eyes shining brightly. “Ah Captain Ikner, so good to see you. I hope your patrol went well.” The droid’s voice was decidedly feminine and had a quality the Rian could only describe as bouncy. The General called it Bree; Rian was unsure of its actual name and never really cared to. In fact he talked to the droid as little as possible, since it seemed to delight in conversation so much. Blue Squadron joked that if Bree cornered you at breakfast she’d still be talking come dinnertime.

“Is the General waiting Bree?” Rian tried not to let his impatience seep into his voice.

“Of course Captain. The General has been waiting for you to return from your patrol. In fact he told me to send everyone but you away until your meeting was finally complete. I suppose it is of..”

Rian winced a little at the droid’s prattling. “May I go in to see him then?”

“Oh, Sir please forgive me,” Bree said as she triggered the door’s control on her desk. “I was just so anxious to discuss a few things with you that I had forgotten the urgency of your..” Rian didn’t hear the rest; he was already stepping into the General’s office. At least unlike Tren, Bree wouldn’t need to be apologized to.

Rian snapped a rigid salute to the General as the hiss of the door closing sounded behind him. General Leer Reeves had thin grey hair that was peppered with black and white. It was cut close to his head; a trimmed beard rounded out the look. Despite his age the General was still a big man, not an iota of weakness showed in his powerful frame. Rian doubted that youth would be enough to sway the tide in his favor if Reeves ever decided to ask him to step outside. Hard brown eyes stared back at Rian as he returned the salute. “Please sit down Captain. We have a lot to talk about.” Rian sat himself into a chair that had once been a few left over support beams. When supplies were low a creative mechanic could do wonders with a cutting torch. The General’s office showed signs of that ingenuity all over. His desk was three shipping crates, cut and welded until it was serviceable. A few landing beacons that were shoved into holes carved into the rocky wall gave the room extra light. A small, but well stocked, liquor cabinet had once been a shipping container for medical supplies. The General still claimed that was what it was used for. Leer looked over his datapad at Rian, and the Captain had to fight the urge to squirm under the stare. “This is an interesting proposal Captain. What makes you think I can give this my approval?”

Rian blinked once, trying to prepare his argument. “Sir I think you’ll see it’s very feasible. We already have the Void Spiders moving into the Helos system soon. They could use fighter back up. Surely a number of the planets in Helos and its neighboring systems would join the Rebellion if only given the opportunity. And when we take Seisin. That’s one of the Empire’s ship yards, not as massive as Kuat, but Seisin puts out a great deal of fighters and fighter pilots.”

The General looked unmoved by what he heard. His eyes looked back down at the holopad as he spoke, “Skipping the fact that you shouldn’t know about Captain Darkmere’s assignment, should we talk about your personal agendas?”

Rian sighed a little, but hid it as best as possible. Leer was going straight for the kill shot. Rian’s real last name was Jorum, and the General was one of the few people to know that. The Jorum’s were a very wealthy family when during the Old Republic; they began manufacturing electronics to make Holo technology clearer. There isn’t a Holonet receiver without the Jorum name somewhere on it’s circuitry. They’ve always called the planet of Seisin home. Seeing Senator Palpatine as a threat Rian’s father, Dor Jorum began using the incredible wealth of his companies to help fund the budding Rebellion. Worried that one day the Empire would find out what he was doing; Dor had faked his young son’s death when the boy was twelve. Rian was raised on the planet Cree in the Core Worlds, although he still had some contact with his father. His father was pleased when Rian had become a pilot in the Rebellion. A year ago his father had died due to medical problems. During a trip to another fringe world for a business meeting that was a front for a Rebel mission, Dor had contacted a local disease. His father had an allergy to bacta, the only known cure for the Tirana virus. His father, a once energetic vibrant man withered into a gaunt husk. Near the end he couldn’t even lift his arms on his own. The sight of his father like that had never left Rian. His father’s last words to him were, “Free Seisin my son. Our home deserves to be free.” They still haunted Rian and he was pretty sure the General knew it too. Rian straightened himself in the chair. “Who isn’t here for personal agendas sir? Begging your pardon sir, but I would say the majority of the people in the Rebellion want to free their home world.”

“Very true Captain. But if every strategist pursued a group of systems that were almost completely self-sufficient and in the Outer Rim just because it was their home world we wouldn’t have made the advances we have today.”

Rian’s shoulders sagged a little. He wanted to tell Reeves that the Rebellion owed his family, owed his father; but he had retained enough of his senses to realize that would only sound like the spoiled rich boy many thought of him as when he was growing up. It was also very likely to anger the General.

“Captain, I’m willing to believe you have the Rebellion’s best interest in this. Although if I approve your actions, I’ll be keeping a very close eye on you. The second I think you’ve turned this campaign into a personal vendetta I’m pulling you and your squadron out.”

Rian couldn’t help but smile. He was winning, only one last hurdle to go. “Yes sir. I’d expect nothing less.”

“So then we need to talk about the choices you’ve submitted for the squadron.”

Rian tried to keep his smile, but it was difficult. Leer really was attacking the few week points in his proposal, and ruthlessly at that. For some reason he had expected a little more dancing around the touchy subjects. General Reeves just dove right in on them and locked his jaws on his target. Rian wondered if he would have been so eager to meet the General if he had known it was going to be like this. Leer’s eyes moved over the datapad and then glanced up at Rian.

“I’m almost guessing this list is a joke. Is there something questionable you wanted that would seem reasonable after this request?” Rian swallowed hard. This was going to be more difficult then he thought.

Captain Sheerk stepped into the air-conditioned bunker and quickly stripped off the scout trooper helmet. He ran a hand through the dark blonde hair that was plastered to his head with sweat. He glanced down the hall and the two stormtroopers stood rigid behind the sergeant manning the security terminal. Sheerk sneered, a look he had perfected, thinking they had seen his discomfort. The scar starting at the left edge of his lips and curling under his chin made the sneer all the more fearsome. He wiped another handful of his sweat off of his forehead. Sheerk had never been satisfied with the temperature controls of Imperial armor, so he had taken to wearing scout armor while on Volmar. He was really beginning to hate the planet. The humidity seemed to cook him like a mollusk, although none of the other men in the platoons underneath him seemed to have the problem. One of the equipment custodians had once mentioned that the armor worked to specifications, that his problem must have been psychological. The remainder of that man’s career had been very unpleasant indeed. The tortures he had put the young tech through let him smile a little despite his discomfort.

His escorts were stowing away the speeder bikes they had used to patrol the area and unofficially check up on project Dianoga. Most of Volmar was ocean. The little land on the planet had the tendency to be very sandy. The planet’s proximity to the sun made the weather entirely too hot for Sheerk’s liking and the blasted water managed to increase the humidity to the point where the air felt like soup. The Volmi were of course used to the climate. But they weren’t human. Sheerk barely gave them anymore thought then he did of beasts of burden. Their green skin had always felt clammy the few times he was unfortunate enough to touch one. Their eyes were completely red and they had a transparent second eyelid they used to protect their vision while underwater. They had gill slits on their necks, although their water lungs had atrophied over the generations. The healthiest Volmi could only spend an hour submerged underwater without coming up for air. Their fingers and toes were both webbed. He hated the race even more then he hated their planet. In his opinion they weren’t smart enough to cause any real threat of course. But the lowliest of animals was capable of causing a bite when you weren’t paying attention and the mouth of the Volmi was a good deal wider then a human’s. The thing he hated most about them was that they were comfortable on this world. They didn’t mind the oppressingly thick air or the blasted sun cooking them. Even though they were virtually enslaved by the Empire and kept from leaving their own planet, or even flying in their own atmosphere they suffered silently. He was sure they hated the Empire’s presence, but they didn’t let it show. He wanted to see them squirm. See them as miserable as he was here. Even the test subject they had used to test the effects of a dry heat on the Volmi body had died quietly. Oh he had fought against his shackles at first, but then he just accepted his fate. Somewhere there was a way to make the Volmi miserable, to finally break their spirit and he was going to find it.

Sheerk casually walked further down the hall. Behind the desk, the man sprang to his feet, throwing a tight salute while both troopers mirrored him. Sheerk looked over the trio and waited a moment. His cold blue eyes studied the sergeant for discomfort before finally returning the salute. The sergeant waited another moment and then finally spoke up, his voice a little unsure. “Sir, Moff Dryden wants you to contact him as soon as you finish refreshing yourself from your patrol.” Sheerk’s patrol had been a long one. He personally commanded most of the storm and scout trooper units that were on this planet. He had just returned from personally reviewing five installations like the one he was using for his base of operations. He eyed the sergeant again, wondering how else to make him squirm. After a moment of boring into the man with his eyes he decided he really didn’t have time for games and headed towards his personal quarters. If the Moff had asked for him, it was probably something of utmost importance. Little games with his inferiors could wait.

Jace moved down the darkened hallway in a half crouch. Reaching a full six foot one, even half-crouched he made quite a target. The virus that had been loaded into the Interrogator’s computer systems the last time it had refueled was playing havoc on the ship’s systems. The virus created by Darkmere’s codeslicer had rendered the ships shield’s and weaponry completely disabled. The addition of leaving the ship only on emergency power had been an added bonus. Through the helmet that contained his close cut black hair he could barely hear the three men behind him. He held up his left fist, a signal for his men to hold their ground, and edged forward towards the next corner. According to the schematics of the ship they had the prison area of the ship was around the corner and it was a likely place for a security detail trying to make a stand against intruders. Jace inched closer and flipped a viewplate down over his left eye. With his blaster clutched in his right hand, he moved his left into one of the pockets of a thick vest like all of the Void Spiders wore. The vests had armored plates and enough pockets to easily hold most of their gear. Jace pulled out an inch long cylinder and attached it to a slender telescoping rod that measured a foot long. He thumbed a switch on the cylinder and used the rod to extend it into the hallway beyond the wall’s safety. Instantly the tiny camera in the cylinder’s view became Jace’s.

Fifteen feet ahead of the corner were two very large, very locked, blast doors. Security cameras sat in the left and the right corner. In a quick practiced motion, the camera was broken back down and stowed in its pocket. Taking a deep breath he eased himself around the corner, blaster barrel first. Even though he had known it was safe, there was a sense of dread as he entered what could have been a kill zone. Seeing only the same view the camera had given him, he let out a small sigh of relief. His left hand raised into the air and the men waiting quickly joined him. He looked over their faces and watched as they took in the situation. “Slice, make a key. Everyone else cover her.”

The squad immediately went into action. Sergeant Corez covered the distance between them and the door and slid against the wall where the blast door’s controls were housed. She pulled out a hand held multi-purpose tool and popped the control panel open. Jace and the other two members of the team were tense, waiting for the doors to slide open. Corez’s hands were plunged in the wall; Darkmere could see some multi-colored wires when he spared a glance in her direction. Corez let out whistle, alerting her comrades. “In three people. One… Two... Three.” The doors didn’t budge. Corez bit her lip and let out a quiet, “ummm.” The Spiders looked at the closed door in defeat, Corez prodding the wires again.

The doors sprung open with a hiss. If it startled any of the Void Spiders, they didn’t show it. Six stormtroopers whirled around catching a hail of red blaster fire. Jace walked his shots in between two troopers. The first shot caught a man in the side, the other in the back. He bounced his aim back to the first target and shot him in the shoulder. The forth shot returned to the second trooper and placed another shot in his back. Behind the fallen troopers and the steam rising from the melted armor was more dark hallways. Darkmere’s eyes scanned the shadows, noticing a desk further down the hall. Across the desk was a man in an Imperial uniform. The blast that put him that way had exited through his black, identifying the shooter as the Spider’s gunnery/heavy weapons member. He was the only one carrying a blaster rifle; the rest of their blasters wouldn’t be as destructive at that range. “Anyone hurt?”

“I broke a nail sir.”

Jace rubbed the “x” shaped scar on his chin, the only thing marring his rugged good looks, and glared at Corez with dark green eyes. With all of the commando gear she had on it was hard to tell a petite young woman was smiling at him. “Gunner, take the desk up ahead. After she sets up our key card, shoot Slicer.” He watched the hall as his man with a blaster rifle started cautiously down it. The rest of the squad giving him as much cover as possible. During a mission all members went by their positions so no one could overhear their names. Everyone stayed tense until Sgt. Tak reached the desk twenty feet down the hall. Their heavy weapons soldier was the largest of the Void Spiders. He topped out at six foot six. With all his gear he looked almost as wide. Tak always managed to have a lazy grin on his face, even in the midst of firefights. His helmet covered up the shaved head that the team rubbed for good luck before they went in on their missions. He used the furniture as a piece of cover as he swept his gun over the still unexplored hallway. Tak held up his left hand and the rest of the squad moved quickly to join him. Corez slid quickly behind the desk, the faint glow from two monitors illuminating her features. Her fingers danced over the controls for a moment, the rest of the squad keeping their eyes and weapons on both sides of the hallway. Jace heard Corez whistle again, something she tended to do when completing a job. He glanced over towards her. “Open up eight, twenty, and forty-two.” He waited a moment and once more heard the familiar whistle. “Ok Spiders lets collect em.”

The first two were easy. As the doors slid open, neither of the prisoners needed much of an explanation before joining them. Dr. Towar, the mission’s only original target, had been informed of the extraction the same time that Corez’s virus was loaded into the ship’s computer. Skeng, the first of the two added at the last minute, almost seemed to be expecting it more then Towar did. Doctor Sabina Towar stood just at five feet tall and was very slender. She was dressed in an all grey jumpsuit that zipped up the front and her prisoner number stenciled on the back. She was barefoot, but was free from any type of shackles. Her long blonde hair was pulled back in a severe ponytail, making her attractive features seem more serious and aloof. Her eyes were a blue so dark they almost looked manufactured. Her features were delicate and complexion fair, much like one of the delicate dolls popular on Alderaan. Skeng on the other hand was Carthain. His skin was a pale, chalky white. His waist long hair was black, but had a blue glimmer when the light hit it. Both were traits of his race. Barely hitting six feet tall, Cooper just looked fast. The jumpsuit he wore, the same type as the doctor’s, hung loose on his thin frame. While attractive, there was something about his smile that added to his charm. Within minutes after Cooper was released, Jace noticed the smile aimed at both Corez and Doctor Towar; neither woman seemed to mind. They were passing another security desk, just outside Cooper’s cell when he stopped them. He slid over the desk and started going through the drawers muttering, “She has to be in here.” The team looked on puzzled and Jace glanced down at the chrono on his arm. Cooper was moving fast, but he was costing them time. Just as he was getting ready to tell the convict they had to leave, Skeng popped up with a palm sized holoprojector. “Sithspawn thought they could take her from me.” Darkmere only had to show his impatience and the squad moved double-time down the hallway.

The team and their escapees found cell forty-two with no other problems. The Spiders stood ready, their blasters pointed down the hallways just waiting for more Imperial white to show itself. Corez slid open the cell door and fell to the floor as she was pounced by a screaming man who appeared more like a beast then a man at the moment. The rest of the Spiders spun around, Tak finding the wild man’s fists thundering into his stomach. The biggest man in the unit fell on top of his assailant’s shoulder. The prisoner pushed off the balls on his feet and threw the stunned Tak on top of the unit’s demolition woman. Jace gritted his teeth and flicked his blaster to stun. In the corner of his eye he saw Skeng Cooper grab Sabina Towar and move the woman out of the fight. The wild man, named Talos Latha, was turning his mission to bantha droppings. Talos turned to face Jace and the Void Spider let loose with his blaster. The first blue shot hit Latha in the face. Two more quickly followed it as Jace took out his aggression. Talos was only an inch taller then Jace. He had dark brown hair and a face full of stubble. The long bangs dropped down to his chin. He had an athletic build, his muscular arms showing through the jump suit since he had ripped the sleeves off. During the fight his grey eyes were as bright as wildfire. Those lights went out now though and small groan came from Talos as he slumped to the floor.

“OK, people. That’ll teach us to let our guard down. Our ride is waiting for us, let’s go.” Tak got to his feet and stared down at the man who had put him down so quickly. “You have the baggage, Gunner.” Jace watched Tak grimace and as he turned around to lead the team back to their ship he heard the dull thud of Tak’s boots hitting what he guessed was Talos’ ribs. The squad moved as quickly as Darkmere felt was safe. Their once quiet footfalls now rang out and announced every step as they half ran down the halls.

Their target was the area where their ship had blasted a hole in the hull, and set up a small airlock between the ships. Had the Interrogator’s weapons or shield been active, the task would have been impossible. As they ran through a cross section of hallways Jace noticed the glint of white in the shadows ahead of them. His voice echoed through the halls as he yelled his warning, “We got Imps!” The squad split to the left and right hallways, letting the walls give them cover. Jace, Skeng, and the Doctor had dove to the right, the rest of the unit going left. Red blaster fire flew through the now empty hallway. The blasts kept coming, and a larger bolt that sounded like thunder rocked after the smaller ones. Quickly he worked out what they were facing. There were maybe three troopers with blasters. The big bolts had to belong to an E-Web, the big tripod mounted gun. They usually had crews of two or three. That made it six to eight troopers. Darkmere sighed, outnumbered and outgunned, he was going to have change that to the Void Spider motto. Jace readied his blaster when to his left he heard the Doctor scream. He whirled around and saw a stormtrooper stumbling backwards, the hilt of a vibroblade sticking between the helmet and chest plate. There was a gurgling sound and the trooper’s hand went up to the handle of the knife. Crimson poured out over the black gloves. A wheezing sound came from the trooper as he fell over, probably trying to get one last breath. Cooper looked back at Jace with a smile. The trooper was at least twenty feet away, an impressive throw to say the least. Jace looked back at the body of the now dead trooper in surprise. “Where did you get the..?”

Skeng shrugged. “Just found it I guess.”

Jace glanced back over to the rest of his unit, his hand patting his knife sheath as he did so. Darkmere wasn’t sure if he should be mad at the escapee or not. He hadn’t even felt Skeng lift the knife from him, and that bothered him, but it ultimately saved his life. Across the river of blaster fire he saw the rest of the team had taken out two other troopers coming from their end. Tak still had Talos thrown over his shoulder. When the big man caught eye contact with his commander he held up his left hand and gave a thumbs up. Catching the signal Jace gave him a quick nod. He turned back to Skeng and Towar. Cooper had retrieved the vibroknife and the trooper’s blaster when Jace’s back was turned. “Stay down you two. We got something for our new friends.”

Tak pulled a silver ball off the back of his belt and rolled it down the hallway towards the ambush. A laser blast slid right over his helmet, leaving a black scorch mark. Tak’s eyes were giant white saucers as he ducked back behind cover. He trembled for a second, knowing the shot was only an inch away from opening his head up and taking a look inside. He didn’t have time to be afraid though, he readied his blaster rifle as the thermal detonator went off and the resulting explosion shook the hallway. As soon as the blast hit, the Void Spiders leaped into the hallway and charged, their blasters firing red death upon anything that had survived the blast. The detonator had taken a bite out of the hallway, shredding durasteel walls and scorching everything black. The remains of the E-Web and tripod stood in the middle of the floor, looking like a twisted black skeleton. The pieces of the troopers were scattered like confetti over the debris. Jace looked back to the hallways where they had made their stand. Tak still wore Talos over his shoulder, the number of pointblank stun rounds were sure to keep him out for a good while. “Corez, go back and get the other two paychecks so we can get out of here.”

Rian leaned back in his chair with his boots propped up upon his desk. His office was a quarter of the size of the General’s, prompting Juve to dub it “the broom closet.” The constricting walls were one of the reasons he usually kept the door open. At least being able to look out into the hall seemed to make the room bigger. It wasn’t like he had a lot of things in his office either. His desk was a two shipping crate version of Leer’s. There were three sturdy, yet highly uncomfortable chairs. Everything else was empty. The clutter had been contained to his desk; whose top was littered with data cards, an overworked datapad, a small holoprojector, and numerous other little things he used to keep himself occupied. Tubby had cleared everything out of the room’s corner and claimed it as his, even now the little droid sat there. In Rian’s hand was a streamlined silver datapad thirty-four versions more up to date then the ancient one sitting on his desk. His eyes scanned the information on the screen. There was nothing new on in the file he was reading. Nothing had changed in it since before he had submitted it to Leer. But it looked different now. It wasn’t just a proposal anymore. It was the guidelines for the mission he’d be undertaking, the squadron he’d be building. Having it approved seemed to change every word in the file. It was the forth time since his meeting with the General that he had reread it. He smiled knowing he now had the chance to fulfill his father’s wish.

A knocking on the doorframe pulled the daydreams about his father from him. Rian looked up, trying to disguise the startled expression on his face. Zwick Staamas stood just outside the doorway and was suppressing a laugh. Zwick stood five foot seven and had a thin build, perfect for the X-Wing’s tiny cockpits. His blonde hair was shaved on the sides and long on the top of his head. He kept the locks slicked back where they eventually touched the back of his neck. He had thin, very angular features and dark brown eyes. Zwick’s laid back, easy going nature made him easy to get along with and the two became fast friends. Zwick was also a nearly legendary Sabbac player. Staamas had joined the Rebellion only a few months after Rian had. Their careers traveled the same course, always being assigned to the same bases, commanders, and squadrons. Ikner’s time in service had usually but him a rank above Staamas, but neither man let that get between them. Once he had eye contact Zwick didn’t wait for any more invitation. He closed the door behind him and set himself in the chair opposite Rian. “So are you going to let me in on what happened or am I going to have to find out from Bree?”

Rian laughed. “You must really want to know if you’d ask her.” He dropped his feet off his desk to better face his friend. One hand still held the datapad and he glanced down on at it one more time, as if it was proof of what he was about to say. “We’re ago.” Rian couldn’t help but let his happiness slip through and accent his words. “Two or three of my pilot selections are still up in the air, but even still.”

Zwick smiled. “That’s great. Problems with the pilots? Who did you request?”

Rian hit a few buttons on his datapad and brought the information onto the screen. “Well I might as well go over it with you anyway. I want you as my executive officer.”

“You trust me as your XO?”

“Not really, but since I had to fight the hardest to get you, I figured I might as well parade you around.”

“Fight to get me? Why?”

“Who do you think General Reeves wanted to step up as the next commander of Blue Squadron? And with a promotion too I might add.”

Zwick’s eyes opened wide. He knew he was a good pilot, but hadn’t expected that kind of promotion. Certainly not this fast. The fact that Rian had always been his superior made it easier for him. He felt safer knowing he had someone to reinforce his decisions and to take more responsibility for them then he was willing to. “He wants to promote me to Captain?" Rian nodded as he watched his friend’s surprise. “You deserve it too buddy. But if you go with me you won’t be getting the promotion. I wouldn’t take offense if you stayed with the Blues.”

Zwick let the information seep in for a moment. Being in control of a flight of fighters was one thing. Only three people under your command and once everyone is out of their ships there isn’t anymore work to do. But heading up a squadron is a vastly different thing. “Hey man, I told you I’d be there with ya. I’m going with you.”

“I’m glad to hear it Zwick. I have a feeling we'll need your luck. Although the General still wants to hear it from you.”

Staamas frowned at the thought of private talks with the General. “Gee thanks. OK who’s first on your wish list?”

“After you, you mean.”

“Well of course. I better be at the top of the list.”

“OK then. Carson Dire.”

“Dire? Why does that name sound so familiar?”

“He’s from Cree too.” Although Zwick was a close friend, Rian’s need for secrecy excluded even close friends from knowing his true identity. He still believed the Ikner family had lived on Cree for many generations. “He was a racer. Best atmospheric pilot I’ve ever seen.” A knock at the door stopped his explanation and caused Zwick to jump a little in his chair. Rian looked up and called out. “Enter!” The door opened a moment later and a young Deckman walked in.

“Sir, Lieutenant Agars wanted me to inform you that the shuttle to Cree is ready to take off in fifteen minutes.”

Rian glanced at the chrono on his wrist. He hadn’t realized that it had gotten so late already. Luckily he had packed his bags immediately after talking to General Reeves. He looked up to the fidgeting Deckman and smiled. “Thank you. Tell him I’m on my way.” As the Deckman left the office Rian popped the data card out of his datapad and tossed it to Zwick. “I’m going to be gone for a week trying to get Dire. All of the information on the squadron candidates is on the disk. The definites should be arriving the same time I get back.” Staamas looked over the disk and tucked it into a pocket as he stood up. Rian grabbed his travel bag and followed Zwick out the door. “Zwick, don’t forget to see the General.” Even the mention of it brought a groan from Zwick and kept Rian smiling until he reached his shuttle.