Captain's Quarters, Seraph

"Run that by me again."

Lieutenant Convarion sighed. "They got jumped by a group of pirates. Some how, they managed to put an asteriod directly in the Queen's path. If she had been moving any faster, she would have collided with the asteroid and been destroyed in a collision."

Corise frowned as he looked at the holo-feed from the Queen. "I wonder if they were after someone else. Obviously, their ships did not pack enough firepower to take on the Seraph."

"I would agree," nodded Convarion, "but the positioning of the asteriod is too good. If the Queen came in one more MGLT faster, she would have crashed into the side of the asteriod. I think those vessels were there to finish off the Queen if the impact didn’t completely destroy her."

The Kashan man nodded.

"That would have been very convient if anyone was trying to sabotage the project," agreed the Commodore, "especially since few people knew the route. Not even Governor Saxton could know though, which raises the question of who would know.”

“Actually,” stated Christina, “I told the head of the Genarius Science Foundation so he could estimate when his crew should be set up. Saxton was talking to him later on last night at dinner. He could know that then.”

“And he’s the only one with the possible motive as well.”

“I wonder-”

A comlink blipped.

“Sir, uglies that helped attack the Queen have been spotted on the outskirts of the system. We have scrambled a squadron of Deathsabers to deal with them.”

Corise tapped a key on his datapad, showing a system defence grid for Genarius. There were a squadron’s worth of uglies hanging out just outside of the gravity-well. Most commercial traffic lanes were scrambling towards their destinations too and from Genarius. But an oddity arose as a Corellian light transport leisurely dropped out of hyperspace above Genarius and started its descent downward. The slow pace along with a blacked out transponder garnered suspicion in the Commodore’s mind.

“I want that freighter stopped and boarded.”

“Aren’t the pirates a little more of a threat?”

“Just do it; that’s an order.”
-------
Iris, Genarius

“Welcome aboard Oret.”

The man grimly nodded as he exited his Corellian light transport.

“Thank you Governor.”

The older man produced one of his trademark smiles. “You will find that the Iris has been extensively modified since when you sold it to me.”

The two men began to walk down the hallway.

“How so?”

“Everything. Weapons, shields, and armor. I even managed to arrange for a set of antiquated fission bombs to be discharged every month to hide the presence of the ship.”

Oret frowned. “How are you protecting your ship from the bombs and the radiation? My freighter barely made it to the higher levels of the atmosphere just to reach you.”

The Governor nodded. “We normally don’t even come up nearly this far up into the atmosphere. The chances of detection increase exponentially. We are lucky that your fighter pilots drew the attention of the Coalition ships and personnel. You might not have been so lucky otherwise.”

“I suppose. Let’s get down to the point. What exactly did you mean by offering me a position of substantial authority Vic?”

Victor produced a predatory smile. “The Coalition delegation has been on back and taking up my time more than I would like. Consequently, I can’t come down here to check up on my operations on the Iris.”

Oret frowned. “I was aware of the bootlegging.”

“It’s not bootlegging, we produce some of the finest and most sought after brandy in the galaxy. The prices that it raises is how I continually manage to acquire the old fission bombs.”

“And you’re still getting a profit?”

“To be sure. The other operation onboard ensures that.”

“And what operation would that be?” questioned the mercenary.

“Let me show you.”

The governor walked over to a portside door, opened it, and ushered the other man in. Oret gazed at the massive internal smelting going on within the ship.

“You’ve turned the Iris into a mobile refinery?”

“No, better than that. The Iris mines Ardanium and refines it. This operation alone has discovered that particles of Ardanium are formed by nuclear storms and processes which dominate this atmosphere…”

His arm on the desk, the old man poured over the latest holo-reports.

"Your excellency, the Coalition delegation has arrived to see you."

"Send them in."

Roughly a Coruscant minute later, the opulent doors slid open as a pair of couples strolled in: Pro-consul Thorn with Commodore Lucerne, and Vice-Commodore Shipwright with Colonial Minister Ramos. Governor Saxton smiled.

"Ah; how goes the exploration?"

Lucerne broadly smiled, "It is going flawlessly, your excellency."

"It should be done sooner than expected; the drones are performingly remarkably well and the Genarius Science Foundation are quite dedicated to their work."

"Yes," smiled Victor, "they are pleased to able to do such a project. We haven't had the technology to do it ourselves. If it was possible, I would have enacted legislation a long time ago to do it."

"Well your Excellency," stated the Pro-Consul, "you should have done it while you had the chance."

The Governor frowned. "I beg your pardon."

"I don't," announced a new voice.

The speaker was dressed in the uniform of the Genarius Security Police. Behind the man was a squad of the GSP SWAT troopers. Their leader moved quickly towards the desk and the visitors.

"I'm sorry," sighed the Governor, "but you know too much. Sergeant, arrest them on charges of forging evidence."

Most of the Coalition party frowned as the GSP troopers indeed moved towards the Kashan and Gestalt personnel instead of the Governor. Almost thirty minutes ago, the Coalition quartet had convinced the same GSP sergeant to arrest their Governor based the testimony of a turncoat the footage taken from a drone before the Iris vaporized it. The Governor smiled and walked up triumpantly towards the delegation, who started to raise their hands in surrender.

"You thought that you could trap me at my own turf. You thought you could get my own personnel to betray me," gloated the old man, "You thought you could do it in such a cavalier manner. You have failed, and it will cost you your lives."

"I thought better of you, Sergeant," noted the Kashan man.

"Money is better than morals. Always remember that, if you ever have the chance," snarled the police officer.

"I disagree. You, put up your hands," stated a figure in the doorway.

Repulsorlifts could be heard above on the Governor's private landing pad. The other doors to the office burst open with mercenaries, Kashan Shock Troopers, and the elite Colonial Commandos. The sound of dozens of blaster rifles being leveled at the rogue Governor and his troops reverberated throughout the room. Seconds later, another pair of GSP squads entered the room and approached the Governor.

"I believe we have you outgunned, Governor," stated a delegation member as the quartet lowered down their hands.

"You," stated the leader of the new GSP men, pointing at the Governor, " are under arrest for embezzlement and tax evasion. More to add onto that later."

"What?"

Corise beamed. "Governor Saxton, permit me to introduce you to Captain Oret, leader of the Genarius Security Forces."

The Governor stood dumbfounded.

"You see your excellency, we intercepted Oret when he attempted to land. In exchange for a pardon and his new post, he agreed to reveal all of the information he had on your shady dealings and assist us in catching you."

"Which I have done might I add," stated the former mercenary.

"Indeed."

Captain Oret smiled knowingly as he motioned to the GSP police to take the former governor away.

Captain's Quarters, Flagship Seraph, orbiting Genarius

"...and everything is under control," stated Lieutenant Convarion.

"Do you think we'll need to station any ships here?" questioned the Pro-Consul.

Corise snorted.

"I doubt it. The Iris, albeit an old Invincible-class Dreadnaught, has been modified to the extent that she has enough firepower to take on an Imperator Mk II Star Destroyer. Besides, Captain Oret brought back his entire mercenary fleet and has recommissioned them as ships of the Genarius Fleet. It turns out that the ships he sent to jump the Queen was actually only a third of his fleet. I'd say that the Genarius Fleet has increased exponentially now."

"What was it before?"

"A few customs corvettes and two wings of starfighters. Enough for customs and protection against small pirate groups, but nothing else."

"It sounds reasonable enough," stated Convarion, "but just to be safe, the Genarius Legislation has purchased a pair of Gencore II Shield Generators."

"Excellent; then they don't have to worry about a potential bombardment," noted the Kashan Commodore.

"Unless they're sabotaged."

Convarion shook his head. "That's unlikely, as the generators have their own separate orbital platforms and are fed from the nuclear storms below."

"And the mapping project?" questioned the diplomat.

"It will take some time, but I think the Genarius Science Foundation will finish it eventually."

Corise smiled.

"What is it sir?" asked the junior Kashan officer.

"We've already arranged for the first trading agreement between Kashan and Genarius. KDI will be exchanging a load of Ferrocarbon for Ardanium. The swap occurs in a week."

Pro-Consul Thorn blinked. "How come I never heard about this?"

"Because it was arranged roughly an hour ago."

"A new era then," nodded Lieutenant Convarion.

"I'll toast to that."