Commander Kolar reports in

[Adan Kolar]

The shuttle ride down to the surface of Mon Cal was a spectacle unlike anything that Adan had ever seen. Coming from Iridonia, a bleak dry planet scoured with radiation, Mon Cal seemed to have no land at all. It was a virtual water planet with cities floating on the waves and extending down into the surface. Everything that he had seen was organic and natural. The only things that stood out as unnatural on the surface was the Alliance built structures. The Gods of the Universe must have a quirky sense of humor, he thought. Such planets as different as they were, were beyond his imagination.

Adan was a Commander in the 3rd Alliance Fleet. He had been called to Mon Cal to take command of his ship, a ship that he was still in the dark about. He wondered if it was one of the mighty Mon Cal cruisers being constructed in the shipyards. Or was it one of the other older cruisers or destroyers that formed the defense fleet. Adan didn't know. All he knew was that he recieved his summons. It could be that they would just let them go.

Leaving the shuttle, Adan made his trek to the innoculous office 457-BA Port. That was sector 4, level 5 district 7. BA stood for something that Adan had no idea about. Port meant it was on the port side of the landing bay. Twice he had to circle back around as the corridor dove deeply into the ocean. Finally, he found his way and entered the door. The office on the other side was sparse but accommodating and the attendent behind the desk looked up with one eye as she continued to look at her datapad.

"Commander Kolar, welcome. Have a seat, I will announce you and then you can enter."

Adan shrugged and sat down. He had no idea who was on the other side of the door. Hopefully it was good news.

[[tag any officer of the 3rd fleet]]

[Adan Kolar]

While Adan waited to be called into the office, he activated his datapad and began to look through some of his messages that had been rerouted to him. He was disappointed when he saw that much of it was junk.

Did he want to enlarge his "malehood" -- deleted.

Some Senator-in-exile died and his wife on some unknown planet has 40 trillion Imperial Credits she needs your help moving -- deleted.

Some on ShipTrader was busy with things on Corellia, but was wanting to sell his old Dreadnaught Heavy Cruiser on Tatooine for 5000.00 credits, but it would go through an intermediary -- deleted.

And finally,

If he was lonely and looking for hot singles in that part of the galaxy, all he had to do was call this comm frequency -- saved for later.

He desperately wished he had heard something from his twin sister, Aura. Twins were very rare in the Kolar Clan so they were both looked on as something special and a sign of an omen. They had been almost inseparable during their time on Iridonia, but when the Imperials came to exterminate them, they were separated. The last he had heard was through an older relative saying that she was alive and in hiding somewhere near Malastare, but Adan hadn't had any contact with her.

Looking up he saw movement and wondered if it was his turn to go in.

[Tukphen]

Admiral Tukphen shuffled the datapads unnecessarily around his desk, dispensing with the order he'd established only half an hour before in favour of a new system that his mind had decided was far more efficient. The current arrangement orientated the reports on his to-read list in an arc. Reports regarding the Advisory Council - the minutes for their last meeting; the proposed agenda for their next; some report or other regarding a SpecForce team that had come under review - were assigned to the far right, while progress reports and requisition forms from the shipyards orbiting his homeworld were arrayed to the left.

The central portion of the arc carried various documents relating to his other charge, the Second Fleet; apparently the Subdirector of Fleet Intelligence had prepared a new tactical analysis of ways that fleet deployment in the sector could be made more efficient, and a few of the border skirmish patrols had tangled with Imperial forces of late; mostly though, fleet activity in the sector had been fairly quiet, which afforded Tukphen this rare opportunity to actually catch up on the backlog of reports that he had to read through.

Which was exactly why he was spending so much time procrastinating by rearranging his desk.

The frills on his jaw quivering as he gulped down a throatful of air into his land lungs, he cast his gaze reluctantly around his desk, considering whether or not to scrap his organisational system and begin again. He fought the urge, japping a flippered finger instead at the intercom embedded in his desk. "Send him in," he instructed, to the adjutant officer waiting in the reception outside.

Carefully adjusting his pose to mimick the way Admiral Ackbar had been sitting when Tukphen had first reported in to him, he had a last-minute change of heart and lept to his feet, crossing the room to a circular and slightly bowl-shaped window, managing to position himself staring whistfully through it with his hands clasped behind his back just in time for the door to hiss open.

He turned, acting as if the officer's arrival had caught him by surprise, and let his mouth fall open into the Mon Calamari approximation of a humanoid smile. "Come in, Commander," he said warmly, before calmly stepping over to settle down into the seat he'd just vacated.

A hand gestured towards a seat opposite, indicating that Kolar should sit himself. "I am Admiral Tukphen," he explained. "Admiral Reshmar sends his appologies for not being here himself, but the Third Fleet is currently deployed, and he was unable to spare himself or one of his Admirals to greet you in person."

[Adan Kolar]

Adan slipped his datapad back into the pocket before he entered the office. In the corner of the office, a Mon Cal officer, Admiral by the look of the uniform, stood wistfully staring out the window. Adan entered the room and then snapped to attention.

"Commander Adan Kolar reporting as ordered sir."

Adan had a hard time telling Mon Cal's apart, especially when he hadn't spent any time with them. His assumption that he was addressing Admiral Reshmar was exploded like the first Death Star when the Admiral introduced himself. He also wasn't too high on formality either as he just smiled and waved him to one of the chairs on the other side of his desk.

The office was in typical Mon Cal decor, not surprisingly. Greens, Blues and watery colors were evident everywhere and the chair that Adan took a seat in looked to be "grown" out of a green corral. Being from a radiatated inhospitable planet, it was a humid and cool room. Adan thought he would find it refreshing for short periods of time, but it would probably be an annoyance to him it he had to sit here all day. He prefered drier climates.

"I am Admiral Tukphen. Admiral Reshmar sends his appologies for not being here himself, but the Third Fleet is currently deployed, and he was unable to spare himself or one of his Admirals to greet you in person."

"That is quite alright, Admiral. I can fully understand how busy an Admiral's schedule must be." Adan swept his hands at the desk indicating the vast number of datapads stacked there, waiting the Admiral's attention.

"I am under the impression that I am here for reassignment from my last position."

His last position had been the 2nd Officer of the Tempest, an aging Vic I. It had received serious damage when it tangled with an Imperial Task Force at is had patrolled along the edge of what was Imperial space. While the ship had gotten away, the Tempest would be spending the next handful of months in a shipyard, being repaired. His immediate officer, Captain Phladen had been injured and required immersion into a Bacta Tank for his wounds. Adan had taken command and pulled the ship out of the battle. A few random jumps were made and then the ship put into the next closest Alliance Shipyard, which happened to be at Sullust. After debriefing, Adan had received orders to make his way to Mon Cal. Passage was found on the Freedom's Call and a shuttle had brought him down onto the surface.

[Adan Kolar]

As Admiral Tukpen consulted one of his datapads, Adan settled himself into is chair. He thought back over his time with the Rebellion. So far, he had no regrets. None at all. Idly, he wondered if he was going to retain command of the Tempest, as its captain was unavailable. He discarded that notion almost immediately. The Tempest would be spending months in the shipyards going through extensive repairs. Plus, they wouldn't have called him all the way to Mon Cal if they were just going to send him back to Sullust for a command. No, it had to be a ship here. He thought back to what he saw in the shipyards, but couldn't place any ship besides the huge Star Cruisers.

Maybe Admiral Tukphen had something else for him.

[Adan Kolar]

== Flash Forward ==

Adan waited quietly as the shuttle touched down onto the hangar deck. He could feel the hiss of the landing gear as the landing gears' hydraulics took on the weight of the shuttle. Slowly, deliberately he unfastened his restraints and stood up. The passenger portion of the shuttle had been modified to handle some of the other cargo that the ship needed. Because of that, there were only two rows of seating in the shuttle. Not that it really mattered as Adan was the only person in the passenger area.

The ramp lowered and the door sealing off the passenger section from the forward hallway raised.

"Commander Kolar, you are free to disembark."

"Thank you pilot. Fly true." Adan stood and stretched, feeling his muscles pop and relax. Then he straightened his uniform and walked with purpose down the ramp to take command of his ship.

He had been given command of a Dreadnaught Heavy Cruiser that had been donated to the Rebellion by the Rendili Home Defense Fleet. These heavy cruisers mirrored the Katana Fleet in that they were heavy automated and only required a crew of 2000 crewers. Adan only knew what he had read of them and that while they were efficient ships, they did have their own personality to them.

As he stepped out onto the deck of the hangar, he looked around. One squadron of X-Wings were sitting on the deck with techs working on all of them. To Adan, though he wasn't a mechanic or a pilot, it looked like most were just having routine maintenance on them. Two or three of them looked to have battle damage that was being repaired. From the aft of the shuttle, doors opened to allow the crew to begin unloading parts and weapons from the shuttle's bay.

Adan nodded to a few of the techs who glanced up at him. Then he headed directly for the door in a deliberate pace. Everything about this first encounter had to be deliberate. If he rushed away from the shuttle and to the bridge, it would give off the wrong impression and cause Adan to miss how the ship was being operated.

Adan wasn't due on his ship for another 4 hours, so he recieved some quizzical looks as he was in a bridge officer's uniform. Most saluted, if they happen to notice him, but others who were too involved in their duties or repairs didn't even look up. That reassured Adan that in the middle of battle, they wouldn't stop their duty just to salute. For the next few hours, he roamed the Dreadnaught, observing the crews and looking at the repairs that were taking place.

The ship was named Warspite and it had just seen some fairly extensive battling against a Mercenary band who was preying on colonies out away from the Hydian Way. They had fought them off but then had been jumped as they were sending aid down to the colonists. Now the Warspite was at the Mon Cal shipyards going through repairs and resupply. Adan already had his first assignment. He was thinking back through the details as Admiral Tukphen had given it to him down on the surface. It was at the same time that he was assigned his new command.

== End of Flash Forward ==