Star Wars: Rise of the Battlemage

After clearing up some of my... left-out information, the Mandalorians seemed to pull together, almost huddling up in the cargo hold. After their ordeal with Grakkus, I wasn't surprised that they needed some time to gather up and talk. Sensing that they wanted some space, I excused myself and my team, heading back to the second deck. Even as I left, I could see that a few of them had heard my little rant, and while I hadn't intended it, I found myself getting a few more considering looks.

Unsurprisingly, leaving anyone alone on my ship who wasn't fully committed to us didn't quite fit right with me, even if I may vaguely trust them, so I ordered Racer to monitor the ship's internal sensors for anything out of the ordinary. I didn't think they would make any trouble, but underestimating a bunch of Mandalorians seemed like a good way to get myself in trouble.

The return trip to Omega Station was over quickly, which was good because, with so many people on board, we were quickly burning through our supplies. If it had been necessary, I would have just landed somewhere to buy more, but it was nice to not have to. When we finally did arrive, the Chariot landed in one of our smaller, private hangers, while the Loyal Hound landed in another. Our other, larger hangers were taken up by our other ships, a small fleet, all docked into our home. Or temporary home, now that I had all but firmly committed Nirn to being our real home.

When we stepped out of our ship, we were immediately greeted by Miru, our quartermaster, his second, Sheora, Felia, Claron, Captain Pella Irsee, Lieutenant Rider, and his second in command. It was an interesting reunion, especially when the Mandalorians descended from the interior of the ship.

"Really?" Miru asked, looking at me and shaking her head. "You can't keep anything simple, can you?"

I scowled teasingly at her before pinching her cheek and introducing her and everyone else to Corvak and his people. I was a bit nervous about introducing Rider and the quartermaster, a clone named Finder, of all things, but it seemed like my explanation of their enslavement got through to the Mandalorians. It wasn't exactly sunshine and rainbows, but it was much better than the open hostility and disgust I saw on the trip here.

No one got called an abomination to their face, which I saw as a good sign. I could only hope that the cold bruskness of their first meeting would get better in time. If it came down to it and they were unable to work together smoothly, I would pick the clones over the Mandaloroains in a heartbeat, but I was hoping that wouldn't be necessary.

Once everyone was introduced, Vaz and Nal guided the Mandalorians to our quest quarters. I promised to meet with Corvak soon to discuss hiring his team for our next mission, whatever that end up being. After that, Tatnia and I were immediately dragged into a meeting, with Ahsoka agreeing to keep an eye on Felia and Claron. Apparently, a few things had built up while we were gone.

First up were Captain Irsee and Lieutenant Rider, whose people had worked together to find a new target. A pirate group made up of a squadron of assorted starfighters, a small gunship, and a freighter were hitting small settlements, demanding ransoms and goods in exchange for not burning the settlements to the ground.

"Sir, I believe that we should be able to force them to surrender," Captain Irsee said confidently. "By ambushing them in a gravity well, they won't be able to jump away to safety. This particular band of criminals has proven to play it safe when it can rather than engage in hostilities. I can't imagine they would fight against overwhelming odds. If they do, the bounty on them is still sizable by itself."

"Okay, but correct me if I'm wrong, doesn't that assume you can catch them in the act?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "How do you plan on doing that?"

Rider and Pella shared a look, the latter giving Rider a nod and a gesture to take the lead.

"The ground team and a few of the Captain's crew were working together to find a new target. One of the crew lamented that this group would be a perfect target if we could predict them," Lieutenant Rider explained. "One of my men noticed that they were only attacking settlements that produced certain agricultural products. We reached out to a few of them, and it turns out that all of the targets were hit a day or two after they sold their latest harvest."

"They are hitting them when they know they have money to spare," I guessed, both the Lieutenant and Captain nodding in agreement.

"A bit more digging and some help from the slicer droids Miru made, and we realized that they were all selling to the same company," Rider explained. "We believe they must be taking cues from someone inside."

"So I assume your plan is to find a nearby world that is finishing its harvest and sells to that company?" I asked, getting double words of confirmation. "Fantastic find, well done. Make sure that the group responsible for this gets a reward, some credits, or maybe a few special requests from the quartermaster on the house. I want to encourage this sort of planning and thinking as much as possible. The greatest strength a group like ours has is the ability to stay flexible and think outside the box."

"Very well, sir," Captain Irsee confirmed with a nod. "Do we have permission to engage our plan?"

"Yes. Take the Whale Shark, the Nautilus, and the Intervention. Will that be enough?"

"I believe so, sir."

"Good, and again, well done. Pass on my happiness to your crew and teams," I said with a smile before turning to Sheora, who had winced when I assigned three of our ships to this new mission. "Something wrong?"

"Well, Boss, I'm here as official liaison to the Rebellion," She explained. "I was given confirmation that our first shipment of precious metals is waiting for you in one of the Rebel hangers."

"Here on the station?" I asked, Sheora confirming with a nod. "How much?"

"About thirty-five pounds to compensate for the loss in mass from transmuting," She explained.

"Right, twenty pounds, five of which is ours," I said, recalling our deal. "Have it sent to Pola's workshop, and I'll convert it sometime today or tomorrow. Any news on a location we might be able to hit?"

"According to what General Draven has told me, we are narrowing the options down," She said. "I'm supposed to do my best to keep you around the station so that if an opportunity involving those options turns up, we can react accordingly."

"Yeah, that's not happening," I said, shaking my head. "I can't just twiddle my thumbs and wait for something to show up. Tell Draven the best he is gonna get is that I'll stay within a three or four days travel from Alpha Base."

She nodded and leaned back in her chair, not exactly looking happy at what she had to report but accepting her fate nonetheless.

"How are Felia and Claron doing?" I asked, the liaison perking up at the mention of her adopted kids.

"They are doing well. Felia has been doing a lot of the exercises that Ahsoka taught her, and Claron seems to be picking up on her need for independence," She responded with a smile. "He's picked up a few hobbies, like drawing. I'm a bit worried about how they will react when I explain they need proper schooling, but what can you do?"

"I'm glad to hear everyone is doing well," I said with a genuine smile before turning to the youngest of the group. "Miru, what's up?"

"The Y-wings and freighter we snagged from the last bounty hunt are well on their way to being fixed up and ready for service," She reported happily. "Quartermaster Rider is hoping to get the freighter added to his complement of shipping starships."

"I was already going to suggest that," I admitted, nodding towards the clone tasked with keeping us supplied. "Do you have pilots?"

"I've been interviewing people from the families of people already working for us," He explained. "Between labor droids and other equipment, anyone with flying experience can do the job, so we have gotten a few interested people.

"That's good. I feel like we already have a small recruitment drive on the horizon, so everyone should keep that in mind," I warned before looking at Captain Irsee and Lieutenant Rider. "What about the Y-wings? Do we have anyone who can pilot them?"

"Any of the clone pilots should be capable," Rider responded. "There was a lot of cross-training for different starfighters."

"Good, that means we can have a few heavy options should we need to destroy a large target," I said with a smile. "Assuming we can stock their heavy weapons. Do we have enough room to store them on the Whale?"

"Plenty," Captain Irsee said confidently. "Even with all of the starfighters and the LAAT/I, only about two-thirds of the ship's hold is taken."

I frowned, clicking and drumming my fingers on the table as I considered my options. The Whale Shark was acquired primarily to be a carrier, but it was also doing wonders for grabbing worthwhile equipment on our raids. I didn't want to get caught with our pants down when we had a golden opportunity to grab something impressive because we overfilled the carrier.

"Miru, could you take a look at the V-wings and Y-wings for me, as well as the interior of the Shark?" I asked, a slight frown on my face. "Try and see if you can't find a way to store them as space efficiently as possible, even if you have to get weird. The Whale Shark has paid dividends already by letting us grab more equipment, so a way to push everything into a corner when the mission is over and we need more room would come in handy, big time."

"Sure thing, Boss," She agreed with a thumbs up. "At the very least, we can find the best way to land them to keep things optimal."

"Thank you. Keep me posted if you figure out something interesting,"

She nodded again, and I turned to focus on the quartermaster, who was talking softly to his second. When he spotted I was looking at him, he stopped and smiled.

"I've got good news, Sir. Your request for construction equipment was filled, and cheaply too. My helper here recalled you being close to the leader of Itander. The city of Solinda just finished going through a rather large growth phase, and a quick call revealed they have a large surplus of construction droids and equipment. For a hundred thousand credits, President Rabben is willing to sell us a fourth of his stock. It is a frankly ridiculous good deal, Sir."

"Seriously? Alright, buy it from him and start bringing it here," I said with a nod. "We can inspect it and start moving it to Nirn when we figure out what exactly the Jedi want and what we want. And make sure to ask if there is anything he needs that we might be able to provide. Weapons, equipment he can't buy legally, anything like that. Rabben has been good to us, and I want to pay him back as best we can.

"Of course, sir," Finder agreed with a nod, his assistant taking notes beside him. "We-"

"What's Nirn?" Miru asked, cutting off the quartermaster.

"No one was coming up with a name for the hidden planet we found, so I picked one myself," I said with a shrug. "If anyone else has a better idea, I'm open to suggestions. Finder?"

"Well, our first batch of temporary structures is ready to go as well, sir," The clone continued after I prompted him. "Enough easily deployable space for thirty people, more if people are willing to share. Should we continue looking for more?"

"Yes, at least another thirty," I confirmed with a nod. "After that, keep your ears open for any bulk sales or opportunities for a bargain. I want to start moving people to Nirn soon, the station is starting to be overcrowded, and I'm done pussy footing around with colonization. In fact, I plan to head to Nirn after a day of recovery to talk to Amescoll about future plans."

"We can load up the Chariot and the Loyal Hound, but I'm not sure you'll be able to land the Hound where you described," the quartermaster said with a frown.

"Amescoll seemed to be attached to the idea of moving the Padawans and others to wherever we decided to settle," I assured him. "So it's most likely we won't be settling there anyway. Tatnia?"

"Yes, Boss?"

"I want you to start spreading the word to the families we have here that we will be opening up the opportunity to move to a new planet," I explained. "It's going to be rough at first, but this is an opportunity to get in at the ground floor. People who help, really help, are looking to play a big role in the future. And yes, we will compensate people who are working, both in benefits and credits."

"Alright, I'll get to work on that."

"Good. Now I have some news, Miru, Quartermaster Finder? During our last mission, we ended up using the teardrops for their intended purpose, as a disposable smokescreen to keep starfighters off of the Chariot as we escaped," I explained. "We didn't have time to pick any of them up before we jumped."

"So we need to make more?" Miru asked.

"We could contact General Syndulla and trade for more tre-fighters," Finder suggested.

"She won't give up that many, and not without charging us too much," I said, shaking my head. "Especially for something that might just be sacrificed and thrown away. No, I want you both to look into alternative options. We need something cheap, practical, and disposable. I'm willing to pay a bit more if they are genuinely effective, but don't lose sight of the fact that they are disposable."

"Yes, sir."

"Can do, Boss!"

"Fantastic. That is all I had, does anyone have anything else to add?" I asked, looking around to make sure no one had anything else to say. "Great. I'll have my comms on me if that changes. Thank you everyone for all your hard work."

I stood, and the meeting was adjourned. I made sure to shake hands with everyone but Miru, who I wrapped in another firm hug. As we were filtered out of the room we had settled in, the both of us made our way back to the living quarters.

"How are you, Miru?" I asked as we made our way through the now busy halls. People would wave, acknowledging both of us as we walked. The young pink Twi'lek preened under the greetings, especially the ones calling her Ma'am, and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"I'm great! Boss, this is all a dream come true! I have my own team, people working with me, a massive budget, and I get to build and design and all sorts of stuff!" She said excitedly. "Working the c20 upgrade into the Nautilus, on top of all the upgrades I wanted was a blast. Best of all, I get to offload the boring stuff to Repair Lead Fakkiv, and she just takes care of it!"

"Well, I'm glad you're learning to delegate," I admitted. "I was worried you were going to overwork yourself."

"Nope!" She said, popping her p. "I'm happy and working an appropriate amount."

"That's good… C'mon, let's go get something to eat before I go back to my room and pass out for a while."

She nodded, and we made our way to the kitchens, only a slight deviation from our original direction.