Rondo

[Kes Akiena]

Dac
10.076




Life on Dac had become a rather bustling affair.

With the Rebel Alliance's transition into true legitimacy and the stalemate that now existed between the still fresh Alliance of Free Planets and the Empire, much had changed while still staying the same. Work had seemed to increase of course - it always did though - and the numerous complications born of new governments had begun to manifest themselves with virulent fury. Thankfully however, firmly sequestered beneath the watchful eye of the military, Major Kes Akiena had all of the pleasure of watching and none of actual participation. He had his own duties to perform, and while the ripple effect had traveled down the line to his own posting, it was nowhere near as massive of a juggling act than those who were closer.

It made him feel sorry for Meiers, but at the same time he was eternally glad to be as far away from that mynock clusterfuck as possible. It did not mean that he was hindered and given more to do, but the amount was nothing compared to what his old commanding officer had to contend with these days.



With a half-resigned sigh, Kes made his way down one of the many corridors that made up the maze of military warrens spread across the ocean planet of Dac. He'd been stationed here for so long now that it had begun to feel like home, and could more than likely navigate every inch of every military installation on the planet with his eyes closed. Or at least that's what some of the junior officers insisted; they also called him an old man. That one rankled a bit, but he had to admit that his service to the Rebellion had begun in its' infancy, and the sad fact was that it had been a very long time since the old days of planet-hopping on mollyhocked freighters which might or might not make it to the next drop. The Rebels of old were only as good as the mechanics that kept their junked pieces of bantha dren from falling out of the sky. Of course as all things, they'd moved up in stages. The Novgorod he remembered fondly, as well as his first official posting, the Etrigan with Meiers. From there it had only expanded until he found himself on Dac. His long service with Meiers had not dissuaded him from accepting the position, especially since the older general had been given the distinction of heading the Starfighter Corps.

But even all of that seemed like ages ago.

Like all mornings, this one was no different. It also began just as early. With a caf in one hand and a datapad in the other, the Major rounded the last corner on the trek to his office. Perhaps today would be quiet and peaceful.

Most likely not.

[Aris V'larr]

Between assignments.

There were uglier words in the vocabulary of military bureaucracy. Acceptable losses came to mind, along with nonessential personnel. But there was something about the implied redundancy, the restless dread of existing without place or purpose, that gnawed at Aris V'larr's Sikarran sensibilities. It was, of course, a natural period of transition. With the Jedi flotilla known as the Wheel officially disbanded, Rogue Squadron and the Challenger had found a new home with Task Force 42. Aris had believed she would be joining them along with the rest of Thunderbolt Squadron, but instead she had received orders routing her to Dac to await her next assignment.

That had been twenty-six local days ago. Since then, she had been straining her not-inconsiderable brainpower to find meaningful uses to which she could put herself. Crunching recon telemetry from SWACS flights in the newly-defined demilitarized zone. Running statistical analysis on skirmish reports with Imperial forces over the last five years. Performing thousands of variable tactical simulations at the Academy. Busywork, really. No one volunteered for those sorts of tasks, and those in charge couldn't see any harm in letting a junior officer occupy her time as a glorified calculator.

Clearly, none of them had ever dealt with a bored Sikarran before.

When Major Kes Akiena turned the corner toward his office, he saw a young woman with dark hair and sharply pointed ears fussing with a datapad just outside his door. She wore the red-orange duty uniform of an officer of the Starfighter Corps, and her angled eyebrows were pinched in the sort of concentration that makes insects die under a magnifying lens.

[Kes Akiena]

He had at least enough presence of mind to look up from his 'pad, and slowing to a stop at the door to his office, Kes turned a sideways look to the woman. If the fact that she was Sikarran was not enough of an indicator, the expression she wore was enough to jostle at the strings of his memory.

"Aris V'larr," he gave a disarming smile, "... this is a pleasant surprise."

The datapad was switched off and tucked beneath one arm before he reached out to key in the access code for his office. He'd heard enough about the woman to know that if anything, her visit was certainly uncommon, and given the nature of his own position, even moreso. He was not personally acquainted with her, but word travels fast no matter where you are, and with regards to the pilot who it seemed was no doubt waiting for him, word had it seemingly taken a hyper-express route throughout the ranks.

And as the door opened, he let his smile remain while stepping aside to allow her entry first.

"After you."

[Aris V'larr]

Aris had opened her mouth to apologize for the unannounced visit and justify her intrusion into Major Akiena's morning routine, but before she could get it out he'd already greeted her by name and opened the door for her. She quickly folded the datapad behind her back.

"Thank you, sir."

She briskly stepped into the office, and her eyes skimmed over the desk cluttered with the evidence of the major's numerous obligations. The Sikarran pilot waited until he situated himself, unsure whether she should take the chair sitting across from the crowded desk.

"My apologies for the... surprise, sir," she said. "I would have requested a formal meeting, but your adjutant informed me you have an open door policy."

As she said it, the thought occurred to her that the Mirialan female had been exaggerating for her own personal amusement. It wouldn't be the first time Aris had been aimed and fired at an unsuspecting superior as a practical joke.

[Kes Akiena]

"She did, did she?"

It was said with a hearty amount of amusement lacing his tone, and with a silent, inner chuckle Kes set his own datapad down atop the herd of other 'pads atop his desk as he took his seat. A quick motion that beckoned her to sit as well, and he carefully nestled his caf into a crevasse between two overstuffed hardcopy folders.

The Major leaned back in his chair.

"I suppose depending on what you're here for, my door is indeed always open."

Again he smiled.

"Bearing that in mind, what is it that brings you to my little cluttered domain?"

[Aris V'larr]

Aris's eyes skimmed over the stacks of datapads and flimsies on Major Akiena's desk, and she reconsidered the prospect of adding another to a burgeoning and unsustainable population. For all the resources the Alliance had managed to free up thanks to the ceasefire brokered with the Empire, the time and attention of its senior officers was still at a premium. The executive summary, then.

"To put it succinctly, sir," she said, "I'm in need of an ally. I've been conducting some independent research since my reassignment, and I've drawn some conclusions that are, to use the aphorism, above my pay grade."

She tabbed through her datapad and extended it toward the major. The screen displayed a star map of the demilitarized zone between Alliance and Imperial territories, including several systems that were still in contest. Hovering near each system was a bar histogram in miniature, ready to explode into full detail at the touch of a finger.

"I have spent considerable time reviewing all available telemetry concerning the deployment of Imperial starfighters on and around our borders over the past six months, with an emphasis on models whose specifications match or exceed the capabilities of our own fighters. Whether the Empire is overhauling their fleet or simply redeploying their most advanced fighters to the front lines, they are robbing us of the most significant tactical advantage we have consistently enjoyed in over twenty years of war: one-on-one space superiority. Sir, we are in imminent danger of becoming obsolete."

She doubted very much that this was news to Major Akiena. And if she'd had the requisite security clearance, she could have saved herself a great deal of time and effort by simply punching up the appropriate report from Alliance Intel. But she wanted him to see that the problem was so evident that it could be uncovered by a junior officer correlating declassified mission reports in her free time. In theory, that would make it more difficult for the brass of the Starfighter Corps to bury the uncomfortable truth, and her along with it.

[Kes Akiena]

His expression remained unchanged as he listened to her, and halfway through her brief summary he reached forward to take up his caf and bring it to his lips for a tentative sip. Still gloriously hot. It made him give a satisfied grimace as he swallowed and set the cup back down.

"Obsolete is such an ugly word," he began when she'd finished.

"And one that unfortunately, none of us are immune from."

This was nowhere near an acceptable answer, and the both of them knew it. Kes gave a small self-deprecating laugh. There was so much more to the answer that Aris V'larr sought, that he wondered if an explanation could truly be seen to its' end in any amount of time.

Finally, he decided to at least begin the process.

"Times change," he started, "... and in truth if we are to continue to remain in possession of any advantages that we have over the Empire, we must change with those times. The one leg-up we have over them is that they bull their way forward, and strongarm their advances, while we are much more fluid and able to adapt with the tools we're given. Those tools may be hand-me-downs, but they're not always.

"Our current one-on-one superiority wasn't always as such. Before that it was our ability to strike fast and hard before disappearing. Before that it was a strange combination of planet-hopping mixed in with trench-fighting. And before that it was simply existing in the early years. The Empire has always been the same, but we have not - we change and adapt, and about the long and short of it that I can give you is that we're at this moment going through one of our many growing pains."

One hand came out to wave noncommittally in the air.

"If any of that makes any sort of sense."