One Week Later…


“Captain’s on the deck!”

Corise stiffly saluted the bridge crew. “As you were. Commander Fyre, I need to see you in my quarters.”

“Aye sir.”

The middle-aged man led his younger counterpart to his quarters. He pulled out a tumbler of Cambrian Wine along with a pair of crystal glances. Offering a glass of the red liquid to Fyre, the two sat down on chairs facing a holo-projector. Corise clicked the holo-projector remote control, sending the projector into a spiral of colours that revealed the battleground between the Black Sun forces and the Kashan Defence Fleet. The image was frozen, showing the attack of the Skiprays.

He hit the unpause button.

The Black Sun forces mysteriously broke off and fled from the system. Commander Fyre shrugged, taking a sip of the wine.

“That’s nothing new, although it’s still as mysterious as ever.”

Corise shook his head. “Listen closer.”

He replayed it; Fyre frowned as he stared at his mostly empty glass.

“Okay, so they retreated.”

The Commodore shook his head. “That doesn’t sound like Black Sun. The transmission is somewhat garbled, but they seem to have been recalled for something else.”

“What?”

“No, listen, it makes sense. They had the upper hand when they left. Why else would you leave if you were winning? Black Sun has something more important going on. That, or it could be that they couldn’t risk any more casualties from the fight because of a more important operation that was to come.”

“So we sort of know why then.”

“Sort of,” sighed the superior officer, setting the tumbler back into the wet bar’s cabinet.

“All right.”

Corise turned his sub-ordinate.

“I’m not sure if that’s the last of them though. Which is why I am appointing you as the commander of the KDF forces assigned to protect Genon.”

The commander blinked. “Have you been drinking too much recently?”

“I’m serious. We both know that the bulk of KDF is here over Genon now, but we can’t always be here.”

“Hence the new planetary defences.”

Corise nodded. “Yes, but we’ll need an experienced officer to ensure security in the system while the building is going on.”

The Commander barked a laugh. “Oh, so the corporations are going to lead a massive war fleet that the oh-so mighty KDF will defeat.”

Corise stared at the man. “Very funny. I doubt that the corporations will have any ill-will towards us, but their ships might have stowaways that will. I want the inspection of those vessels to be thorough. And obviously, you are in charge of their protection while they are in the system as well.”

“Do want fries that?”

The Commodore glared at the other man.

cleared

Rob Stellar sat back in the large memory foam chair and stared out the large, rounded viewport of the observation deck. He smiled to himself and relaxed as the seat took shape around him. It had been an expensive piece of furniture, but was worth every credit. After all the stress and work of getting his new company up and running, Rob was glad to finally have some time to himself. Some time to rest and to enjoy a moment of piece in this hectic galaxy he lived in.

He moved his hands up and under his head as he leaned back into the chair. As the foam reformed to this new position Rob meshed his fingers together and cupped the back of his head with his palms. He could almost feel the warmth of the blue and white hues on his face as they surrounded him and flowed around the entire observation deck.

The colors were not coming from within the deck, however, they were seeping through the tinted viewports that surrounded the place he sat. They played around the walls and floor of the large room. Mixing and twisting around each other, creating new variations of themselfs. They moved at if alive and without a care in the world.

This was the reason why Rob had spent most of the trip through hyperspace on this deck. The colors generated by the hyperspace channel were always calming to his soul. As his eyes wondered down from the channel, Rob got a good view of the hull stretching before him. The hull belonged to the Star Voyager, a Corona class frigate that had been liberated from a scrap yard.

He had been lucky to come across it as the ship was scheduled to be torn appart and turned into scrap metal. It had been damaged beyond repair in some former engagement and had been abandoned in the dead of space. Some scavanger crew had come upon it and sold it to a scrap yard, which would have later sold the durasteel on the open market. Rob had fallen in love with the ship at first glance and had bought it almost immediatly.

After getting towed to a small private yard the ship was restored to most of its former glory. With the hull work mostly complete Rob had to the ship taken to one of his small dry docks and secretly modified. The 275 meter long ship was then fit with larger engines, which could propel it at around the speed of a smaller gunship. Some hanger bay space and crew quarters had been sacrified for this larger engine and power generator install, however.

The addition of an advanced, Stellar Enterprises, ship control system dramatically decreased the crew size needed to run a ship of this size. Most systems were automated and backed up with redundent equipment. This decrease in crew size also allowed certain interior portions of the ship to host additional equipment, such as a sensor mask unit, larger shield generators, more powerful weapons, and a more advanced and larger scanner array. Targeting jammers were also incorporated into the modified ships design and could used to buy time for the ship to escape from danger.

As Rob sat there and looked upon this ship of his, he was proud to have been able to accomplish so much in his life time. It had been a long and difficult path, but it had all been worth it. He knew this wasn't the end of the road, however. Rob had a great many more days left to live and to rebuild. Many people depended upon him and if his meeting with the Kashan Commodore went well, perhaps they would have jobs for a long time to come.

While he eyed the large double heavy turbolaser cannon turret that lay just in front and below him Rob's comm unit called out to him. "Sir, we'll be coming out of hyperspace in a minute."

Rob stretched a little and stood slowly up. Still looking out the massive viewport he replyed, "Thank you for informing me Captain Galihan. When we come out proceed as planned. I'll be gathering in the hanger."

"Very well sir. Galihan out."

Rob smiled and shook his hand slowly. After all these years he still couldn't get used to being call sir. It was so informal and he hated the high stature it implied. Captain Galihan had been a military man all his life and felt uncomfortable calling Rob anything else. There were times when he would allowed himself to refer to Rob as Mr. Stellar, but that was as informal as it would get.

Rob moved towards the rear turbolift and stepped inside as soon as it opened. Once keyed to the hanger deck, the lift closed and shot straight down, picking up speed very quickly as it suddenly veered towards the hanger. As it moved Rob felt the frigate come out of hyperspace and as if on queue felt the vibrations and acceleration of the large ships engines igniting and pushing it through space.

Soon the turbolift stopped and the door hissed open. Rob put one of his hands into his pants pocket and walked out into the hanger bay. At the center of this bay sat a shuttle that upon Commodore Lucerne's acknowledgement would depart and carry him as well as his assistant to the meeted. Beside the shuttle stood four large YVH series droids that would accompany them as well as two other security officers/bodyguards. Both were former special operations troopers and had served for years in the New Republic and than Coalition armed forces.

------------------------------------------------------------------

During this time, on the bridge of the Star Voyager, sat Captain Galihan. He was a reather imposing man that some would say belonged in the marines instead of as captain commanding a ship of war. Years ago he had come out of retirement to take command of Rob Stellar's new personal ship. He was glad to be in command once more, without all the bureaucracy involved in it. The Captain was doing something he loved and couldn't have been happier.

As the ship dropped out of hyperspace, Captain Galihan took a quick look at the holo projection and was glad to see that the super freighter they had departed with was still beside them and to the rear.

"The Galactic Hauler reports all green sir." The communications officer relayed.

"Very good, I'm glad we didn't loose her." He smiled a little and glaced towards the man. "Open a channel ensign, lets introduce ourselves."

He waited for the man to act and then continued. "Kashan Defense Fleet, this is the Star Voyager and the super freighter Galactic Hauler. We are ferrying Mr. Rob Stellar of Stellar Enterprises to a meeting with Commodore Lucerne. Requesting permission to close with the planet. PLease inform the Commodore that Mr.Stellar has arrived for the meeting. We will hold position until further notice."

The Captain turned towards the helm, "Helm slow to five MGLT and hold course. Relay the instructions to the freighter and have them hold by in close proximity."

He turned to the weapons officer after and commanded the man to release the single recon drone they were carrying slung under the frigate. The drone dropped and its engines slowly fired. The small craft moved lazily away, its drive trails hidden by the ion shutters. With its stealth systems online the small drone move slowly through space most likely able to not be detected by the forces in space.

The drone moved about in a slow arch in the space surround the planet. It was hoped that it would be used later for demonstrations purposes. If the ship proved its worth and wasn't detected maybe the Kashan would think about ordering some. While this drone flew through space its sophisticated scanners started tracking the ships in orbit and also gathering data on the surrounding space. This information would later be analyzed and used to situate defenses at the most strategic locations. That was if the Kashan Commodore still wished to hire Stellar Enterprises services.

Flagship Seraph, in orbit around Genon

Among the stars suspended in the sable sky, Seraph cruisers orbited the planet in overlapping sentry arcs. Pairs of Deathsabers roared through the empty space around the planet and between the KDF ships; over half of the KDF had been committed to guarding the planet. A serene military show of might; weeks ago, the same space was filled with the fiery blasts and explosions that marked a heavy space battle.

Commodore Corise Lucerne turned away from the viewport and thoughts of the destructive past. The jungle paradise that was Genon was as pristine as it had been centuries. The nature appeared to be untouched; indeed, the only sentient presence on the planet was at the newly captured base, taken intact by the Kashan Shock Troopers. KDI was already expanding the base by attaching an old Imperial Pre-fabricated Garrison base to the bunker’s left side. And with the cloning facilities now producing clones for the Kashan military, the base in itself was quite a prize; ensuring that manpower shortages wouldn’t plague the Kashan and Gestalt militaries. It was a prize that was worth the work that Stellar Enterprises would hopefully do soon.

"Kashan Defense Fleet, this is the Star Voyager and the super freighter Galactic Hauler. We are ferrying Mr. Rob Stellar of Stellar Enterprises to a meeting with Commodore Lucerne. Requesting permission to close with the planet. Please inform the Commodore that Mr. Stellar has arrived for the meeting. We will hold position until further notice."

Corise walked over to the command chair and rerouted communications through it.

“Star Voyager and Galactic Hauler, you are clear to close with planet. Your escorts will be you shortly. Please tell Mr. Stellar to meet me onboard the Seraph…”

And as the exchange was made, several squadrons of Deathsabers converged upon the Stellar Enterprise vessels, doing a quick scan to confirm their identities. The Seraph and Steadfast turned from their orbits to escort and meet the Stellar Enterprise vessel.

As Rob Stellar stood at the hanger bay, waiting for the clearance to depart, he looked out into the vastness of space before them. The frigate was slowly rotating and bringing the planet into clear view. Rob enjoyed the view as the planetary sphere slowly emerged from the side of the hanger bay opening and start to push away the blackness of space.

Rob couldn't help by smile as the pleasant greenish and blue hues of the large planet filled the hanger. It was a beautiful sight to behold, such a contrast to the battle that had raged above it. Rob had never liked wars, even though much of his business had profited greatly for them. The senseless loss of life for ones own fill was something that could never register within his conscience.

As he looked upon the planet something gave off a twinkle in space. He wondered what it could be and moved a little closer to the hangers edge, squinting his eyes to try and find out what it was. It wasn't long before the objects resolved themselves into two larger ships. Rob guessed they were cruisers from the Kashan Defense Fleet and turned back towards the shuttle.

His comm finally called out to him just as he thought about how long it was taking. With the meeting confirmed Rob turned towards his assistant and gave the man a little smile and squeeze his shoulder gently. "I guess they didn't change their minds huh? Is everything prepared?"

The man looked at the data pad in his hand and nodded slolwy, "Everything is set and ready Mr.Stellar. The Freighter will wait for your word to start unloading the contants. Also," the man reachs into him pocket and pulled out a data drive. "This is the manifest of what's on the freighter and of everything the Kashan have ordered."

"Thank you Lumira." Rob said as he took the drive and inserted it into his own data pad. The information was acessed at once and start to stroll before him.

"I'll see you when I get back then." Rob told the man as he moved towards the shuttles opened hatch.

Rob accended the ramp and quickly heard the foot steps of his security detail coming up behind him. Before the ramp came up, his ears heard the resounding echos of the large and heavy YVH droids as they moved towards their positions at the front of the cabin. With them all aboard the pilots retracted the ramp and closed the hatch just as the shuttle lifted off of its support struts.

The shuttle turned towrds the hanger exit and slowly slide out using its repulsors. As it passed the magnetic field holding the coldness and emptiness of space at bay, its thrusters engaged and accelerated the ship away from the hanger and towards the two ships that were headed their way. Rob watched these ships grow in the viewport as his shuttled gently veered to the right, toward one of the two ships.

They were designs he had not seen before, but admired them greatly. He would have to ask the Commodore about them later on. Rob also noticed that something was different about their armor design, something he had not seen before as well. Perhaps the Kashan had developed something new. Rob would have to investigate later.

It did not take long for his skilled pilots to maneuver the shuttle into the other ship's hanger and set it down smoothly and profitiantly upon the Seraph's deck. The ramp slowly moved out just as the hatch opened up. When it did the two YVH droids and moved out. They were set to walk out slowly and act in a way that was not aggressive. Once they positioned themselves on either side of the ramp and scanned the room to make sure it was safe, they commed the security person inside.

These two men stood up and nodded towards Rob. He stood with them and moved towards the hatch after. As he walks out onto the deck of the large hanger he smiled, looking around slowly. Rob straightened his tieless suit and glaced in front to see who had come to greet him.

A pair of black uniformed men strode through the Seraph’s corridors.

“Why do we have to greet visitors in the hangar bay?”

Corise turned his head to face to the young commander and briefly paused. “Probably because that’s where they first enter the ship; it’s not exactly like we can teleport them directly into the conference bay.”

He continued forward.

“But,” complained the sub-ordinate, running to catch up, “it’s so…you know.”

“Actually I don’t,” stated the Commodore, continuing his stride.

“It’s so…ridiculous. That hangar smell with the grandiose show of military might. We’re like the Empire but our hangar is too full.”

Corise slightly chuckled. “I’m sorry, are you suggesting we install air purifiers within all our ships or maybe scented candles; Those would make a great impression on our guests.”

Fyre frowned. “At least it we wouldn’t come out smelling like starfighter fuel.”

A set of doors hissed open to reveal the Seraph’s ventral hangar. Usually, the floor was littered with Deathsabers carelessly parked for repairs or transports loading or reloading. But the Commodore was a believer in making a good first impression, and the hangar showed it today. The floor was not pristine, it was clean of the typical oil spots and ion scouring that plagued most hangars. The Deathsabers not on duty hung for vertical racks similar to those used by the Imperial Tie Fighters or were parked in neat rows off to the side. White-armored Shock Troopers and black clad sailors dominated the room in ordered ranks. The two officers preceded to the head of the formation as the shuttle glided forward to land.

The ramp opened not to reveal Mr. Stellar or one his associates, but instead a pair of droids. Corise shrugged indifferently at them. Seconds later, Mr. Stellar descended along with a pair of men.

The sound of hundreds of individuals clicking their heels as they came to attention reverberated throughout the Seraph’s hangar greeted the men. It was a militaristic tradition brought over to the Kashan Defence Fleet from their ancestors of the Old Republic. But to those unfamiliar with the old tradition, it occasionally came as overly Imperial or expansionistic. Commodore Lucerne approached the other man and shook his hand.

“I trust you had a pleasant flight? I am afraid that the conference rooms at the base have been taken over by KDI as of late. We’ll be using the officer’s lounge in lieu of that. It should actually be a bit more comfortable and besides, there’s drinks…”

Jon continued to sneak down the hall with his squad mates behind him, he looked back at them, and they all stopped, but once he looked away and moved again as did they.

They saw a troop body on the ground and Jon made the squad medic check him out, which revealed no vital signs. He was dead.

Jon knew that what he was looking at was nearly impossible, but continued on moving along wanting the troops to think if he didn't care, neither should they. Jon was scanning the room hoping to see some troopers that were fine, but he found none, whatever his enemy was, it was deadly, very deadly.

Rob looked around at the hanger and saw the rows of Shock Troopers and the black uniformed sailors. He was pretty taken aback by this display. Never had he imagined being treated this importantly. He was just an ordinary, not a chief of state or president of some sort.

As he moved towards the two officers in front of him, he heard the clanking of the heels echo all around them. Rob smiled at the men before him and saw one of them approach. He extended his hand out as well and had the Commodore a firm yet friendly hand shake.

"Commodore Lucerne I presume?" Rob stated and smiled. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you. My flight was good, yes. Uneventful, just how I like them."

Rob laughed a little as his slight joked and looked aorund at display of manpower before him. "You didn't have to organize all this for me, however. I'm sure these men all have something more important to do. I thank you for warm welcome though. I will now truely never forget this meeting."

Rob bowed slightly at the man before him. "I will let you lead the way Commodore. I perfer more informal meeting anyways and it will give me a chance to see more of this magnificant ship of yours."

With that said Rob stood beside Commodore Lucerne and let the man lead the way through the ship and towards the lounge.

Warships were not built for comfort. Warships were built for making war, and thus, weapons, defences, military equipment, and engines took priority over any creature comfort on the vessels. As such, the crew quarters were designed to fit around all of the above. And that was true for the Seraph; with the exception of the lounge.

The doors hissed open allowing the party into the virtually deserted lounge. It was a large room, situated just below the observation bridge, fitted with multiple planes of transprenisteel allowing the walls to effectively act as giant viewports for all those in the lounge. But protection was still in mind, as shown by the two sets of Ultrachrome plates that could swing in place both in front off and behind the viewports. Tables and booths were aligned around a circular bar. Corise chose the largest table available and led the men to the table.

“Please be seated. You have drink menus around you, feel free to order a drink on the house.”

He clasped his hands and swiveled on his chair to face Mr. Stellar.

“We have much to discuss about your corporation’s building of defenses on Genon. I have taken the liberty of providing the location for the planetary shield generators to your superfreighter because they are a priority. I am afraid that they are the first line of defence to prevent anyone from completely razing the planet. As such, I believe it would be best if we discuss them now.”

Rob followed the Commodore as he led them to the ship's lounge. As they walked, he was immpressed by the profisiancy of the Kashan crew around him. Everyone was busy at work and no one was ever out of place. He had nodded at a few of the crew members as they passed and finally stepped into the lounge after Lucerne.

As he sat down in the chair appointed him, Rob watched the Commodore turn around and face him. Rob nodded at the man's statement and slowly smiled. "Yes, we thought the same thing as you. Planetary shields and their power systems should be the first ones installed on the planet. They will provide the safty needed for the ground teams to go work at constructing the other defenses."

Rob reached into his pocket slowly and withdrew the drive with all the data on it. "If you agree to hire my company Commodore Lucerne we could get started right away. Once the contract is signed, we can begin contruction and delivery of the defenses at once. As a sign of our commitment I took the liberty of transporting two Stellar Enterprises Planet Defender shield generators. They are similar to the GenCore II design, but are smaller and require less power to operate."

He pushed the data drive into his portible data pad and set the thing on the table before them. Pushing one of the buttons, a small holo display appeared over the pad and began rotating the Planet Defender's specs in the air above.

"Once our contract is signed, both of these will be quickly transported down and installed. My engineers ensure me that it would take no more than 3 days to get the shields hidden and operational. The freighter I brought also carries one of the first fully automated space defense platforms that Stellar Enterprises has produced. This unit too will be deployed upon us signing a contract."

Rob looked at the Commodore and sat back a little in his chair. "Now comes the part no body likes to talk about... money. To get everything going, Stellar Enterprises requests a down payment of half the total cost. The rest would be payed upon the completion of the job. Does this all sound fair Commodore Lucerne?"