Sawara was seated in his office with Dawara, discussing the various problems in the new Cren Alliance.

"We have gained our freedom from underneath Crinium, who was going to turn into an Emperor, but not all the population is happy. We still have the threat of the Jed, and we have the rebels holding out on Farquak Junior, and we have rebels spread across the planets, who have support from the Can'd'any Government, and may have support from the Dern'lya Government. We definitely know that there are large camps of rebels hidden in the Can'd'any and Dern'lya mountain ranges. There aren't many rebels on Par, but the valleys on Dor are full of them. The rebels based on Dor don't have a great air force, but only because they are based in valleys. Instead they are concentrating on building up an impressive ground force. The Can'd'any rebels have an excellent air force and army, and the Dern'lya rebels have an excellent navy, army and special forces. We expect that due to the Dern'lya and Can'd'any governmental support to the rebel cause that they will continue to train in the military and gain military equipment. Also we expect that soon they will start to have recruits in the space program, so that one unfortunate day they may be able to steal one of our new ships. If they do it fast enough they may even be able to control one of the Viscount Star Defenders building in the shipyards."

"But we have the support of the Mon Calamari Republic. Do they know of our problems?"

"Not yet, we are down playing it, so that we can hopefully deal with it by ourselves.”

“Uncle, if the problem escalates any more, we will need the Mon Calamari Republic. You are also forgetting that the rebels have missile production facilities, a Gencore Two shield generator and missile launching sites on the moon. As far as we know, they could be building more material, even space ships, on the moon. We need to take down these rebels. I think we should call in the Mon Calamari Republic, to deal with these rebel scum quickly. Also, we need to bring the Can’d’any government to trial, because they are supporting the rebels. We need a quick strike at the moon base, to decimate it.”

”We can’t bring the Can’d’any government to trial. Think about it. First off we try to get rid of Crinium, because he was turning into a dictator, and we had around half the world on our side. Then the Mon Calamari Republic puts Crinium on trial, because he was planning to kill numerous government officials, and was a dictator. We get freed and given back our old jobs. Then we immediately put the government of Can’d’any on trial, for supporting rebels, rebels much like the ones that we were considered as. We can’t do this. If we call in the Mon Calamari Republic, it will only to be to help convince the rebels peacefully to meet with us, and negotiate a treaty. Even if Can’d’any goes off and becomes a government by itself, while we turn into a world government, that would be better then having the rebels still around. Or we could offer the rebels a nation of their own, which would be Farquak Junior, and they become part of the Cren Alliance, sort of like Gernon has it’s own representational team.”

“Excellent points Uncle. So when do you plan to actually carry out this plan?”

“I’m not sure yet, but we will probably be calling in the Mon Calamari Republic very soon. I want total security for the peace talks, so that the rebels don’t try to take us out.”

“You were always the wise one. What about the problem of the Jed?”

“I’m not going to address that issue yet, unless I am forced to. Before I do anything about the Jed, I want to have the Cren Alliance united, with not rebels. Also, one of the rebel goals I’m sure is to take down the Jed at some point, so if we promise them that we will do that, it will bring them to our side. If I am forced to address the problem of the Jed, I can simply point out that we can and will bring in the full force of the Mon Calamari Republic to bear on them.”

“I see, so you have it all planned out.”

“Yep. In fact, I think it will be better if we call in the Mon Calamari Republic right now.”

“Uncle, who would you be calling in the Mon Calamari Republic?”

“Probably a commodore in their navy. Why do you ask?”

“Because it would probably be a lot faster to call Jesmin Ragabag directly, and use her power as second in command of the republic and Master General to our advantage, plus the fact that she hates everyone who is attached to the Cren. Also call the New Rebellion. They are allies of the Mon Calamari Republic, and their command center on Haven in close by, just in the Unknown Regions. This way, once we are done with the rebels, we can move along and fight the Jed right away.”

“Right. And I have their com numbers as well, so I won’t need to go through some lower down people. I’ll call them both right away.”

Sawara ran over to his com unit, and punched in Jesmin Ragabag’s number.

Across the galaxy on Mon Calamari Jesmin heard the ring of her com unit.

“Hello, Jesmin Ragabag speaking?”

“Jesmin, this is Sawara.”

“Oh, hi. What do you need?”

What the hell is he doing calling me? He is supposed to contact other people if he needs something.

“You see, ever since Crinium was over thrown, we have had some rebels, and the threat of the rebels is mounting. We know that the government of Can’d’any supports the rebels, and we are pretty sure the government of Dern’lya also supports them. They have a major stronghold on Farquak Junior, holding the missile production facilities and missile launchers there. They are an increasing threat, and we were wondering if the Mon Calamari Republic could send in a diplomatic envoy, to help us reach peace with the rebels. We also request some troops to help defend the peace talks, so that the rebels don’t try anything.”

Emperor’s black bones, they control the main missile production facilities in that region. They could make a missile large enough to destroy half the planet in those facilities. Oh well, this is still good, cause the Cren are learning to negotiate.

“What do we currently have positioned there?”

“You have 36 Defiance Hover Units and 3 000 000 troops on Farquak. We do not have any fighter coverage, and you do not have any capital ships here. The New Rebellion has 1 Victory Star Destroyer and 2 Nebulon-B2 Frigates, with full XJ X-wing fighter complement.”

“I see. In that case I will bring an MC-90 and two Firewind Light Cruisers, along with 72 MC-10 Starfighters. You may want to try and contact Jan Dondana and the New Rebellion, because Haven is quite close to you.”

“Thank you for the suggestion.”

Sawara and Jesmin Ragabag both disconnected. Then Sawara quickly called Jan Dondana.

“Hello, Jan Dondana? This is Sawara.”

Jan frowned as his com unit woke him up.

What the hell? Don't they know that it is night here?

"Hello, Jan Dondana, this is Sawara."

"Hey."

"I was calling to see if the New Rebellion could send any ground forces to Farquak, to help us regulate the peace talks with some rebels that hold control over Farquak Junior, and some areas of Farquak."

"We will send some troops, but not any more space craft. What we will do is bring in another two Victory Star Destroyers, along with two shuttles, that will land on Farquak, where troops will unload. At this point the ships will leave, and may come back with a second load, but probably won't."

"I see. Thank you for your support."

The two of them shut down their com units.

Why do problems always happen at night around here? Why do we have a screwed up rotation compaired to Farquak and Mon Calamari? And why don't the other people ever realize that?

Sawara looked over at Dawara when the exchange was over.

“You see, we will be fine. There is nothing to worry about. We have help coming from both the New Rebellion and the Mon Calamari Republic. If the Rebels try anything, they will be squashed.”

“So you say Uncle, but don’t you realize the rebels are probably a lot smarter then we think they are? Crinium probably had hidden resources that we can’t access, but the rebels can. Also, the missile production facilities on Farquak Junior could produce a missile that could wipe us out. They have the facilities to launch such a missile as well. All they need to do is make a few super missiles, fire one at each of the ships orbiting Farquak, one at Par, to wipe us out, and then some smaller missiles to wipe out area of resistance. The rebels could squash us in one blow. And do the rebels know that we are planning to open negotiations with them? Have you talked to our allies too soon, and said that we want them to protect our peace talks with the rebels, even though the said talks might not even happen? I can see by your eyes what your answer is going to be, but tell me it anyway?”

“No, I have not contacted the rebels yet, but I am going to do that now.”

“I’m going to, I’m going to. That is all you ever say Uncle. You always say that you are going to, but you always mix up the order that you should do things in. You should have contacted the rebels FIRST, before contacting our allies. Now the rebels might not even show up, and our allies may be most unhappy in you, and not pleased.”

“Maybe I say that I’m going to a lot, but all you ever do is look back on my actions and say, you should have done this, you should have done that. Why don’t you do something if you think you are so smart?”

“Fine, I will. I’ll organise something better then what you could ever do, and there will be no flaws in my plan. It will be perfect. Once I’m done it, I’ll give it to you, so that you can carry it out. Naturally, if it doesn’t work, it will be because of one of your blunders, not one of mine.”

“I’ve come up with a better idea. We will both work on a plan for taking over Crennial. Whoever’s plan is better wins.”

“Fine. When I’m done my plan I’ll give it to you, and it’ll be better then yours, just you wait.”

“I’ll be waiting a long time then, because nothing of yours will ever be better then mine.”

“Think like that for as long as you want Uncle, but we both know that it isn’t true.”

Dawara walked out of the office in a very angry mood. Once he was gone Sawara got on his com again.

“J’apol, this is Sawara. I know that the Can’d’any Government supports the rebels, and I wish to have some peace talks with them.”

“We are not rebels, you are the Rebels. We are the Farquak Empire.”

“The Farquak Empire is considered a rebel organisation by the Mon Calamari Republic, the New Rebellion and the Cren Alliance.”

“We don’t care what you think, but we will attend these negotiations. When will they be held?”

“In one weeks time. Also, if you notice any more capital ships arriving in the system, they are owned by the New Rebellion and the Mon Calamari Republic, and are here to land troops to protect the peace talks from riots.”

“I can here the hidden message of, ‘and you rebels as well, so don’t try anything’. Not that it matters to me, as we would not try anything if we did not feel we could beat the entire Mon Calamari Republic, the New Rebellion and the Cren Alliance. We will see you in a week.”

J’apol turned off his com link abruptly, sending a loud static noise at Sawara.

Somebody forgot to take their anger medicine today. Oh well, at least the rebels will be there, but I did get the direct impression that the rebels do have something planned, and that they think they can compete against the Mon Calamari Republic and the New Rebellion.

J’apol sat in his office.

“What is the status of Operation Death?”

“Five of the missiles are ready. The missiles launchers are ready. Missile Killer is one of the ones ready. We should have another five missiles done in one week.”

“Excellent. When the reinforcements arrive we will strike. I will designate targets at that point.”

“Yes sir.”

J’apol let out a laugh. The rebels would score a major victory soon. They had very, very powerful missiles waiting to be launched at the enemy. They would destroy the enemy capital ships, and kill the enemy troops on the planet. The biggest surprise however would be Missile Killer. One of the most powerful missiles ever built, it could completely kill everyone on Par, and destroy all the buildings on it. When the reinforcements arrived, Operation Death would be started, and then completed. At this point Operation Empire Reborn would come into effect, with was a major ground battle against the Cren Alliance, destroying all of the enemy ground forces. Then J’apol would be placed at the top of the Farquak Empire, as Emperor. The Farquak Empire’s fleet would grow quickly, after they captured the shipyards orbiting Farquak.

“If anything isn’t ready in one week, it will be on your head. Do you understand?”

“Yes sir, I do sir.”

“Good. If you don’t, not only will you die, the fate of the entire Farquak Empire may be changed.”

“Yes sir.”

J’apol finished the conversation, and then read a new intelligence report.

So, a Mon Calamari Republic weapons convoy was on route to Farquak, and Team Alpha decided to intercept it and take it. But where is the confirmation that they succeeded? Why doesn’t anyone ever inform me of the final result.

“Get me Team Alpha.”

“Yes sir. One moment.”

J’apol waited. That was the problem about being a rogue organisation, you didn’t have fast communications.

“Sir, you are connected.”

“Hello, Team Alpha, this is J’apol.”

“Hello sir. What can I do for you on this fine day?”

“I just received an intelligence report saying that you were planning to intercept a weapons convoy. I called to ask about the result of that ambush.”

“The ambush succeeded.”

“Can you give me any more details then that?”

“Yes sir. We were given the route that the convoy was to take from Intelligence, so in an unoccupied system, right before they jumped into the Farquak System, we intercepted the convoy. Using our Saber Assault Bombers, we quickly disabled the Gallofree Transports. Then we used the Kop Code to take control of the vessels. Once we turned off life support, thereby killing everyone on the transports, we started to bring the transports to Farquak Junior. We will be there in two hours.”

The Kop Code was invented under the Farquak Empire by a team of researchers on Farquak Junior just after Crinium was killed. The Kop Code took control of an enemy ship through its communication arrays. From there in entered into the main computer. Once in the main computer the person controlling the Kop Code could do whatever they wanted with the ship they had taken over.

“Excellent. Make sure to follow the designated route in, so that sensors on Farquak and Gernon do not see you.”

“Yes sir.”

The Farquak Empire had learned of numerous blind spots on the Farquak and Gernon sensors, due to the curious rotation of Farquak Junior and Gernon.

J’apol leaned back in his chair. Things were going good.



In Jesmin Ragabag’s office, things were not going as good.

“What do you mean by, the convoy has not been heard from?”

“Exactly what I said. Our weapons convoy on route to Farquak has not been heard from. It should have landed on Farquak five hours ago. Last we heard is was about to jump into an unnamed system, and then on to Farquak.”

“This unnamed system, is it a major supply route between Farquak and the rest of the galaxy?”

“Yes.”

“It’s probably pirates then. Contact the forces assigned to go to Farquak and tell them that we are leaving in three hours. They have that long to get ready. Give me Sawara’s number.”

“Yes sir.”

“Sawara, this is Jesmin, I am going to be arriving earlier then planned, I have to hunt down some pirates on my way. I also have to hunt down a missing weapons convoy.”

“Missing weapons convoy? No, not the weapons convoy that was headed to Farquak?”

“Yes, that weapons convoy. Do you have any reports on pirates in your area?”

“Nope. There isn’t enough trade between Farquak and the rest of the galaxy yet. Pirates wouldn’t have enough to gain. Unless they usually operate in the Bakuran area, or a system near there.”

“Ok. Could it be the rebels?”

“Maybe. We have no idea about how deep their intelligence network has penetrated. We do know that numerous governments have been supporting them, so we try to keep top secret information on Par, but there are always possibilities that the rebels know about everything.”

“I see. In that case, get your counter-intelligence operatives to crack down on the rebels. During the peace talks, be sure to demand that all rebel activities stop, and that a list of their intelligence operatives be given to you, so that they can be recruited into the Mon Calamari Republic or Cren Alliance Intelligence divisions. Later on we can worry about them still being a risk.”

“Ok, I understand. Is there anything else that you want me to do?”

“Yes. Get patrols out to scout the area. Make sure that they scout Farquak Junior for signs that the rebels might be building new ships or larger then average missile launchers, or anything.”

“Yes sir. Anything else?”

“No, nothing. Do you have anything to report that requires the attention of the Mon Calamari Republic?”

“No sir. Oh wait. When I tlaked to J'apol, who is probably the leader of the rebels, I got the direct impression that he thought that he could take on the entire Mon Calamari Republic and the New Rebellion.”

"I see. I guess I will have to watch my step then. Whatever their attack will be, it will probably be a missile attack, and MC-10 Starfighters are excellent at shooting down missiles."

Jesmin signed off and turned to her aide.

“You hold the fort here, I have to go correct problems on the other side of the galaxy.” said Jesmin, tiredly.

Jesmin planned out the mission. She would need to call Sawara again, to request for him to leak her revised timetable to the rebels, and imply that she was only bringing in a convoy of shuttles, with troops and weapons. Then she would call Jan Dondana, and get him to arrive at Farquak Junior early. At this point she would have to travel to Farquak, and hope to be ambushed by the rebels, who were pretending to be pirates. Once she was ambushed, she would destroy the pirate gang and travel on to Farquak. By then Sawara would hopefully have proof that the rebels had massive weapons, which could be classified as weapons of mass destruction, allowing her to order an attack on the rebel facilities, if she needed too. Once that was all done, she would return to Mon Calamari, and deal with the crisis of Emperor Teebo’s disappearance. There were rumours circulating that the Senate would be looking for people to replace him as Chief of State. Jesmin would try to fill the position, since she was a native of Mon Calamari, and had numerous friends. Also, she was an excellent commander during war, and with the New Order as strong as ever, it was expected that the Republic and it’s allies would be in a war for a long time. Despite the fact that they were not currently at war, they were also not at peace. The two sides were rebuilding the damage from their last skirmish, when the Imperials attack Mon Calamari. The Imperials had also assaulted Kamino, and taken in. Meanwhile the Ssi-Ruuvi had attacked and taken Ord Mantell. Both planets were currently controlled by the enemy, and were probably slaves. The New Order was probably forcing the citizens of Kamino to make a vast clone army, while the Ssi-Ruuvi would definitely be enteching the souls of the citizens of Ord Mantell. The garrison there had put up a good fight, before they had been destroyed. Jesmin was proud of the people that had served there. They had given their lives for the cause. Soon she would need to try and become leader of the Mon Calamari Republic, so that she could lead the Republic back into war, to free the poor people that were held under the tyrannical rule of the Empire, and it’s commander, Regent Hyfe. War was a terrible thing, but sometimes it was necessary. One could not negotiate with the enemy, when the enemy held more planets and resources then one had.

“Get me Sawara.”

“Yes sir.”

“Sawara, this is Jesmin. I am changing my timetable. I am arriving at Farquak early. I want you to leak my timetable to the Rebels, and with false info that I am only being a convoy of shuttles, with troops and weapons. This will bring the rebel fleet down on me, where I will promptly crush it. If the rebels mention the fact that we opened fire on them during a peace time, you can simply say that there were no markings on the ships, because I believe this will be so, and that we automatically assumed they were pirates, especially since they fired on us. I will give you specifics on what you can say later.”

“I understand. Will Jan Dondana also be arriving earlier then planned?”

“I believe he will be, though we have not called him yet. Have your fighters found anything incriminating on Farquak Junior yet?”

“Not exactly. We know that they are mining the moons resources, and that there are large caverns, so it is possible for them to produce ships up to say, one thousand meters long. We do have hints of major missile sites being covered by jammers though.”

“I see. Any other problems?”

“No.”

“Ok. Continue your scout runs, try to find some stuff out. Also, scout your planet, so you know where the rebel ground units are. Search your databanks for indications that Crinium may have had a top secret base on Farquak Junior that could produce either fighters or capital ships, a project that was so top secret even I didn’t have access to it.”

“We will do that.”

Jesmin said good bye, and then called Jan Dondana. Before doing so, she checked her clock.

Excellent, I won’t wake him up.

“Hi, Jan? This is Jesmin calling.”

Erisi picked up Jesmin’s call.

“One moment please. I will connect you with him as soon as possible. May I ask who is calling?”

“This is Master General Jesmin Ragabag, of the Mon Calamari Republic. I need to speak to Jan Dondana.”

“One moment.”

Erisi hit a button to talk to Jan.

“Jan, you have a call incoming on line one. It is Master General Jesmin Ragabag of the Mon Calamari Republic.”

“I see. Link her through.”

“Done.”

“Hello, Jesmin, this is Jan. What do you want?”

Jan listened as Jesmin quickly briefed him on the situation.

“I would be happy to send my ships in early. I will get them there tomorrow, if that would fit in good?”

“That would be excellent. Thank you. I’m glad not to have to wake you up, as it seems I have to so much.”

“Thank you.”

Jan said a few parting words, before turning off his com link.

Finally, someone remembers that we have a different day/night rotation then Mon Calamari and Farquak. About time.

Jesmin was a bit annoyed by having to go through the secretary, but it didn’t matter much. When she finally got through to him, she was quite pleased.

“Jan, we have a situation. One of our weapons convoys has disappeared. We suspect the rebels on Farquak Junior. There for we have set a trap for them. We need you to bring your ships into Farquak early, and get them to stay there for a week or two.”

After Jan had agreed, they talked for a bit more, and then Jesmin signed off. She immediately turned to her aide.

“Is the MC-90 ready for me to transport to it?”

“Yes sir.”

“Excellent. Watch the fort. If anything major happens, call me. If not, but you can’t manage yourself, call my second in command.”

“Yes sir. Your MC-90 is the Admiralty, escorted by the first and second Firewind-Light Cruisers, FC-01 and FC-02 ”

Jesmin promptly left, and walked to her shuttle, which was waiting for her. It immediately took off and headed for the MC-90 Admiralty, which had full MC-10 Starfighter Compliment. Two Firewind Light Cruisers escorted them, though they did not have any fighters. The Mon Calamari Republic did not have enough fighters to have some assigned to Firewind Light Cruisers. That was one short coming of the Republic, not enough fighters. They would have to build a lot more fighters if they wanted to have all their ships with full fighter compliment. When she boarded, she walked over to the commanding officer.

“Captain Krill, I will be in my quarters until we come out of hyperspace in this system,” she said pointing to a screen, “When we do, I want all our guns and fighters to be ready, we are expecting pirate activity. These pirates are in fact most likely rebels.”

“Rebels sir?”

“Yes, rebels Captain. The same rebels that we are supposed to protect the negotiation talks from when the Cren Alliance talks to the leaders of these rebels. In fact, the same rebels that most likely captured our weapons convoy heading for Farquak, and who may have killed the crew.”

“I see. Do you want to be notified when we come out of hyperspace at that system.”

“No, I want to sleep through it, and leave the battle up to some incompetent commanders. Then I want you to notify me after we have jumped out of the system, and the battle is done. Of course I want to be notified. In fact I want to be notified five minute BEFORE, we come out of hyperspace, so that I may command the battle.”

“Sir, just because I am a Quarren does not mean I am incompetent. For me to have risen to this level obviously shows that I am extremely capable of fight a battle. If I was not, I would be given the command of a transport vessel, not a Mon Calamari Star Cruiser MC-90. If I was given command of an actual war vessel, it would have been one of the Marauder Corvettes, which are quite outdated.”

“The Marauder Corvettes serve their purpose. Do you think that just because they are small there are not essential to a war? In fact, the ten Marauder Corvettes that we have could probably destroy this vessel. Marauder Corvette commanders are not incompetent, they are in fact given very difficult jobs. Yes it may be outdated, but it provides support to larger vessels, such as this one.”

“Though it may provide support, that is what it is sir. SUPPORT. We fight the main battles, they just help us where they are needed, or where we think even an outdated ship could handle the job. Their role in the military is hardly critical, the Firewind Light Cruiser is much more important.”

“The Firewind Light Cruiser can be used as an escort and support vessel yes, but that is not their main mission. The Firewind Light Cruiser was meant to take the place of the older MC-40s, as a LIGHT CRUISER, not a CORVETTE. Corvettes are meant for support missions, light cruisers aren’t. Firewind Light Cruisers are meant to take on medium sized enemy ships that are probably older then them, but may be larger as well. Corvettes are meant to take on ships their own size, or work as a team to take on a larger ship. Star Cruisers, such as this one, are meant to protect planets, and deal with the enemies larger ships, such as Imperial Star Destroyers, or they are used as command ships. They usually work by themselves, and therefore their crews and captains tend to gain a sense of independence, not used to working with others, or if they are, they assign their accompanying ships to do various smaller jobs. Meanwhile, since the smaller ships aren’t appreciated enough, their captains grow angry, because captains like you do not understand how vital the smaller ships are to success. In fact, in the coming battle, I am probably going to use the Admiralty as a command ship, and give the captains of the smaller vessels the liberty that they need to show the galaxy that they can deal with the enemy. If anything, the Admiralty will be used to support the smaller ships. Yes captain, you are going to be used a support. You will feel that you are not used to your full potential, and therefore you will learn how the commanders of smaller vessels feel. You will be used as a lesson, to teach the various captains of this navy how battle is supposed to be fought. If there aren’t large enough ships for the MC-90s to be needed in a fight, but small enough for their escorts to deal with, the MC-90s will be used as command ships, and support. They will go where they are needed, instead of taking on a large role, when a smaller ship could have done the job just as well.”

“These tactics of yours are crazy. You are going to replace the larger and better MC-90s with smaller ships. You will force the Republic to decommission some of the MC-90s.”

“That may be so, but I doubt it. MC-90s will always be needed, to fight the various Imperial Star Destroyers that the enemy will be sure to have.”

Jesmin left to go to her quarters, hoping that by the end of this mission, Captain Krill would have learned something. She was trying to form the Navy into a well functioning machine, so that when they were needed, they would be ready. She had heard rumours that Jan Dondana was doing the same thing, to get his commanders thinking better. He would go out on mission that might not need his specific help, just to teach some commanders that they needed to think, and take initiative, instead of always following orders, without thinking, even if the commander that gave the orders did not have a clear picture of what was going on.

*************

Later on, Captain Krill calling her woke her up from her thoughts.

“Sir, we will be exiting hyperspace in five minutes.”

“Excellent. Get all fighter pilots to their fighters, and prepare to bring shields and weapons online.”

“Sir, the fighter pilots are already at their stations, and the guns and shields are ready to be brought online.”

“Good thinking Captain.”

He has learned how to be ready for the battle all ready. Excellent, I am making progress.

“I will be at the bridge in time for you to come out of hyperspace. Continue your preparations.”

Jesmin quickly got ready, and then walked to the bridge. When she arrived, she walked over to the chair reserved for a fleet commander. It was vacant, and she was quite glad of this fact. Earlier that day when she had arrived at the bridge, Captain Krill had been sitting in it, as was common for numerous ship captains, as the chair was more comfortable then that of the ship’s captain’s. Jesmin felt the ship revert into real space.

“We have enemies on our sensors. I am reading 24 Saber Assault Bombers, and one escort carrier. What, the escort carrier has launched 48 Rapier Droid Fighters.”

“Launch all fighters. Tell FC-01 and FC-02 to move in on the escort carrier. We stay here and wait to offer support.”

Jesmin was a bit surprised by the captain actually saying those orders, she had planned to say them. Instead she stayed seated, and watched the battle. A junior officer walked over to the captain.

“Sir, we aren’t going to do anything?”

“No. It has come to my attention that the Firewind Light Cruiser are usually being pushed aside, and considered as support. Instead, heavy cruisers are attacking the enemy, when a smaller ship could do that job. In a case like this, where our Light Cruisers, which are designed to take care of vessels such as an escort carrier, can take care of the enemy, we are to tell them to do so. We are to stay here, offering support and acting as a command ship. Those are the proper tactics that we are supposed to use.”

“Sir, we are supposed to act as support?” But we could finish that carrier off in a very short time, and then we won’t be delayed as much.”

“Ensign, return to your post. These enemies were expected. We made sure that in our schedule there would be sufficient time to deal with the pirates. Therefore, we are going to follow our schedule. So return to your post, and do not question my orders.”

The Ensign returned to his post, shaking his head. Jesmin was quite impressed by the conversation; it proved that this Captain was a quick learner, which was good. It also meant that the ensign would probably tell this to his friends, which might spread the tactic farther, and quicker. The Navy might be ready for battle before Jesmin had earlier thought. However, she did realize that she would encounter a lot of resistance from some commanders.

The battle was quickly finished, and Jesmin moved on to Farquak. When they arrived, they noticed that Jan was already there, and had begun to land his troops on Farquak. Jesmin immediately started to do the same. When she arrived on the ground, she was met by Sawara.

“We are pleased by your support. However, we have uncovered a grave secret. The rebels have ten missile launchers capable of launching huge missiles that could destroy Par.”

“Damn. We must act quickly. They weren’t expecting all the reinforcements for another few days, so we should act quickly. We will launch all fighters, and then initiate a bombardment on the shields. When they come down, we send in the fighters, to blow up the missile launchers. We use the fact that they declared war on us when they attacked us at the unnamed system. Then we land troops on the planet, and secure all the facilities. Peace talks will be held later. Does everyone understand?”

“Yes.”

“Yep.”

“Good.”

The plan was carried out with a very quick efficiency. Once Farquak Junior was controlled by the troops, Jesmin called J’apol, and told him the reasons behind the attack, but said that they would still be willing to talk about peace terms. J’apol was a defeated man, and agreed. Farquak Junior was under the control of the Cren Alliance, and therefore the Mon Calamari Republic. The rebellion would soon be over, because of the diplomatic talks. It was an excellent diplomatic end to a rebellion.